I am SO excited about today’s post. By now, most of you are probably well aware of my complete obsessions with all things Ceci. The designer behind the fabulous brand, Lisa Hoffman, is one of the most innovative artists out there, crafting little masterpieces that reflect that bride and groom to perfection.
Well, we are so thrilled to tell you that Lisa and her hubby tied the knot this past weekend in the gorgeous Puerto Rico and she was sweet enough to share her own inspirations and of course, her own invitations in today’s guest blog!
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For the past six years I’ve worked closely with brides designing their wedding invitations and now I am so excited that’s it’s finally MY turn to be walking down the aisle! In celebration of my own wedding weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you what I did for my invitations.
Ever since I took my first Spanish class in school and started to learn about the Spanish couture, I fell in love with Spain. I adored the beauty of it, the art and the romance. I loved seeing the flamenco dancers whirl across the dance floor in their brilliant red dresses and the way they rolled their R’s so easily when they spoke. I appreciated the culture to it’s fullest. So when I set out to find my perfect venue to get married, I immediately thought of Spain but the more we looked into the practicality of it, the sooner it became farther and farther a possibility. That’s when my best friend introduced me to Hotel El Convento. It provided that old world Spanish charm I had my heart set on to have and Puerto Rico didn’t require a passport (very important detail to our non traveling parents)!
The goal of my invitation design (and wedding really) was to play up the vibrant Spanish culture and bring Spain to Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. I am the perfect example of the Classically Cultural trend I spoke about – even though both my fianceé and I are completely American and have no Spanish blood in us, we didn’t care. We embraced the culture and made it our own.
Alan always asks me “When are you going to make me some art? You are always making such beautiful things for everyone else, I want something too” so I painted us our own Spanish tapestry that became the liner and backing of my invitation. I wanted to create a nice transition between the rich jewel tone colors and the soft elegant metallic palette of the cards.
The envelope shape I created to start off with an intriguing interest in the mail. Just a hint of the red in the hand calligraphy and stamps so when guests opened the envelope the impact of the mural grabbed them. Our mural is a blending together of symbolic elements rich in historic significance inspired by 15th century spanish art. The tree of life is center with the leaves drawn in the shapes of my dress details represents our new life together.
The peacock is a symbol of fidelity and was used to guard the royal courts back in history. Alan is really into history so our aim was to create an elegant look that embodied a royal feast of family and friends deep with meaning. I hid a lot of little details in the painting that are for us, making it a forever keepsake. The back of the invite presented our crest that spoke to the theme. This detail we carried throughout the wedding as our mark.
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A huge congratulations from the entire SMP family to Lisa and Alan! May you have many, many years of inspiration, love and laughter!
More to come from Lisa Hoffman including a pretty amazing discount for SMP readers!