Lately we’ve worked with many couples who are planning destination weddings. We’ve seen an increased demand for save-the-dates in recent months too. These two trends collided in a couple of projects: two save-the-date announcements, both for weddings in New Orleans, both featuring fleur-de-lis motifs.

Coreil and Charlie knew they would be sending out very formal, traditional wedding invitations, so they wanted save-the-dates that reflect the fun, colorful location of their nuptials. Serif and sans serif fonts were combined with a detailed fleur-de-lis motif and letterpress-printed in kelly green ink on thick bright-white stock. The printed announcement was mounted on a monarch-sized vibrant yellow card, adding another splash of color.

Ashley and Ben’s save-the-date, also for a New Orleans celebration, is much more subtle, which is just what the bride ordered. We printed a large, simple fleur-de-lis silhouette in very pale tan ink, on a natural white A6 notecard. Bare-bones wedding details were printed over the graphic in cloud-blue ink. Click on the image at the right for a larger view.

With so many elements in common, it’s interesting to see how unique each one turned out. Compare these save-the-dates to wedding invitations we created for yet another destination-NO wedding – again, very different! This is a nice illustration of what we mean when we use the word “custom” to describe the work we do at Lunalux. If you’re planning a destination wedding in New Orleans, we don’t pull out a book of templates and search for the design with a fleur-de-lis on it. We create something that reflects your tastes, your interests, your plans. Whether you need wedding invitations, calling cards or business stationery, we work hard to understand your needs and deliver high-quality letterpress-printed pieces that suit you.

We’ve been printing wedding invitations on Lettra, a paper created for letterpress printing, for a while now – brides love the luxurious feel of the paper, and it really shows off the tactile quality of letterpress printing. More recently, we’ve been printing business cards on this soft, 100% cotton card stock. The first card we printed on Lettra was for Suzy & Kent, who’ve been friends of the studio since we created wedding invitations for the daughter in 2002. This winter, Suzy asked us to create calling cards with their contact information in Minnesota and at their new vacation home. The cards are letterpress-printed in black and bright blue.

Most recently, we designed and letterpress-printed business cards for Nissa, a massage therapist and esthetician. Working with her existing logo, we created elegant, balanced business card in black and bright pink. Though you can’t see it in the picture at the left (do to click on that image for a larger view), there’s more information printed on the back of the card – Lettra is thick enough that a moderate impression on one side won’t result in unsightly show-through on the reverse.

Turns out, the French make a lot of cool stuff. This, I guess, is no surprise, as we’ve been selling Rhodia pads, G. Lalo stationery and J. Herbin inks for years – all imported from France. But now the Lunalux store is stocking some fresh modern paper goods for all you Francophiles out there. Like these petite flip-top notepads created by French designer JC de Castelbajac. Measuring just 3×5 inches, they tuck neatly into your handbag or shirt pocket. We’ve also got address books and larger hard-cover journals featuring these same designs.

Can’t decide of you like old-French of new-French stuff? These notebooks give you both, sorta. They’re reproductions of very old French cahiers. The slim volumes sport lovely vintage designs and bold colors. The corners are rounded, and the edges are even faded, as if the notebook were decades old. But it’s not, it’s new. Surprise! Four fun designs available.

If you’re in the market for a more substantial journal or sketchbook, consider one of these hard-cover books from Clairefontaine. Overlapping botanical silhouettes in yummy covers are printed all over the sturdy covers, which snap shut with a magnetic closure. Available in two sizes: 4.375×6 inches, and 7×8.75 inches.