Browsing Category

Real Weddings

Spring Wedding

2.26.2020

A new season means new engagements, new trends in fashion and decor and a chance to create the wedding of our dreams. It’s 2020 and that means we have the freedom to play by the rules or throw those rules out and make our own! This year weddings are all about creating meaningful, sustainable, unique and endearing experiences for our bridal party and our guests. Whether it’s close family in the backyard, a sit down dinner for a hundred at a local vineyard or a blowout destination wedding in Bali the emphasis this spring is on celebrating true love while being truly ourselves.

Our founder Melissa started Elūm to celebrate couples getting married. The very first piece printed on our letterpress was a wedding invitation! For nineteen years we have been thrilled and honored to help couples create the weddings of their dreams. We love, love, love being part of your big day. This year we’re excited that brides and grooms have more options than ever to plan a wedding that captures all the wonderful, diverse, heart-achingly beautiful magic of two people in love. Read on to discover what wedding trends we’re falling for this season.

1. Finesse The Dress

In our humble opinion there has never been a better time to be a bride. We can show off different aspects of our personality and style with a wedding dress and a reception dress (think Megan Markle, Zoë Kravitz and Ellie Goulding). Not to mention the bride and groom’s first dance just got a whole lot easier. Let’s face it a formal full-length fitted gown has never been a gal’s best dance partner. Victorian high ruffled collars and lace sleeves are vibing this spring for the ceremony while flirty numbers with short skirts and full bling are heading to the reception and onto the dance-floor. Another major trend is personalized embroidery. When we saw Hailey Bieber’s “Till Death Us Do Part” veil we swooned.

2. Sustainability

Brides and grooms are bringing their Earth cred to their wedding planning by making a concerted effort to reduce the carbon footprint of their celebrations. Small but powerful changes can include using water pitchers and glasses rather than plastic water bottles, choosing locally grown flowers, donating leftover food and floral displays, and repurposing table fabrics and decorations. Party architect extraordinaire Johnny Roxburgh tells of one client who had her beautiful reception tablecloths made into curtains. You go, girl! Give those curtains a couple of years and they might even become a dress! #ScarlettOhara

3. Precious Paper

A wedding invitation sets the tone for the entire celebration. It speaks to guests about what to expect from your wedding and even more importantly who you will become as a couple. This spring we’re continuing to hand print invitations on soft and beautiful repurposed cotton rag paper with soy-based inks. More than ever we see couples leaning in to invites that shine light on their personalities and hopes for the future, like the effervescent and joyous invitations we created for Matt Farah and his beautiful bride Johanna that were featured in @theknot. We are honored to create a wide variety of invites from our one-of-a-kind couture pieces to our more affordable Umi by Elum options. When we sleep at Elum, we dream of weddings! ?

4. Grooming

We are all over this British trend that sees the groom and his groomsmen taking an active role in their outfits and grooming choices. We are all for the groom and his ushers spending a day spoiling themselves at the tailors over whiskey and charcuterie! And we are proud supporters of dedicated groomsmen spaces at venues where the male stars of our weddings can shave, dress, primp and moisturize their hearts out! (Okay, we admit it, we’re mostly women around here. We have no idea what guys get up to in front of the mirror. But whatever it is we darn well support it!). #GroomGoals

5. Sensory Delight

We all know weddings are a feast for our eyes and soul, but the latest trend in weddings is seeing them transform into a feast for all our senses. From wedding invites that are soft to the touch, to velvet tablecloths and tall grasses lining the aisle couples are looking for ways to create a touchable experience for their guests. Small things like whisper-soft draping around the arch at the altar, soft cushions and throw blankets, cut crystal glasses and bubbles floating through the air invite guests to touch and enjoy their surroundings. Fresh cut lemons at the drinks bar, vanilla candles in the church, roses at the table: couples are also giving thought to our sense of smell. The more senses we engage the more surprise and delight we create for our guests. Weddings may be a one time event but our senses can help us remember them for a lifetime.

If you’re tying the knot this spring, congratulations from our family at Elūm to yours! We wish you Champagne bubbles and tummy flutters, something old and something blue, one hundred magical moments and a long and nurturing marriage. Let us know if we can help. #ElumLove

8 Essential Style Takeaways From The Royal Wedding

5.24.2018

Harry & Meghan's Official Wedding PhotosMeghan Markle and Prince Harry’s nuptials will surely go down in history as one of the most joyous royal weddings of all time. From the moment the adoring couple announced their engagement we knew it was going to be special, but when the big day came it exceeded our wildest expectations. It was a moving and inclusive celebration of the couple’s authentic selves. The dress, the flowers, the performers, that carriage ride: Meghan and Harry’s nuptials are a game-changer. At Elūm we wondered how we can incorporate the best of the couple’s classic yet informal style into planning our own weddings and celebrations so we’ve come up with eight essential style takeaways from Meghan & Harry’s big day.

Harry & Meghan's Wedding Invitations1.The invitations. Meghan and Harry’s wedding invitations are timeless and elegant, consisting of black cursive type on white cardstock with gilded edges and a gilded crest. Custom-printed in small batches, they perfectly combine the formal and informal. By declaring His Royal Highness will be married “with” Ms Meghan Markle—not “to”—they instantly confer freshness and relevance on this traditional English form. And proving they’re a thoroughly modern couple, Meghan and Harry broke with royal tradition by allowing guests to RSVP by email.

2. The engagement photos. I think we can all agree Meghan and Prince Harry blew it out of the water with their engagement photos. Meghan’s couture gown and movie star beauty were perfectly matched by her fiancee’s rugged good looks and on-point navy suit. What really holds our gaze though is the off-the-charts chemistry between the couple. Meghan and Harry have declared overly posed engagement photos, over. Dress well, pick a beautiful setting and then show us your true selves.

3. The flowers. Meghan’s florist Philippa Craddock decorated St.George’s Chapel at Windsor and also designed the bride’s bouquet. Festooning the chapel entrance with white roses, peonies and foxgloves, Craddock created a classic romantic backdrop for the couple’s first kiss. Meghan chose a simple bouquet of sweet pea and myrtle fastened with raw silk for her bouquet. The deal-changer here is that Harry handpicked some of the flowers in the bouquet from the couple’s private garden at Kensington Palace. This is a style note every couple can get behind: create unique intimate moments between you and your partner.

Meghan Markle Wedding Dress by Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy4. Dress #1. Meghan’s wedding dress, designed by Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy, is a masterclass in timeless elegance. Channeling Audrey Hepburn with its boatneck, clean lines and three-quarter sleeves, the dress provides a blueprint for reinventing a classic for a thoroughly modern bride. By choosing this simple but sumptuous design Meghan reminds us that our wedding gowns are immortalized in photographs, and borrowing too heavily from current trends can risk those photos dating quickly.

5. The service. Meghan and Prince Harry brought their A-Game to the ceremony emphasizing what weddings are all about: two individuals joining with one another to form a couple. By choosing multicultural performers and speakers from both the US and Great Britain, they created a joyful and moving celebration of who they are. We may never be married in a chapel owned by the Queen, but we can recreate the spirit of inclusiveness and authenticity championed by Meghan and Harry.

6. The reception. After the wedding the Queen hosted a lunchtime reception for the newly-minted couple, and what’s interesting to us is that it wasn’t a formal sit down affair. The Queen has been hosting weddings for over half a century so when Her Majesty decides a stand up reception is in order, we pay attention. It’s less stuffy than a sit down affair and encourages guests to mingle. Exquisite bites of food such as langoustine rolled in salmon accompanied by flutes of bubbly keep things delightfully festive. And no, we have it on good authority Her Majesty did not serve a full bar.

Meghan Markle evening reception gown by Stella McCartney7. The slippers. This is one detail we love here at Elūm. Meghan made sure her guests would be comfortable at the reception by providing fluffy ivory slippers for everyone who wanted to kick off their heels and relax. This sweet and charming gesture is one we can all learn from. In any celebration, the comfort of our guests should be our number one priority.

8. Dress #2. Meghan brought sexy back exactly when it was appropriate. This sashay-ready silk halter by Stella McCartney revealed Meghan’s swoon-worthy bare back. By saving her more daring, fashion-forward choice for the intimate evening reception, the world’s newest duchess showed us how to do traditional modern just right.

We can’t get enough of the royal wedding around here. What was your favorite part of the day?

RECEPTION AND EVENT DECOR  |  CUSTOM LETTERPRESS INVITATIONS

 

Elum Real Wedding: Gillian & John

7.10.2016

Recently our “Bananagrams” Save the Dates for Gillian and John were featured in a The Huffington Post list of  out-of-the-box wedding invitations.  Seeing this little gem reminded us of how truly special Gillian and John are and how honored we were to be a part of their big day. In celebration of their 3 year anniversary we’re revisiting that incredible southern California wedding and all the beautiful stationery that accompanied it.

Elum Real Wedding: John & Gillian

Bananagrams Save the Date:

Letterpress Bananagrams Save the Date

Invitations:

Elum Real Wedding: Letterpress Invitations

Escort Cards  & Menus:

Elum Real Wedding: Table Settings

Elum Real Wedding: Table Settings

Elum Real Wedding: Letterpress Menus

That’s a good looking wedding party!:

Elum Real Wedding: Groomsmen

We’re not the only ones that thought this wedding was extra special, check out this feature in The Knot!

Elum Real Wedding: The Knot Feature JG_KNOT_SPREAD2 JG_KNOT_SPREAD3

Has Elum been a part of your wedding or special day? Contact us and let us know and we’ll feature you as an Elum Real Wedding!

Elum Real Weddings: Amy and Frank Green

8.23.2013

Amy&Frank_blog_headerWe are delighted to share the stunning wedding photos of Elum’s own Art Director, Amy Kreft Green. Amy was thrilled when she had the opportunity to design her own one-of-a-kind and truly out-of-the box wedding invitation suite for her October wedding to Frank Green III.

AMy&Frank

Winner of the “How International Outstanding Achievement Award in Invitation Design”, the completely custom designed (and gorgeous may we add!) wedding stationery was all letterpress printed by Elum – a designer’s dream! The wedding stationery and decor combined layers of textures & patterns, creating an eclectic, romantic and organic atmosphere with the teeny-tiniest details that made the charming wedding one that was totally unique.

[box]WE ARE THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE THAT AMY’S WEDDING INVITATION SUITE IS THE WINNER OF THE [highlight]”HOW INTERNATIONAL OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD [/highlight] IN INVITATION DESIGN”![/box]

To brand the event, Amy designed her wedding stationery as a series of vintage inspired books. The Save the Date (which was Volume 1 in the book series) was a letterpress printed mini-book which tucked safely into a tiny letterpress pocket, complete with a die-cut window showcasing the cover that read “And so our story begins.”

letterpress book invitations

Letterpress_book_invitations2

 

The Invitation, Volume 2, continued the book-themed suite with a larger book including original illustrations inspired by vintage floral linens, earthy floral like moss, delicate ferns, and mixed patterns of kilim, moroccan & persian textiles, all deeply letterpressed into luxurious soft cotton paper. We fell even more in love when we saw the 3 bookmarks that outlined the weekend’s events and the adorable library styled reply card.

Letterpress_book_invitations_3

The program, Volume 3, and Menu, Volume 4, completed the book series reverting back to the petite format of the Save the Date. With a love & appreciation of all things paper, the escort cards were miniature pieces of letter mail with no two quite alike. Each personally addressed pint size envelope sat on the tiny shelves of an antique printer’s tray.

Letterpress Tray Wedding

At the table, guests found terrariums filled with moss, maiden-hair ferns, flowers and toadstools along with vintage colored glass goblets, collected by the bride and her family & friends. The family-style fare & signature cocktails had touches of culinary lavender, paying homage to the romantic venue.

Lavender Farm Wedding

The bridal bouquets were loose, romantic, delicate, and wild with bunches of Maidenhair ferns, garden roses, spray roses, tracheliums, feverfews, ranunculus, lisianthus, veronica, bupleurums, ferns, and queen anne’s lace.

Lavendar_Farm_bouquets

The ceremony & reception site,  Keys Creek Lavender Farm, just north of San Diego, was surrounded with rows and rows of lavender, wildflowers, rosemary and not to mention a wonderful collection of vintage furniture distributed throughout the property.

Lavendar Farm Wedding

Lavender Farm Wedding Gown

Take a look below at a selection of breathtaking photos from Amy and Frank’s big day and click here to see the entire Martha Stewart Real Weddings feature.

Full Wedding Coordination: Francine Ribeau Events

Amy & Frank Wedding Blog

Custom Letterpress Ceremony Program

8.17.2012

We received these photos from one of our fabulous Chicago retail dealers, Pulp & Ink, and we just had to show them off! Their clients Kristen and Michael chose to letterpress print our Cabana wedding invitations in Warm Gray ink (for the bold simplistic type) and light gray Shadow ink (for the pattern), which created an ultra sophisticated modern appeal. We were thrilled to hear that they also wanted to create a custom letterpress ceremony program.  We flat-printed the z-fold style program using the same Warm Gray ink for the type that was used throughout their invitations, and on the back, they chose to use the interlocking circle pattern from the Cabana suite’s reply card, and punched it up a notch by printing it in bright Coral ink. This is a great example of how our existing design concepts can be used to create a brand new custom letterpress piece… and who doesn’t love that fun and unexpected pop of Coral!?

photo credit: Kevin Weinstein Photography