2020 recap

As repeated everywhere, 2020 was filled with lots of unprecedented times.

COVID-19 brought the phrase social distancing and the word quarantine into regular use, made masks and hand sanitizers the new normal, and - for engaged couples planning a 2020 wedding - brought pivots or rescheduled weddings as we all tried to navigate these new waters together.

One of the silver linings? More intimate weddings make for even more personal details.

Hannah + Tom’s Microwedding Details by hello, bird. // photo by Love Me Do Photography

Hannah and Tom were married in the fall of 2020 at Fairmount Park Horticulture Center in Philadelphia. After rescheduling their May wedding, Hannah and Tom pivoted to trim their guest list of 160 down to 14 guests to both stay within local regulations and have a safe wedding. Some of their day-of details (pictured above) were a beautiful result of their pivot- and deserve their own blog post.

COMMON THREADS

All of the weddings I worked with in 2020 (including pre-COVID weddings) had a few common threads: incredibly thoughtful couples, bold colors, and some really cool details and paper shapes.

Here’s a few more of the highlights- with more to follow later.

black and gold floral and geometric acrylic table numbers by hello, bird. // florals by petal + paper // photo by MLE Pictures

I created black and gold acrylic table numbers for April and Bryan’s Congress Hall wedding in Cape May, New Jersey.

green and gold watercolor table numbers by hello, bird.

Lindsey and Bill were just ahead of the curve as they married in March with an intimate wedding at Barbuzzo Upstairs in Philadelphia. Some of their details included black tag place cards with their guests’ names in white ink, and some green and gold signage.

black and gold foil wedding menus and vellum and gold wax seal layered place cards by hello, bird. // florals by Sarah’s Garden // photo by Daniel Kim Photography

Victoria and Shaan’s Arizona wedding at El Chorro was filled with colorful florals, and black, gold, and vellum paper details.

It was a pleasure and honor to work with such thoughtful couples in a year filled with so many unprecedented twists and turns. Here’s looking ahead to a future of more thoughtful couples and celebrations!

coming soon: jaclyn + ryan

Jaclyn + Ryan's custom invitation suite was full of bold contrasts, florals, stripes + hints to their Irish heritage.  Being able to bring those elements through from their invitations to their wedding day-of details was a huge honor, and such a fun collaboration! 

I'm looking forward to sharing more behind their custom invitation suite (and their day-of details) soon.

photo courtesy of Emily Wren Photography

invitations: Sarah's 30th!

Well, it's the last full week of my twenties, and I just remembered that I never shared the fun invitation suite I created for Sarah's 30th birthday!  Sarah is one of my favorite people to work with because she is not only incredibly kind, but is always up for making her paper pieces a mix of fun and formal. 

Sarah was thinking of something pink, gold and feminine with a pop of contrasting black. We went for a good balance, and kept it fun with a nod to the formal.  

I loved creating brush calligraphy for this suite! I put the black brush writing over a perfectly pink watercolor background.  

I loved that Sarah wanted a RSVP card for her party to help with the head count, and this is one of my favorite RSVP cards to date.  I kept it clean and simple, with oversized brush lettering.  Each guest's name was added to the top of their RSVP card for a fun touch of formality. 

RSVP envelopes were a deep gold, and each were calligraphed using my signature script style. I wrote "The Birthday Girl" and Sarah's return address on each RSVP envelope in a light pink ink. This ink coordinated with the pink from the invitations. Pink on gold? Yes, please! So fun!

Outer envelopes were deep ivory and calligraphed in my signature script style in a gold ink to make a beautiful formal first appearance in guest's mailboxes. After all, it's the beginning of a new decade- why not mark its importance?!