#marcandemma2015 - a wedding amongst the vines

As the days get longer and Spring approaches, I look back with warm memories of my sister's wedding in September. The GG studio became wedding HQ over the Summer months and we were tasked with making it a very special weekend for all to remember. The weekend was based around St Tropez; Friday night, sunset cocktails overlooking the bay, Saturday, a Pampelonne beach party, and Sunday, the wedding, amongst the vines.

Choosing colours - Oyster & Olive

For the invitations, I thought an oyster card and olive green ink would fit perfectly. The envelopes were on a thick oyster paper with a stunning olive green lining and had our calligrapher's signature romantic writing on the front. It was tricky to work out whether to use olive green or black ink for the calligraphy but after several test runs, we found that black names and addresses were a good contrast to the olive text, and most definitely easier for the postman to read.

Black ink calligraphy with olive text

The invitation itself was a thick folded card with engraved text. We employ special techniques to ensure that the spine doesn't crack on such a thick card and that there's a strong indentation on the reverse of the card, and finish it off with a standard plate mark (the indented border). To hold the inserts, we created a little pocket with blind embossed initials of the engaged couple, and then a staggered effect for the information card, map and beach party invite. The reply cards were tucked into the back of the pocket. A lovely personal touch was the illustrated map. These are proving very popular with our clients at the moment.

Blind embossed initials on little pocket

We screen printed the map onto canvas bags and filled them with a number of goodies to welcome the guests to their hotels: sunglasses and wristbands branded with the couple's logo, welcome booklets and a number of French snacks. The finishing touch to the bags were the personalized tags.  

Goody bag

Sunglasses and wristbands branded with the couple's logo

We had a couple of Instagram props made up for the beach party. Emblazoned on it was the hashtag #marcandemma2015 - guests could use the hashtag so that they could check out each other's photos.

The beautiful couple and their instagram props

Another cute idea was placing the escort envelopes (the little cards which tell you which table you are sitting at) into corks. Inside the envelopes were little cards referring to the table numbers. For the table numbers themselves, the calligrapher drew out large numbers in our olive green ink. For menus, we usually like to double them up as place cards. On a thick card, with a platemark and coloured edging, we detailed out the menu, and had the guest name written on the top.

Escort cards

It really was a special weekend and such fun to try out different ideas.

Jazzing up your dress code

We often get asked by our clients for some ideas of alternatives to the traditional 'black tie' or the more relaxed 'smart casual'. So here are some fun themes:

Something Chic

Beach / Summer / Provence / Riviera / Evening / Cocktail / Sassy

...with a twist / with a touch

Black tie with a Gatsby twist / Black tie with a touch of floral

Lounge suit with an 80s twist / Lounge suit with a touch of Africa

Cocktail with a rainbow twist / Cocktail with a touch of beach

Other Ideas

Circus Glitz

Glitter and Sequins

Tropical Glam

Cowboy Casual

Wigs in Space

Secret Garden

Jungle Fever

Masks and Capes

Sparkles

Black Tie No Tie

Bollywood Best

Classics

Black Tie

Black Tie Optional

White Tie

Lounge Suits

Beach Formal

Cocktail

Festive

Smart Casual

Monograms for all occasions

It's been a busy few months at GG Print. At this time of the year when the sun comes out, there are all sorts of celebrations happening but before the celebrations must come the invites. We've recently been designing a lot of monograms for our bespoke wedding and party invitations. Wedding monograms are a great way to personalise your wedding stationery especially when going for a simple and traditional design. It can be me transferred onto other items of the wedding and be used as a running theme throughout. As well as invitations, monograms are also great for other stationery types such as correspondence cards and logos.

Left: Wedding monogram engraved in a metallic silver

Right: Wedding monogram thermo printed in grey

Left: Wedding monogram thermo printed in metallic gold

Right: Wedding monogram engraved in navy blue

Left: Monogram on a party invite, engraved in white ink onto a thick red card

Right: Monogram for a company, thermo printed in a metallic bronze

The London Symphony Orchestra

The LSO is one of the world's leading orchestras and earlier this month they celebrated the 70th birthday of conductor Michael Tilson Thomas at the Barbican Centre, London. Along with this celebration was a dinner at St. James's Palace.

We had the pleasure of printing and designing the stationery for this honoured occasion which included the invitations, place settings and programmes. One of our illustrators produced beautiful illustrations of Buckingham Palace and St.James's Palace, all printed on a watercolour stock. Grey calligraphy added the finishing touch. 

Two programmes designed for a concert at Buckingham Palace, in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen, and a dinner in The State Rooms at St James's Palace

At GG Print we really pride ourselves on attention to detail and we were really happy with the end result.

Michael Tilson Thomas and The London Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican Centre

New frame for illustrated names

A great gift for a Christening, new arrival or toddler’s birthday. These hand drawn name illustrations come in a glassed white frame. Our standard frames are 38x48cm (name size 20x29cm).

Choose between having the letters of the name illustrated in the theme or have the theme illustrated around the name.

Prices

£260 includes up to 6 letters 

£15 each additional letter

Special Price
£230 Beatrix Potter and Fairy Tales theme

Prices include VAT and exclude delivery

You can also turn your commissioned illustrated names into gift tags. If you're having a baby name commissioned this would would be a great addition. With or without a message on a white or oyster stock.

The framed illustrated names make a fantastic gift so if you're thinking of getting one, here's some ideas to help you get started.

Themes:

Beatrix Potter

Butterflies

Animals

Sea Life

Dinosaurs

Pirates

Monsters

Cars 

Trains

Space

Toys

Circus

Fairy tales 

Flowers

Ballet

Sport

A visit to the Palace...

GG Print was proud to support last month the inaugural Place2Be Wellbeing in Schools Awards at Kensington Palace, in the presence of the Duchess of Cambridge. Place2Be is the leading UK provider of school-based mental health services. Understanding the importance of the link between a child’s home and school life, councillors engage with parents and family to provide much needed emotional support. Awards for parents, teachers, counsellors, and students, the evening was just a snippet of the amazing work that is currently undertaken across 230 schools in the UK.  

I was lucky enough to see this first hand at a school visit to Upton Cross Primary School last week, and the incredible results the charity has achieved at this school. Both parents and students talked of the fantastic life changing support they had received. To read more about the charity, click here to visit their website. 

First Birthday Fun

Last month I was very excited to attend my nephew's first birthday party in the Big Apple. The highlight for me had to be his London-themed chocolate cake. Three tiered, it featured a personalised bus and tube stop, the Queen's Guard, Big Ben and the London Eye - wow! Definitely a show stopper.

Face painting by GemFaceNY proved a big hit, with lions, butterflies and supermen appearing. The kids were entertained with singalongs, bubbles and yummy snacks; they couldn't have been happier. Giant animal helium balloons served as the perfect going home present. Smiles all around.