BY jane, ON Wednesday, May 14, 2014
One of our great pleasures, here at The Delicate Pen, is seeing photos of our calligraphy and stationery items in action at a wedding. Even more pleasurable is catching glimpses of the event with all coordinating elements in full swing, but inevitably, most beguiling are photos of the bride and groom. The wedding we are posting today is especially delightful, because it is one of two weddings for which we created separate invitations. For two sisters! The weddings were about a year apart, one last August and one just a few days ago. The first wedding, of Jacklyn and Adam, held at the Arts Ballroom in Philadelphia last August, is our feature today. You’ll have to check back for the second sister’s wedding!

An imported Italian paper with deckled edges and soft gold ink, accented with hand painted mauve flowers, was chosen for the invitation. We like to add a touch of romance to every thing that comes out of the studio. The colors and textures chosen made that mission an effortless one.

Jackyln and Adam. Gorgeous and glowing.

A stolen kiss. The newlyweds – unaware of the inevitable smiles of passersby.
All photos: Tyler Boye Photography.
BY jane, ON Friday, November 2, 2012
The video and blog post over at the Martha Stewart Weddings Blog is up! You can view it here. Thank you Erin Furey for such a nice write up! Here are a couple sneak peeks, but don’t miss the video over at their blog! Plus it is a great blog to know about in general!



Photos by CarlosAndrésVarela and Anna Ross
via http://thebridesguide.marthastewartweddings.com/
BY jane, ON Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Hi! After a very long stretch of being away, the blog is back! We debuted our new album of designs at the National Stationery Show in May and it has taken all these months away from the blog to produce those albums and keep up with spring and summer wedding orders. As a friend of mine says, “We can only be super women 90% of the time! We had no idea we would be such a hit at NSS and so it took quite a while to produce the albums since every sample is hand painted. But the books shipped out all across the country last week and now there should be a little snippet of time again to post blogs regularly. Our first post back is a fun one too!
I was honored to be the calligrapher at the grand party held at Martha Stewart Weddings Headquarters during Bridal Market week. The highlight of the evening was a real wedding that took place, officiated by Martha herself! You MUST read about it here.
My part in the evening was to personalize notebooks made by Minted, with each guest’s name during the event.

There will be feature and a little video on the calligraphy I did on the notebooks on the Martha Stewart Weddings Blog soon, so you will just have to wait patiently for those images! (I will alert you on when that appears on that blog.) Here are some features of the evening, however.
I love setting up for an event. A little production that has to come together at just the right time gives me a little adrenaline rush every time!

At just the right moment the room was ready. Everyone cleared the room for a photo op!

Creme Delicious provided henna style decorated cakes and cookies.

Trays and trays of yummy food, ice sculptures and then more cupcakes and party favors by Jaret’s Stuffed Cupcakes magically appeared all evening.

A calligrapher friend, the very generous Bernard Maisner, honored me by letting me letter a notebook for him.

The party in full swing!

BY jane, ON Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Hi! I am so sorry to have evaporated for over a month! We took a little unexpected Company Vacation when the opportunity arose. When we returned, we were blessed with a profusion of orders and we are just catching up from that whirlwind. The hiatus has perhaps just made you long even more for the photos I promised of Jocelyn and Ryan’s wedding. So, albeit a little delayed, here they are and well worth the wait!
While I was lettering the mirrors for their wedding, the bride and groom arrived at the venue. I often don’t get to see the soon-to-be-married couple, so to spy them just before the event was a terrific perk for me. I managed to get a few photos from the ladder where I was poised with my pens!


No photo compares, however, to this wonderful, professional photo of the bride and groom. What a moment! How fortuitous that this wedding took place during the Pop Up Piano event to create such a fabulous setting for a memory on film!

Photo © Yun Gen Yang Photography
BY jane, ON Monday, February 6, 2012
Every so often one of our brides indulges me, by giving me permission to post photos of their wedding. Such is the case with Jocelyn and Ryan. This lovely couple contacted me about calligraphing the many mirrors at their wedding venue, 632 Hudson in New York City.
I met Jocelyn at the venue weeks ahead of the big day to scope out the lay of the land, measure the mirrors and access how much time I would need to letter them on Wedding Day. I was enchanted by the venue and its many nooks and crannies, and thus, my creative juices starting flowing about where and how to enhance this intimate event with the flourishes of my pens. They gave me full artistic license within the guideline of using a palette of white for much of the lettering, with accents of the vibrant colors of peacock feathers, which were a recurring theme of the wedding.
At first glance, I realized this fish tank was the perfect opportunity for some circular lettering!

The ceremony’s program was lettered on the mirror at the base of a grand staircase.

Here is a close up of the base of the mirror where I saw the possibility for a little romantic accent!

One of two powder room mirrors which received adornments.

The large mirror in the dining area was great fun to letter, with so much space. I lettered it sparingly, however, so that the reflection of the evening’s events were the main focus.

The entrance mirror was not on the original plan, but I couldn’t resist the chance to letter the word “Love.”

This is just a teaser for our next post in a few days where you will see the glorious bride and the dashing groom!
Photos: First and Third Photos © Yun Gen Yang Photography. All other photos © Jane Labanz.
BY jane, ON Tuesday, January 31, 2012
I thought before I present our first Delicate Pen Wedding in this new year, I should review some wedding highlights from 2011!

Tawnya and Kiel
See more photos here.

Leigh and Jonathan
See more photos here.

Debra and Jack
See more photos here.

Talia and Seth
See more photos here.
Best Wishes to all our 2011 Delicate Pen couples!
BY jane, ON Tuesday, January 10, 2012
We are happy to announce that we were asked to letter some fun table numbers for a wonderful feature in Martha Stewart Weddings winter issue on stands now. The article suggests using a wedding palette of black, white and gold. The table setting is just gorgeous, don’t you think? Click here to see more images.

Black, white and gold table setting with a table number lettered by The Delicate Pen.
via Martha Stewart Weddings
BY jane, ON Thursday, September 8, 2011
A few weeks ago, I featured the beautiful wedding of a Las Vegas couple, Tawnya and Kiel, who got married in grand style at a mansion. Last week, I introduced you to Debra and Jack, also from Las Vegas. They planned a completely different affair, high above the Las Vegas Strip lights. Upon arrival, each guest received a butterfly that they released at the conclusion of the ceremony. Guests whispered a wish to their butterfly as it gently spread its wings and flew away, with the belief that it would wing off to their Master to deliver the wish.

The bride is delighted as the ring bearer’s butterfly alights on her bouquet.

The Delicate Pen provided the invitations and place cards. I was pleased that the bride allowed me to write all the names on an angle, one of my favorite ways to write.
The Delicate Pen also designed a Guest Scroll for guests to sign.
FOOTNOTE:
I was in Las Vegas for the Licensing Show shortly after both Vegas weddings, so I invited Tawnya and Debra to dinner at the Vintner Grill so that I could spend a little quality time with two Delicate Pen brides and introduce them to each other. We dined inside and then “desserted” outside. A good time was had by all!
BY jane, ON Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sorry to have been away for a bit. We were gearing up for and recovering from Irene. There were so many brides who needed to cancel their weddings because of Irene. It was all extremely sad, but the way that these beautiful brides dealt with their grave disappointments were varied and creative. One couple went ahead and got married at the rehearsal dinner and the reception has been rescheduled for a later date. Another has opted to completely start over and do all the things they ran out of time to do the first time around! Everyone seemed to look at the champagne glass half full in spite of the devasting decision to cancel. Our heartfelt empathy goes out to all the brides and grooms that had their wedding plans disrupted this week.
One wedding that was able to take place happened in Las Vegas far away from Irene a few weeks back.
What do you get when a Las Vegas show girl…

falls in love with a rodeo man?

Well, some years later…you get A Delicate Pen Wedding!

More photos to come!
BY jane, ON Thursday, July 28, 2011
Another image of Tawyna, moments before she walked down the outdoor aisle, alongside the reflecting pool at Griffin Mansion.

The bride in her moment alone, before the wedding, always seems to be my favorite photo.
Photo: Andrew Estez