Colour Palette: Duck Egg Blue, Gold Trim and Pale Pink

This Handkerchied is one of my new 2015 designs, and is a modern take on a vintage theme. Duck egg is one of my most favourite colours, and compliments a vintage theme so well. Combine with soft pink and gold trim, a really elegant scheme is created.

Vintage china plates with modern bridesmaid dresses, heavily detailed bridal gown for the Bride, with pale suits and ties for the Gents.

Colour Palette: Rockabilly Black, Red and Powder Blue

Rockabilly style is one of my favourites and I love the way it can be expressed in Weddings. My Black and Red polka dot invitation, which features a CD style insert with wedding details on, is one of my more popular designs. Though many have opted for the Red as shown, I have had several other colour combination requests too.

I love how a powder blue compliments the stong red and black, and think it softens the rockabilly vibe without toning down the overall effect. Picking out key pieces in the powder blue - such as the sash on this bridal gown, and the icing on this cake, is how I would look to create this style, making it more suitable for spring or summer weddings than just Red and Black together.

Colour Palette: Vintage Botanics, Greens and Dusky Pinks

My Vintage Pocketfold suite uses a Vintage Botanical Illustration and has a beautiful selection of shades to choose from for a wedding palette, so offers quite a diverse choice with styling.

I always pictured a simplistic wedding, with lots of wild flower bouquets, an elegant wedding gown with intricate detailing, mixed bridesmaid dresses of varying shades of earthy greens, and vintage placesettings of hessian, tea roses and pennant favor tags.

Colour Palette: Yellow & Grey

This was one of the first pocketfold suites which I designed, and I was mostly imagining a very modern, clean a simple wedding.

Pale grey bridesmaid dresses, pale grey suits, and a simple modern White Bridal gown. Accents of yellow in the flowers, with bold statements on the place settings and general decoration.

Colour Palette: Mint, Pink, Black and White

This colour scheme is very close to my heart, as it was originally the inspiration for our wedding. In fact, this is actually the invitation we used!

I pictured quite a feminine retro theme when designing this invitation with cool, pastel shades for a spring wedding, with hints of quirky retro flavours. I love this record place setting idea, and the nostalgic hair styles and dresses, with a simple yet sublime wedding cake.

Colour Palette: Gold, Blush Pink, Black & White

Often, when I create a new suite, I mentally plan a wedding in my head. It will be this type of dress, this venue, these flowers etc. So, I thought I would share with you over the coming weeks so of these schemes by way of inspiration.

My Sweet Magnolia invitation suite uses soft blush pink, threads of gold, and strong black and white patterns, together with a modern calligraphy typeface. I pictured a New York Urban wedding with Tuxedos, a long modern Gown and Black Bridesmaid Dresses. Decoration would have white table clothes with small polkadot and strong stripe details, and soft pink florals.

Sweet Magnolias Wedding Invitation Range

This predominately black and white wedding stationery range uses striking modern monochrome stripes against soft florals. Combined with soft peach highlights and the striking dark green foliage of Magnolia blooms, this would be ideal for a New York Evening ceremony followed by a cocktail reception, or perhaps a winter wedding in the grounds of a Cheshire Mansion... 

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

Here at the VanillaRetro studio, I am finally winding down from a rather hectic year. The busy period happily extended throughout the Summer months, leading to an incredibly busy Summer - a wonderful surprise! Now, as Christmas shopping takes precedent, Wedding orders slowly fade until January.

So, this has allowed me to finally launch my Christmas Card range, and work on my 2015 Wedding Invitation designs. Here are my Retro Inspired cards, which are now available to purchase seperately, or in packs of 5...

By the Book

Library Catalogue Seating Cards - photo by TrentBailey

I'm a huge fan of novels. Give me a good series - Diana Gabaldon and her epic 9 book series is one of my particluar favourites - and I'm one happy bunny. In fact, I pick books over music, and even film. Books allow you to escape - they're where the greatest of romances flourish.

So it's no wonder that lots of Brides and Grooms feel inspired by novels to the point where they style their wedding around them. From Table names to favors, books can be used as inspiration for many aspects of a wedding. Here are my favourite pieces.

Pennant Tags

For a long time, I've had a few design ideas milling about my mind but my hectic workload of the past few months has made it difficult to realize these and get any new designs finalized and ready for sale.

Save the Date

Though it's the middle of the Wedding Season for 2014, things are just beginning for Brides and Grooms planning to say their vows in Summer 2015. Yup, that's right, it's time for Save the Dates...

Meet Morris

The VW CAMPERVAN - possibly the coolest Wedding Car ever.

There are few things which get a groom excited about a wedding. As a breed, the men folk are rarely interested by talk of flowers, aisle runners, or even wedding cake. But mention Wedding Cars, and their eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning. 

Introducing the New Botanics Range

Florals will always be a big hit in wedding stationery, and I'm hoping this new range becomes just as popular as my other Botanical designs (see here and here). Click beyond the jump to see further items in the range...

Ceremony Decoration

Decorating your Ceremony venue can be tricky to envisage, but in actual fact, it can be quite a simple exercise. The key is simple statements and repetition. The elements to consider are the Entrance, the Aisle, and the Alter. All three of these will be key points for your guests.

#PeopleMakeEtsy

Etsy has finally launched a TV advert!

Mint to be

I love mint - it's my favourite wedding colour. Here are my finds for a Mint Wedding Palette. Click beyond the jump to find out where to find some Minty Fresh wedding goodies.

Let's talk Envelopes

For something which is basically packaging and will be torn open within minutes of receiving, it is surprising how much emphasis is placed on Envelopes when talking about Wedding Invitations. Colour, texture, peel and seal, V flap, Printed, Lined, Hand Calligraphy, Return Address stamps... the list goes on and on. Who knew there was so many choices? And you thought picking your Invitation design and wording was the hard part...

Fox & Brie

When I design a new invitation, I often begin by creating a couple and picturing their imaginary Wedding. Without realizing it, I often pick out quite a few things which will work in their imaginary nuptials and find myself daydreaming about some fabulous wedding which is actually never going to happen. Because I made it all up. Consequently, I've found quite a few suppliers whose items sort of coordinate with my invitation designs or themes. So I have decided to run a little showcase of them here on the Blog...

Featured in BRIDES MAGAZINE

Wow. 2014 is just getting better and better!

Vanilla Retro has made it to print for the second time in as many months - hurrah! This time, one of our designs managed to catch the beady eyes of the curators over at Brides Magazine...

Hot for spots

 Out of nowhere, I found dalmatian print really appealing to me. The Wedding Invitation Fairies were telling me to use this print within a design immediately. Not one to anger the little blighters, I got right on the case. Here, I've paired the print with a tasteful gold, using a modern calligraphy font and printed onto a pearlescent cardstock to add a real feel of glamour. Very Cruella D'Evil - I like it. 

Click beyond the jump to see a few more pictures of this design

Elegant & Practical

As we approach the Summer Wedding season, I've been seeing a rapid increase in sales of our Wedding Program Fans. Stylish, Elegant... these are clearly the Hot thing to have at your wedding right now (<--- see what I did there?) Read on past the jump to see more photos...

Lakes and Mountains

Every summer, without fail, we holidayed in the Lake District. Usually camping, always wet. That was something you could always guarantee in the Lake District: it was definitely going to rain. But in-between the overcast days, the washed out days, the days where it was a struggle to stand upright against the force of the wind, there were days where the sun shone. Days where the hills and valleys were as vibrant as a watercolour painting, and as bright and interesting as the pages of a Beatrix Potter book.

Your Merseyside Wedding

I'm sooooo excited to announce that VanillaRetro has been featured in this month's issue of Your Merseyside Wedding Magazine. Eeeek! Click beyond the jump to see a sneak peek of the page...

Give me Wings

I was so delighted when my Bird Illustration Invitation suite was received so well and was so popular with my Brides-to-be after it launched in January. So I decided to broaden the range further, for a more comprehensive selection of available goods.

Comic Book Love

I've slowly been developing my quirky comic book styled range for a few months now. 

You'll remember this design, and this. 

But I had, so far, limited the design to invitations. After a few requests from customers, I decided it was finally time to get to work on the bigger items - the Table Plan for example. And what better way to finish off a comic styled wedding than with a comic Table Plan, in the format of an actual comic book?

Leaves of Gold

With Guestbook trees, it is hard to stand out from the crowd. This "guestbook alternative" is so mainstream now, it can't really be called an "alternative" at all. But, I hope my newest addition to the woods of thumbprint trees is a little more eye-catching.

Poppies

I'm a huge fan of vintage illustrations, particularly those of a botanical nature. And Jean Louis Prevost is my absolute favourite.  So I was delighted when I came across this delicious poppy illustration and new I had to do something special with it.

Kraft

I Love Kraft. There - I said it. I just LOVE it. Though many applications of this beautiful eco-friendly cardstock lean more towards the shabby chic style of invitations, I personally prefer it when it is just stripped back and simple. No frills, just Kraft. And ink - it would be silly not to have ink.

The Birds

Gaining popularity over the last couple of seasons have been Vintage Botanical Illustrations, and there has been a significant increase in interest in animal illustrations too. 

No doubt about it: Nature is the key trend this season.

Comic Book Wedding: Orange and Blue

 Here at VanillaRetro we're not tiring of the Geek trend just yet. In fact, we've found a new found love for all things comic styled. Our latest Wedding Invitation design is available in both Orange and Blue, or Coral and Mint, and features our favourite Retro Kissing Couple in a comicbook layout.

Retro Liverpool: a vintage styled Wedding

Liverpool lends itself well to a Retro themed wedding. The hive of all things cool in the 1950's and 60's; the birthplace of The Beatles and The Yellow Submarine. James and his Bride, Shelley decided they wanted their Wedding to be low key, but with a strong Retro Vibe...

Mint and Gold Spring Glamour

Mint will always be one of my favourite Wedding colours. There is something so refreshing about it - even the name... Mint... feels like a cool breath of fresh air. There are many colour combinations which work well with Mint, and this Gold and mint combo is certainly something to consider. 

Same Sex Ceremonies: Invitation Options

In love with Retro? Planning your same sex wedding or commitment ceremony? When it comes to Gay Wedding Stationery, I wouldn't say there is a great deal of choice on the market. Themes seem to include Man + Man toilet symbols or Male symbolism. But for a class of society who is well knows for creativity, extravagance and a sense of fun, we at VanillaRetro don't think these quite sum up the LGBT community.