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 30, 2012
I was asked to participate in an event for Black Grouse Scotch. It was quite an evening! As each guest arrived, they told the uber talented bartenders what flavors they preferred in their cocktail, using Black Grouse as a main ingredient. A personal cocktail was then concocted for them on the spot.
I had two assistants positioned near the bartenders. They made notes for each individual’s recipe. The notes were then shuttled over to me at the calligraphy table where I lettered all evening. Each guest was then presented with a hand lettered recipe card as a take away gift! The idea is a great party idea don’t you think?
Bottles of Black Grouse set against a New York City street.
I was quite busy penning all the details of each individual recipe!
The Delicate Pen team for the evening posing in front of the Black Grouse chalk drawing that was drafted on the wall for the event.
A reminder from The Delicate Pen to drink responsively and never drink and drive.
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 Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Valentine’s Day from The Delicate Pen! Here are a few images to get you in the spirit!
My favorite postcard from my vintage collection. A cherub with her “Delicate Pen.”
Some wonderfully creative lettering. The image is from my acquaintance on Instagram. @nrichardsen from Norway. @delicatepen thanks you, Nina, for permission to post the photo!
Photo:©Nina Richardsen
I have been waiting since June to share this photo on a romantic occasion. While at the LIMA show last June, the Anheuser Busch stately horses clip-clopped in the Mandalay Bay convention center one day, bringing the trade show floor to a magnificent halt. These two are obviously sweethearts.
Have a wonderful day!
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 Sunday, December 18, 2011
The Delicate Pen helps supports an organization called Kageno, which means A Place of Hope. The mission of Kageno, founded and directed by my good friend, Dr. Frank Andolino, is this:
“Kageno’s mission is to transform impoverished communities into places of opportunity and hope – through the development of self-sustaining community directed programs in education, health, ventures, and environment. We believe it is essential to sustainable development to work with the community rather than giving simple aid or handouts.”
A few weeks ago, Kageno produced their annual fundraising Harambee. The Delicate Pen donated menus, place cards and table numbers for the event.
I assisted with the Needs Tree. I signed up as soon as I knew there were paper tags involved! Our tree raised over $1600, with special thanks to Sally Bruns and Romy Chenet, for assisting me. Our needs included school supplies, fruit trees and medical supplies and staff.
Here are Kate Spade and her daughter Bea perusing the auction items which included trips, art, spa packages, two items from The Delicate Pen and a chic bag from my friend, Amanda Pearl, (Incidentally, Amanda is having a sale right now!)
The Young People’s Chorus provided the entertainment and the evening was a success.
Photos: Will Ragozzino © 2011
BY jane, ON Saturday, December 17, 2011
I recently had the great pleasure of being the on site calligrapher for several events for Tequila Don Julio, under the parent company of Diageo. Since I work solo much of the time, it is wild fun to be injected into a corporate setting every now and then. At several Holiday Happy Hours, I was on site for the purpose of hand lettering gift tags for an extremely elegant bottle of 1942 which has been aged for 2.5 years. The packaging of this deluxe gift item is exquisite, so I was honored to have my hand lettered gift tag considered a necessary addition to an already debonair presentation.
The shape of the tag mirrors the design of the sleek bottle of 1942. A beautiful hand lettered gift tag will always add something special and personal to any gift.
Me and the lovely Zey Halici, from MKTG, who organized the events.
The circular lobby wall of Diageo Corporate Headquarters in Norwalk, CT, where one of the events was held, reads,
“Celebrating life, every day, everywhere responsibly.”
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