Once upon a time, my favorite event stylist, Allison Sprouse of The Modern Hostess {full disclosure: also one of my favorite people!} contacted me about designing a wedding invitation for a couple with unique design sensibilities. Jessica and Michael {hereby known as “Jess and Mish”} are self-professed urbanite foodies living in London who love gourmet food and wine. From across the pond, Allison was helping them pull together all of the details for their destination wedding at the lush and fabulous Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee.

The destination would inspire all of the details. They wanted an east Tennessee style, but with “rock n’ roll flair.” It couldn’t be too country, nor could it be too edgy… it had to be the perfect balance. Jess and Mish put forward the Jack Daniel’s bottle and packaging as a springboard of inspiration—what I have come to call, “Hard Country.”

The first piece we designed  was a digital save the date. This was a fairly literal interpretation of the Jack Daniels label because we wanted to come in with a strong statement initially, then soften it up for the actual printed wedding pieces. To conserve on the paper and ink, the couple simply sent this file out to all of their guests via email.

Next, we began working on the invitation suite. This included the invitation + envelope, the reply card + envelope, and an additional accommodations card with specific lodging information for Blackberry Farm. The pieces were letterpress printed;  I added the black reply envelope with silver ink to ensure the “Hard” part of “Hard Country” came through.

The next step was to create all of the additional pieces needed for the wedding weekend itself. This included a map, menu, weekend events card, guest book paper, welcome note, place cards and table cards.

Yum! Guinea and dumplings? Sign me up! You can really see Jess and Mish’s self proclaimed “foodie” character traits coming out with these delish food and wine pairings.

This gorgeous watercolor map artwork was provided by Blackberry Farm. We added type that was complimentary to the wedding suite so that everything had one cohesive overall look.

Allison came across an old typewriter that she knew would be perfect for Jess and Mish’s guest book. We created a sign for folks so that they’d know what to do…

It was the perfect solution for them. What great keepsakes for the bride and groom.

And if you’ve been dying to meet this stylish duo… here they are! Jess and Mish, enjoying their wedding weekend.

The Modern Hostess,  The Happy Envelope + Blackberry Farm all showcased in post.

Additional credits for this perfect wedding weekend include:

* Cachepot
* Magpies Bakery
* All Occasions Party Rentals
* A Bryan Photo
* The Bearded
* Iron Horse
* Bueller