Guest Post – Finding Inspiration with Chellé Paperie

Keeping along with the amazing string of fabulous women who were sweet enough to grace The Sweetest Occasion with their talents this week, I’m thrilled to have Katie from Chellé Paperie here today. Chellé Paperie is a stationery line specializing in truly personalized, one of a kind invitation and stationery creations that are a unique reflection of each and every client. I’m delighted to have Katie share what inspires them when dreaming up their unique designs…

I want to start this post off with a huge thank you to Cyd for including me here on her spectacular blog. I could not be more honored to help out while she is busy at the National Stationery Show, a dreamworld for a paper lover like me! So, will I be posting about paper? Not really – we thought it would be cool to talk about the non paper things that inspire for once. Mostly I’ll just tell you a little bit about how we work at Chellé Paperie. Each and every project we do is custom, and each and every bride comes to us with different ideas and inspiration. We encourage them to bring us anything that inspires them, whether it be a swatch from their bridesmaid dresses, or a plate that they love the pattern on. We meet with each couple individually and get a sense for who they are and what will make their invitation speak of their style so that when their guests open them, it will be a more personal experience as if the bride and groom were right there inviting them. We love what we do, and it is a joy to work with clients who come to us with different (sometimes crazy) ideas and see how we can make those ideas into reality.

In terms of me, the things I find inspiring are quiet mornings, a freshly made bed, and (I don’t even care how cliché it is) a fully blown peony picked from the garden. I love fabrics, and vintage ribbons, and old school book covers. I find TONS of inspiration in antique markets. I would say they are my all-time number one place to go to get inspired, and I always carry a camera with me in case I run across some beautiful old typography, the perfect shape of a mirror, the faded color or pattern on a hundred year old quilt. I love to look at details like this and bring them back to life in the form of modern fresh paper goods and invitations. Looking at the work on our blog and website, you might not be able to recognize the direct inspiration that a project results from, and that is fine. Some things are more apparent than others. For instance, the pretty glassine menu in the second to last image was inspired directly by this AMAZING commercial which I could watch for days on end and never get tired. Some things are more of a combination of ideas. In the end it is really the bride and groom that serve as our inspiration.

For a look at more of our work and inspiration, please stop on over at our blog and site. Thank you again for having me, Cyd!

{Photos by Katie McDonough of Chellé Paperie.}