Bright Beginnings!

Kelly and Tommy met with me a few weeks ago and they really brightened my day! Not only are they just a fun and wonderful couple, but their wedding colors are bright and happy...lime green, orange, fushcia and touches of yellow. I had such a blast designing their fun save the date and can't wait to get my hands on their invite design. Hope this brightens your day too! Enjoy!

Real Wedding - Diana & Jon - 09.06.09

Diana and Jon got married earlier this month in Washington, DC. I was so excited when Diana emailed me the link to these awesome pics from their photographer, Pamela Lepold. There are just so many great detail shots of our work...not to mention of the bride and groom! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...enjoy!

What a cool picture!!

Our place cards hanging from the pretty branches

The most important place card...

Menu

Love this pic of our invite in the branches

...and the inside of the invite

How great is it that the flower we used on all of their stationery was used on the cake too!

The happy couple...congrats Diana and Jon!

"B"eautiful Day!

Rekiya and Terrance got married on September 12th and when Rekiya emailed me about thank you notes last week, it reminded me that I hadn't yet blogged about their wedding day accessories! We had the pleasure of desiging their invitations too, so I was excited to get my hands on their programs, table numbers and place cards too! Overall, we kept the same look -- incorporating their monogram design and especially the "B", along with the ivory pearl, champagne and coral color scheme. Love the simple and elegant look. Enjoy!

Real Wedding - Kim & Jake

Allison asked me to write the blog post for today since I was a guest at Kim & Jake's wedding a few weeks ago. For those of you that don't know - I'm Allie - the Studio Manager, and I've been friends with Kim & Jake for years. I was really excited when I found out that Jake & Kim were getting engaged...although it was a hard secret to keep from Kim. We happened to be at dinner the night that Jake asked Kim's parents for their permission to marry their daughter....and it was painful to keep quiet about it that night!

I was so excited when Kim asked us to design her save the dates, invitations, and paper accessories for their special day. Kim was so organized (being a wedding coordinator for the Marriott in Annapolis certainly helps) that she knew exactly what she wanted from the beginning. We incorporated her green, yellow, and blue color scheme throughout her paper products. I was so happy to get the opportunity to see our work on the big day, since we normally don't.

Here are a few pictures that I took of the wedding, along with some professional shots from Egomedia Photography. Kim used some of our favorite vendors on her big day, to include Wedding Savvy and Amie Decker and her glam squad.

Thanks again Kim & Jake for letting us be a big part of your special day. Wishing you health, wealth and happiness in your new married life together!

Autumn Gold

Amanda and Bobby came to us for invitations for their Autumn wedding at Pintail Point at The River Plantation. They loved the pocket idea and wanted to incorporate light gold, chocolate and a terracotta-ruby color. This invite has such a warm feel. It's accented with a beautiful light gold Swarovski rhinestone on the monogram tag, which adds a bit of sparkle to an already pretty invite. Enjoy!

Boarding to Bermuda

We had the pleasure of meeting Emmy at the Baltimore Bridal Showcase...when she fell in love with one of our pocket invitiations...you'll have to stay tuned for that design. But first, Emmy and Ken needed save the dates. While they were here at the studio, they saw a magnet design we did for another couple that was a boarding pass. Well, the creative juices started flowing and we put together this boarding pass to their wedding locale...Bermuda. I wanna go! :) Touches of sand, coral and chocolate really add to the pretty look of this save the date. Emmy is picking these up tonight, so shhh...don't spoil the surprise! Enjoy!

Holding Hands

Allison and Andrew came to us to design their starfish inspired invitation. (Click here to see the blog post.) So, when they came back to have us do their wedding day accessories, of course, we were happy to oblige. For the accessories, Allison had seen a blog post with my "starfish holding hands" design. She wanted to incorporate that into her programs, table numbers, signs, etc. We were happy to switch up her monogram a bit. I love how the slight change made a huge difference, but also gave a very coordinated look. Can't wait to see pics from their big day! Enjoy!

On September 21, 2002...

...I got married! I spent the months leading up to the big day cutting, gluing and ribbon tying -- favors, place cards, programs, menus, table numbers...you name it, I made it. And, as most of you know, that inspired me to begin Allison Barnhill Designs. So, seven years has flown by...the business has grown by leaps and bounds, my hubby and I have five year old twins, a pug and a very full life. I thought for today's post, it would be fun to look back on my big day...and see how far we've come! :) Here's hoping you look back on your big day and feel the same way! Enjoy!

Fairy Tale Wedding

Katie and Jason came to me upon a recommendation from another client...specifically, because they are getting married in Disney and saw a previous clients' Disney invite. When Katie came into the studio, she knew exactly what she wanted...the Disney invite with the fairy wand and pixie dust. This is the same overall design as the original with the new colors and text...voila...perfection! So, here is to Katie and Jason's fairy tale wedding and hoping a little pixie dust makes their day sparkle! Enjoy!

"F" is for...

...fabulous, fuchsia and Farina! Kristen and Andrew (now Mr. & Mrs. Farina) got married this past weekend and we had the pleasure of designing their invitations and day of accessories. Below are some pics of their fans and table numbers...love the colors and designs for these fresh and fabulous accessories. Okay, there are a lot of "F's" but it works! Enjoy!

Jessica & Brandon - 8.29.09

We were so happy to design Jessica and Brandon's save the date and invitation (check out the invitation blog post here). So, when I found out that phenomenal and very busy, Jen Lowe was the photographer for their wedding, I couldn't wait to see pictures...and hope that there were a few detail shots of our invite. And, of course, Jen never fails! Take a look at these great shots of the couple, bridal party (notice the invite matches the bridesmaid dresses perfectly) and a few invite detail shots. Congrats to Jessica and Brandon...and thanks again to Jen. Enjoy!

Cute couple, huh?

Love the dresses...LOVE the shoes...double love!

Ooh, pretty invite...

Still pretty...

The invite is frolicking in a fountain...love it!

Had to include this shot...whew...hot!

Loose Ends

If you are a loyal follower of our blog, you can probably tell that we take pictures of everything that we make. Every day, there is a stack of new invitations, programs or other goodies for me to photograph to share with you. Then, each day, at about this time, I sit down to come up with inspiration for a blog post (the hardest part is usually coming up with a catchy title). Today, I realized that there were some photos that have never been featured on a blog. So, here is a very eclectic mix...enjoy!

After Amanda and Patrick's wedding, Amanda sent me this great photo of them to use on their custom thank you notes...awhhh!!

Jamie and her fiance are getting married this coming weekend at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. She wanted table numbers that reflected the natural beauty of the venue. Cattails...perfect!

Kristel met with me a few weeks ago to take about her wedding invitations -- design to come soon -- but then called out of the blue with an idea for her save the date magnet. I loved the idea and was happy to get these designed and out to her quickly. We also created a little accommodations card that was the same size as the magnet. Love the set

We were so happy when Bridget came back to us to design and create her table numbers. We originally designed her Celtic knot save the date and just loved getting to design Gaelic/English table numbers for her!

Dainty Details

Megan and Jonathan worked with me via email to design this pretty purple and celery green invite. Megan wanted a design element that was subtle and incorporated touches of champagne into her invitation. This new vintage swirl design has been very popular recently and it was no exception with Megan and Jonathan's invite. I just love how the champagne swirl adds an unique touch to the invite, but not at the expense of the overall look. Subtle elegance...dainty details...enjoy!

Paisley Pattern

So, I haven't had a chance to blog about Heather and Christopher's wedding invitation, even though we delivered them over a month ago. This week, I have been working on the designs for their day of accessories and thought it was the perfect time to give you a peek at the invite.

Heather and her mom came into the studio to discuss invites. They were just so fun! I was so happy that Heather wanted to use the garden green paisley cardstock as a backing for her monogram tag...and that she gave me free reign to use a coordinating paisley design on the invite panel in her pocket. And, the invite wouldn't be complete without a little bling!

I love this invite and can't wait to share the pictures of their accessories...there are some really fun surprises! Enjoy!

Compass Cruise

Liz and Jason got married on August 15th here in Annapolis. Actually, they got married on a yacht and then had their reception at the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront. We had the pleasure of working on all of the stationery for their wedding, from their boarding pass save the date magnet, to their pocket invitation and finally, their wedding day accessories.

Liz and Jason decided on having a reception program that listed their wedding party, menu and thank you to their guests. I love this long layered look. And, of course, all of their other items -- table numbers, welcome tags and itinerary -- included the compass design too.

Can't wait to see pro pics from the big day! Enjoy!

Clasically Elegant

I've worked with Kate for some time now. First, we design her "Map the Date" save the date card that had a custom map of the area in New York where Kate and Brady are getting married. For their invites, Kate and Brady wanted a very classic and elegant look. Kate loved the traditional monogram look and wanted to incorporate very traditional colors and fonts. The end result is simply beautiful! Enjoy!

Wonderful Weekend

Why is it a wonderful weekend? Well, we have a lot of awesome couples getting married on this holiday weekend...and it's a holiday...wonderful! As we say goodbye to summer, I want to wish Kim & Jake, Stephanie & Jay, Diana & Jonathan, Leslie & Paul, Serena & Jesse and Kara & John much happiness and great weather for the big day!

I'm also going to share pics of some of the wedding day accessories we did for these lucky couples! Enjoy!

So, Kim and Jake are getting married overlooking the water -- and I just love how the table names turned out!!! We did her programs too...but, my studio manager, Allie, is a friend a Kim's and will be at the wedding. She promises to take lots of pictures to post next week! :)

Stephanie and Jay are finally getting married in Montana this weekend...okay, I say finally, because I've been working them for so long, but I'm just so over the moon for them and hope that the big day is as big as Big Sky! :) Can't wait to see all of the pictures from this one!!!!

Diana and Jonathan are getting married in DC this weekend -- some of you might remember their pretty floral folder. Well, here are their menus and programs, which is a new design! Too cute!

Congrats to all!

Emily and Chris - June 6, 2009

Emily and Chris got married on one our busiest days of the year...we had 12 clients that got married on June 6th! I've been religiously stalking the photographer's website to get pro pics of the wedding day accessories we designed for them. So, I have to say, I was excited to see these awesome pictures from egomedia photography.

Emily and Chris had their ceremony at St. Mary's Church in Annapolis and their reception followed at The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club. Enjoy!

Awh!! Love this picture -- really shows off the beautiful church...and couple!

Loved this pretty layered style program with sand metallic backing, white pearl pages and light pink bow.

This table number was a new design just for Emily and since her wedding, most of our brides have decided to do something similar.

We also provided the gold table number holders for her tables, which really matched her gold chargers and other table accents.

Congrats to Emily and Chris!