Favorite Vendor Day 4-Peculiar Pair Press

Amy and Mary Beth are a pair of accomplished graphic designers who share a love for fine printing and are addicted to everything paper. Each earned their BFA in graphic design, and then independently decided to relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area, Amy from the Lone Star State of Texas and Mary Beth from New York. eventually, their paths crossed while working in the same design department at a major corporation. as the years passed in corporate america and their creative genius became trapped, they realized a drastic change was needed, and fast! each afternoon, over their still favorite cups of earl grey tea, they imagined a better life in design. As luck would have it, the drastic change came in the form of downsizing, and they were soon free to build their dreams into a reality! With freedom came long drives up to Chandon and impromptu vacations to Mexico. On the plane back from Sayulita, Peculiar Pair Press was born.

Mary Beth has moved back home a few years ago to be closer to her ever growing Italian family so we are now officially bi-coastal and keeping the business flourishing.
With 7 years in the stationery business under our belts we enjoy getting our hands into many projects! We have several types of stationery lines that are all letterpress printed by hand – ours to be exact!! We’d thought you’d enjoy reading briefly about our distinct lines available and then seeing the entire printing process!

SIGNATURE COLLECTION - A collection of fourteen versatile styles appropriate for a bride’s fabulous ballroom extravaganza or a simple outdoor garden party. This line of invitations is available online at peculiarpairpress.com and at over 70 fine stationery stores across the nation.

EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE - Available only at peculiarpairpress.com these designs are perfect for bride’s planning a destination wedding. Invitations from this line accommodate any wedding day vision whether inspired by a private vineyard, an ocean estate or the love of travel, just to name a few. With thirteen beautiful designs to choose from, we are certain you will find the right style for your special day.

CUSTOM - Every custom invitation design starts with a piece of paper, a pencil and a conversation. We let the concept of the bride and groom’s wedding day guide us as we design the invitation suite specifically to their needs. Exquisitely unique and original, these invitations are always the most sought after.

BABY - Our simple & adorable baby announcements are perfect for every expecting couple. Fourteen different designs offer a wide variety wether they’re expecting a boy, girl or twins! Each design can be adjusted to accomodate a photograph of the new addition. Announcement collections are available online at peculiarpairpress.com or at one of our fine retailers.

STATIONERY - We offer a wide variety of everyday notecards for many occasions, single, blank, boxed or do it yourself! We have expanded our line over the years to include such luxuries as journals, wrapping paper and favor cones. Our partnership with Chronicle Books has also allowed us to establish an even wider fan club with our Paper Patisserie line featuring: gift wrap kit, enclosure cards, mini journal set, stationey box and an adorable box of labels.

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Now for the Process!
Letterpress is a form of relief printing that was invented in the 15th century. Individual letters were cast into lead, arranged into words, rolled with ink and then pressed into paper. The impression of each letter creates a distinct printed surface filled with beautiful texture. Peculiar Pair Press continues this tradition using photopolymer printing plates. Here is a brief explanation of our extensive printing process:
Creating digital artwork and film output:
After the initial stages of design are complete, we begin to develop your design on the computer. These digital images are separated by color and prepared for output onto a film negative which is used to create the photopolymer printing plate.(

Making the printing plate:
The film negative along with the “blank” printing plate are placed in an exposure unit. The outermost layer of these printing plates are covered with a light sensitive plastic. Light passes through the clear areas of the film negative and hardens the light sensitive material on the plate. Once it is done exposing, the plate goes into a wash out unit that brushes away all of the soft, non-exposed area leaving only the hardened relief surface. Now we’re ready to go to press!

Going to press:
The ink is placed on the inking cylinder and distributed evenly throughout the rollers-we only print with one color at a time, let’s say its blue. The printing plate is registered on the press so that it prints in the proper position on the page. All components to your job that require blue ink get printed while we have the ink on press-we simply change out the plate when necessary. If your piece is two color, the plate is removed, the press is cleaned of all ink residue and we start all over again with the new ink color and the new plates.

Once your piece is cut to size, you’re ready to go. Sounds like a lot of work, but the beauty in the resulting printed piece is unmatched!

Thanks for letting us educate you briefly on our company and how letterpress printing works. We hope you see the attention to detail needed for such exquisite work and will be drawn to the tactile quality and handmade feel of our lines.


Ready to Order?
When you would like to learn more about how we can can work together to create your letterpressed wedding stationery, please contact us for a consultation.

www.peculiarpairpress.com
www.peculiarpairpress.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/peculiarpair

Favorite Vendor Day 5- Cardgirl Custom Invitations

Well today is our last day of Favorite Vendors...and I am so excited about our 2 vendors today! I have loved stationary since I was a little girl and while most kids wanted toys for their birthdays and Christmas I always asked for "fun" stationary! So today we are highlighting two custom wedding stationary designers! They are both so fabulous and so talented! Every time I meet with both of them I get so excited to see what they are doing and what is new in the industry! Thank you all for stopping by this week to see the vendors we work with on all our fabulous events! So without further Adieu let me first welcome Nessa Sander for Cardgirl Invitations....

Hello! My name is Nessa Sander. I own Cardgirl Invitations and run the CardgirlDIY blog. Thank you so much to A Savvy Event for inviting me to guest blog today!
Cardgirl Invitations is a custom design studio, specializing in letterpress wedding invitations. Because we do all custom work, we are able to incorporate custom artwork, colors and calligraphy into your invitation design. This adds such a personal touch to the invitations, as it offers a true one-of-a-kind look.
After the invitations have been mailed, I often work with my clients to "complete the look & feel" with wedding programs, escort cards, thank you notes, stickers…just about anything created on paper. I am also not shy about passing along the artwork to my clients for some DIY projects…as I know it all starts adding up. I have also created a DIY site for those clients of mine.Here's a quick summary of my favorite trends for 2009 wedding invitations:
My favorite new color combinations for 2009Yellow & BlackEggplant & Ecru
Grass Green & Poppy Teal & Slate GreyMy favorite design elements for 2009The Damask (of course!)Pattern printing onto the backside of your invitation cards
Scroll DesignBlock lettering complemented by hand letteringPrint a design onto the front side of your envelopesCardstockCrane's 100% Cotton Extra Heavy Cardstock(amazing, heavy like a coaster, works beautifully with a letterpress printing…and eco-friendly!)I hope you will take the time to visit my DIY blog for more ideas & my invitation website. Thanks again to A Savvy Event for including me in your awesome blog!

Favorite Vendor Day 3- Michelle Walker

Our next oh so fabulous photographer is the very talented Michelle Walker! We are so excited that she is guest blogging on our week of Favorites as she truly is one of our most favorite photographers! Michelle has worked with us on so many weddings I can't even count them all and she was even my wedding photographer for my wedding! I could not have imagined my wedding without her! So without further Adieu....Let's Welcome Michelle Walker~




Hi! I’m Michelle Walker and I am a wedding, portrait, & travel photographer based in the SF/Bay Area (and I travel worldwide for gigs).
People never ask me how many weddings I’ve photographed – why is that? The answer is (drum roll, please)… 375. That’s A LOT of weddings! I love weddings and still get (absurdly) excited for each one (just ask my girlfriends). Weddings inspire and move me and I’ve cried every single one.
Instead of a boring old BLOG entry, I want to do something fun and tell you about my 3 very favorite things that I’ve seen at the weddings I’ve been to:
1. A few years ago at a wedding at Villa Montalvo (which is one of my very favorite places on the planet), a fabulous couple did a tango as their first dance. It was sexy, sassy, and totally unexpected given the formality of this wedding. I’ve never forgotten it.
2. A beautiful bride I photographed at her family ranch in San Juan Bautista wore her mom’s dress. I’ve often heard of this, but I had never seen it actually done. She had it retailored to a more modern style, but kept most of its original design. Mom cried, the bride cried, I cried. It was beautiful.
3. My bestest friend (Amy) and I have developed an addition to my photography package called SnapShot. Our tagline is, “Let Their True Personalities Shine”, and boy does it! We set-up a portable photo studio at your wedding. Not one of those photo booths, but a real portrait studio with lighting, umbrellas, custom backdrop, and everything you need to make sure your guests take fun, candid & whacky photographs of themselves. Your guests will LOVE it!
And I sometimes get asked, “What was the favorite part of YOUR wedding?” When I was married (on 2.2.02), a friend of ours serenaded us to “What a Wonderful World” - A Cappella. It was truly magical. Now my husband and I do this really cheesy thing… wherever we are in the world, whatever we’re doing, whatever time it is, we call each other when we hear that song. I’ve been in a smoky club in Havana, the desert in Northern India, and at many a wedding when I’ve called him. It connects us and reaffirms our feelings about each other.
I hope you can get some inspiration from the ideas above. In the years that I’ve been photographing weddings, the best are the ones that reflect the couples personalities & style – not something that a magazine or friend tells you to do. Follow your heart and you’ll never go wrong.
Michelle Walker
Michelle Walker Photography
http://www.michellewalker.com/
michelle@michellewalker.com
(415) 235-5400

Favorite Vendors Day 3-Kate Webber Photography

Greetings Readers!

I hope you are enjoying our week of Favorite Vendors just as much as we have enjoyed sharing them with you! Today we have two fabulous photographers we are highlighting and we love working with both of them so much! They are both so talented and both so much fun! They make the events we work on together a blast and they capture the images as the story is unfolding right before our eyes! I always tell our clients that if you are going to spend all this money on one day it is equally important to allocate money in your budget for a good photographer to capture the day for you to remember for many years!! So without further Adieu Lets welcome Kate Webber....


How wonderful to be included in A Savvy Event’s week of Guest Blogs!

In trying to think of what I’d hope for you to know, I suppose the biggest question I always have of a photographer is why they do what it is they do! So, it seems only appropriate to answer that myself. I think it is an important element to consider when looking for someone to document such an important day, such as a wedding!

I shoot weddings because it is very fulfilling for me as a keen observer of life and, in turn, it is incredibly meaningful to others.

Just this morning, I received an email from the mother of one of my brides which beautifully illustrates this point: “…I want you to know that I can't imagine a better or more artful capturing of the joy, pageantry, emotions and just plain fun of that day that was so important to our family history. We were in such good hands through your incredible eye.”

I love the images I captured and created! I love that they loved them…and will for years to come!

Weddings are an open opportunity to do what makes me happy—to create or capture a moment, and for it to be always new and changing with each unique story. In one day, or sometimes over several days, I am able to touch on all the things I am passionate about in my work— fleeting moments, engaging portraits, carefully planned details (oh, how I love the little details) and gorgeous surroundings, to name just a few. They are all there, in one, very personal event! Crafted together, they tell a story about a special moment in time.





I feel so fortunate that I am able to work with clients that let me “do what I do” – connecting with my imagery as well as my personality to let the day unfold naturally. When I go into a wedding, I aim to tell the story as fully, beautifully and kindly as possible. It is a real blend of my fine art and editorial backgrounds playing off one another. This true love of art and design paired with a desire to visually express a story is what drives me.

Commissioned both nationally and abroad, I work with clients from near and far to capture their special days. It is always an honor and always a new adventure!

Thank you so much Kate for stopping by A Savvy Event to share all of this with our readers! Please make sure you check out her website

Kelley + Darren Part 2

The evening ceremony took place at the beautiful Mission in Sonoma. It is always fun to plan a wedding ceremony at The Mission as it has so much beauty already~
Kelley & Her Father..

The wonderful Reverend Dalton officiated the beautiful ceremony. Rev Dalton is wonderful so if you are ever in the need of someone to officiate your marriage in wine country he does a wonderful job!

Mr. & Mrs Maloney

The Happy Couple

Kelley's beautiful bouquet was designed by the talented and fabulous Anne Appleman.

Next Wednesday we will feature more fabulous photos of this wedding and all the vendors we worked with so stay tuned for part 3 & 4

Kelley + Darren Part 1

A beautiful day in April.....
Kelley "Pre" Wedding Dress....Hair and Make up done by the fabulous Katie at It's A Date
Beautiful lace wedding gown...and very pretty gold Prada shoes....

We are just loving Kelley's hair piece! It is so fun and romantic and the perfect touch to her ensemble.

The Bride is Ready~ A Little Dallas in Sonoma is always fun~

"The Groom" Darren patiently awaiting his bride~

Kelley and Darren started their week at the beautiful Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa. The week included rounds of golf at The Sonoma Golf Club a spa day at The Fairmont and late night evenings enjoying the beautiful living room and lobby bar at The Fairmont! On Saturday Kelley checked into The Cottages and Spa in downtown Sonoma where she got ready and would spend her wedding night! The cottages is a quaint little Inn located in the heart of Sonoma. It has 7 rooms and upstairs suite that is to die for! Darren is originally from Napa and Kelley is from Lobbeck, Texas and they reside in Dallas, Texas now. It was a beautiful wine country wedding and the guest from near and far had a splendid time!

Real Wedding Wednesday-Kelly + Darren

Hello Readers!

I hope you are enjoying our week of Fabulous Vendors! We thought we would take a little break and feature a wedding we did in April this year! Kelley & Darren were married at the Mission in Sonoma, CA and their reception was held at the oh so charming restaurant Estate. Estate is located right off the square in beautiful Sonoma, CA.

Here is a sneak peak of what is to come today!

Merry Popin Nannies

My name is Barbra Anne Schneider and I am the owner of The Original Merry Pop-In Nannies. I started the company 5 years ago at the suggestion of a wedding coordinator who was unhappy with the nanny services out there and felt a strong need for professional, event nannies. Using my background and degrees in education, not to mention my husband’s background in special events, I created a company that has become the most recommended in the North Bay. Our philosophy is to provide age appropriate fun and care while keeping safety our first priority. I am proud to say many vendors who are referring others quickly change to us once they see for themselves the difference in what we do.There are others so why use The Original Merry Pop-In Nannies?
Our nannies are all professionals in the education field. We never advertise for help, our nannies come word of mouth and have been hand selected.
Our nannies hold Masters Degrees, Bachelors Degrees, Teaching Credentials, Nursing Degrees, Childcare Degrees, Trustline Registered, etc....
Our nannies are first aide and cpr trained.
We are the most trusted and recommended nanny service in both Valleys, and the Surrounding North Bay.
We will come do a site inspection and treat you like you are our client, because you are, and we will do whatever we can to assist you.
Merry Pop-In Nannies arrives with plenty of age appropriate activities, wholesome snacks, and a positive, can do attitude to ensure that the children are well entertained and safe.
Allow parents who are part of a wedding, rehearsal dinner to fully participate.
Allow guests to enjoy your festivities the way you picture them.
Provide a pleasant, adult, uninterrupted celebration.
Have some private adult time in your vacation; wine tasting, spas, or dinner.
Create fond memories for the bride and groom.
Avoid damage and liability to your facility associated with any unsupervised children.
Many Discounts and Packages Offered (Mention this blog for your own discount!)Please check us out at http://www.merrypopinnannies.com/ or call 707-696-3248.

Napa Moms

When I planned my wedding one of the hardest decisions we made regarding our guest list was whether or not to invite children. We weren't so much concerned with children interrupting our event but rather how were the parents going to have fun if they had to care for their children all night?

After much research, discussion with our guests who are parents and deliberation we decided to invite the children and hire some local moms to provide a children's reception adjacent to our larger reception. The idea was a hit! The parents were thrilled to have a night to enjoy as adults especially with their children just next door. The children were having a great time participating in art activities, dancing and playing with new toys.

We decided to share our experience with other people hosting special events by forming Napa Mom's Special Event Childcare. We provide caring, local moms to entertain and care for children while grown ups enjoy their own event. Napa Mom's Special Event Childcare supplies ample childcare and many developmentally appropriate activities right at your venue. Local moms step in so you can step out!

-Jenny Gass
Napa Mom's Special Event Childcare
(707)251-9440
***Please let Jenny know you saw her on our Blog!****

Favorite Vendors Day 2 -Nanny Services

Today we want to highlight the Nanny Companies we work with. Over the past few years we have seen that more weddings are opting to have a "CHILDREN'S" reception. I actually had a children's reception for my wedding last fall. We had our wedding at a fine dining restaurant that wasn't really appropriate for children so we rented out the conference room and turned it into a "kids reception" it was a lot like a birthday party! We had party bags for all the kids, games, movies, popcorn, pizza, fruit and juice boxes! The children had a ball and the parents could enjoy their dinner and feel secure that their children were only steps away and being watched by a reputable licensed Nanny Company!
Even if you don't opt for a children's reception guest of yours will bring children it is inevitable so make sure you can refer a great nanny service for them. Today we have Napa Moms and Merry Popin Nannies that are stopping by to share with you a little bit about them!

Inticing Creations-Kelly Zubal

I am so excited for our next vendor! We met Kelly now almost 2 years ago and it was LOVE at first bite! Kelly surprised and delighted us with her yummy cakes! She totally changed our minds on wedding cakes and for this reason a beautiful relationship started! Kelly is absolutely amazing! Her work is impeccable her cakes are delicious and never in my entire life or career have I tasted better cake! I am not just saying this either, as a child I never had a birthday cake always an ice cream cake because I didn't like cake. Well 2 years ago my love for cake began and with that I want to introduce you to Kelly..............

Hello A Savvy Event readers! My name is Kelly Zubal and I’m the owner/cake designer of the wedding and celebration cake company, Inticing Creations. Art and baking has always been a big part of my life. From the age of 6 I was taking painting and drawing classes and baking cakes and cookies with my mom. About seven years ago I took up cake decorating as a hobby and it quickly turned into a passion. I had finally found a way to combine my baking side with my artistic side and there was no looking back! I started making cakes for friends and family and before I knew it Inticing Creations was born.

I love experimenting with flavor trends and combinations and turning them into cake flavors. Wedding cake flavors don’t have to be boring! My most popular flavor by far is salted caramel chocolate cake. Other popular flavors include blueberry lemon cake, white chocolate chai cake, and caramelized pear pecan cake.

I get all kinds of design requests from couples. The cake is a great way to reflect the couple’s style and highlight the look of the reception. From elegant details from the brides dress to a vintage travel themed wedding, anything is possible in sugar and I love a challenge!

And don’t forget about the groom! Groom’s cakes are growing more and more in popularity. They can be displayed along side the wedding cake or served at the rehearsal dinner. I have a lot of brides surprise their groom with a cake that is in the style of their favorite sports team or hobby.

Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to share what I love to do! I hope you will check out my website and make sure you mention you saw me on A Savvy Event's Blog!

Contact info:
www.inticingcreations.com
kelly@inticingcreations.com
415-205-9422

Cake Coquette

Our next guest blog is from the talented Gabrielle Feursinger...we have had the pleasure of working with Gabby on some beautiful wine country weddings and her work with buttercream is absolutely amazing! I have never come across anyone more talented! Please check out the photos below her post on her cakes!

Cake Coquette
Hello A Savvy Event Blog Readers!
My name is Gabrielle Feuersinger, I am owner of Cake Coquette, a boutique cake design company based in San Francisco. Everyone asks me what I call myself, what’s my job title. That’s easy: I am a Cake Designer. Cake Decorator is so grocery store, and please don’t call me a Cake Lady. That’s like calling me the Church Lady, but worse.
I was born and raised in San Francisco so it was only natural that I start my business here after stints making desserts and cakes in Seattle and Los Angeles. Los Angeles was where I really honed my cake skills. I did go to the California Culinary Academy for their Baking and Pastry Program, but you don’t learn the real nuts-and-bolts of decorating cakes in a classroom.
Personally, I acquired my essential decorating skills from on-the-job experience making crazy cakes for high-profile clients in Los Angeles. Think celebrities and musicians. I loved my job in LA, where I worked for the Cake Divas (you can catch their quirky antics on the WE Network show, Amazing Wedding Cakes). With The Divas, as they’re commonly known, I was given the opportunity to work on some really outrageous cakes, and I was allowed enough creative freedom to grow and build my own style.
I left LA with the confidence that I could tackle just about any cake imaginable—buildings, castles, towns made of cake, 10 tier wedding cakes filled with sugar flowers. But what I found to be my favorite style was hand-piped ornamental details with buttercream. Sure, I am happy to use fondant (rolled icing), but my signature look is buttercream icing and piping. Inspiration comes from so many places but my favorites are beautiful fabrics, china patterns, Italian scrolls, French Rococo, gold gilded Austrian art, Russian Faberge jewelry and art nouveau patterns. I just love fabulous textures and details.
Ordering a wedding cake from me begins with a complimentary tasting and consultation. At our meeting I get a sense of what each couple is like and what vision they have for their big day. When I get a good feeling for personalities and style, the creative design process begins. Every cake I make is customized to reflect the couple. My intention is to dazzle my clients, while impressing guests with a delicious wedding cake that is also a piece of art.

Thank you so much Gabby for stopping by and sharing Cake Coquette with our readers! Make sure you check out Cake Coquette's Website and tell her you saw us on our Blog!

Tamitha + Greg Part I

B.R.Cohn Winery
May 2009
A perfect evening ceremony at B.R. Cohn Winery Pool & Vineyard Views were the setting for this Intimate Wedding Celebration.

The Pool Vineyard Wedding Deck at B.R. Cohn winery is a new site that is available for intimate weddings and larger weddings. Tamitha & Greg had such a lovely evening wedding ceremony with their closest family and friends. They all came out from Oklahoma to celebrate this marriage.

The views are absolutely spectacular!

Timothy Mills officiated this wonderful ceremony for Tamitha & Greg

CONGRATULATIONS MR & MRS