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Paris

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Do you read the Oh Happy Day blog? She’s giving away a 7-day trip to Paris and I just entered the competition! We honeymooned in New York City, and I’ve seen most of the US and Great Britain… But I sure would love to spend a week in France. Check it out!

One Week at Lucky Luxe

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Today, Sarah-Guyton, our recent one-week intern, will be guest blogging. I’m so thankful for her help while Annalee has been out of the studio!

Earlier this year, I approached Erin about doing a brief internship with Lucky Luxe to learn more about running a small design business. My sister found her blog online, like many other people, and forwarded the site to me. I immediately asked my mother, an old family friend of Erin’s parents, to contact Erin about a “mini” internship this summer. I was afraid that she wouldn’t know who I was if I asked her directly! I’m so thankful that I had this opportunity to visit with Erin and learn about her career and business. While my time with Lucky Luxe was brief, I picked up many helpful tips and insights:

Be a good business manager.

It surprised me to learn that many people think Lucky Luxe is run by a large team of designers and office staff. In reality, Lucky Luxe has one designer and one business manger and works with 3 pressmen. This month, Erin is running the shop alone while Annalee is taking a school course! She is super organized and never seems stressed out by her workload. For example, this week she had a shipment of envelopes go missing. It took her awhile to figure out where the envelopes were shipped (a customer service rep at the paper company suggested the package might have been signed by someone at the Lucky Luxe loading docks ha!), but she remained calm and collected the whole time!

Cultivate your artistry and skill.

The cards that Erin designs are so intricate and beautiful, and I love the postcards and the hankies! Erin is constantly challenging herself to find new embellishments, fonts, and faster ways to edit images. I learned so many new things that I can’t wait to use in Photoshop and Illustrator! Biggest lesson: even though free fonts seem super amazing on the outside… nothing beats what you can do with a paid font! (this is a tough lesson for those of us who are college kids trying to design outside of the fonts already on our computers!) 🙂

Fill your life with the things you love.

Ben and Erin’s loft apartment (Lucky Luxe headquarters) is absolutely adorable and truly reflects who they are and what they value. I love literally EVERYTHING about her apartment! While I realize that it’s important to find inspiration in everyday things, it is also essential to make your environment into something that will inspire you.

Embrace and promote your community.
After calling Laurel home for nearly twenty years, my family moved away in 2006. The city, and especially the downtown area, has changed so much since we left! Laurel has so many unique things to offer, like an amazing crepe shop and tons of loft apartments! This whole week I felt like i was in a different city. Both Erin and Ben are very involved in Laurel Main Street and I am very excited to see what this part of town becomes in the next few years.

Erin, thank you so much for letting me visit with you for the week. You taught me so much about being an artist and a businesswoman. I am eager to try out your tips and tricks. Your grace, hospitality, and passion will inspire me for years to come.


Thank YOU, Sarah-Guyton! It was amazing having another set of eyes to critique our work and another set of hands to prepare our orders. You’re welcome anytime at Lucky Luxe!

ZZ Top Show Posters

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For a few months this year, Lucky Luxe will be stepping outside the norm of wedding world and designing rock show posters for Live At The Garden, a summer concert series in Memphis. In college I was an intern at Red Deluxe Brand Desire and I was flattered when they contacted me to design the posters for each of the 5 concerts coming up. Last week, the first bundle rolled off the presses:

Graceann Miller and Kyle Falkenhagen Wedding

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It’s been a very hectic and exciting week here at Lucky Luxe! We have been featured several times over the last couple of weeks including a Style Me Pretty post on one of our recent brides. Graceann Miller and Kyle Falkenhagen’s March wedding in Austin, Texas, is quite possibly the most beautiful wedding we’ve ever seen featured on SMP.

Graceann ordered our floral handkerchief invitation for her outdoor Spring wedding. The glowing bride said, “After we were engaged, someone told me that “the invitation sets the tone.” I took that very seriously. I scoured the internet and local paper shops for an invitation that would not only set the tone, but would also be something I loved to look at for years to come. I was so bored by everything I saw – nothing was whimsical, and nothing made me feel happy. Just when I was about to give up hope and order traditional invites, I found these dolls from Lucky Luxe. It was love. And that set everything in motion. We invited our guests to the wedding with a handkerchief that read “dinner, dancing, and merriment to follow” (whimsy) and a return postcard that mentioned being there “with bells on.” The responses never ceased to make us laugh.”

It’s positively heartwarming to help our sweet brides-to-be create their dream wedding. It was such a joy to work with you, Graceann!

All photos by The Nichols

Sneak Peek: Hope & Jonathan

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I’ve been eagerly awaiting the day when I could finally design this particular invitation. Hope has been my best friend since our 7th grade art class. That year we painted little ceramic tiles of our names, and later they were glued side by side into the backsplash of the classroom. Just like those tiles, we’ve been stuck like glue ever since. When she and Jonathan began quietly dating a few years ago, I had no clue I would someday be writing their names on such an important document! She wanted her invitation to reflect the fun, informal setting of their upcoming wedding with lots of bright colors and hand-drawn nature-inspired elements, with silhouettes of their likeness to add a touch of tradition.



The wedding will be a colorful and festive affair on the lawn of a beautiful 1900-era home, with floral print bridesmaid dresses and games on the lawn, and they’ll be serving corn dogs and candy apples from a carnival wagon while dance music from the 50s and 60s plays for the guests. I am just dying for June to arrive so I can see my sweetest friend become Mrs. Staples.

Deco in Vintage Blue

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Last week, we shipped out this lovely Deco suite in vintage blue and metallic gold:




I think this suite feels especially French-inspired in this palette.

Baby Duhon

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Although Lucky Luxe is truly a wedding stationer, every now and then an expectant mama sends us an inquiry that we can’t refuse. Justice was just such a mama, except she already had a tee-tiny little baby girl who was born prematurely. With such a blessing to share with their friends and family, the Duhons asked us for an announcement that would be delicate and beautiful, just like their baby girl.
I especially love the scripture they chose from Proverbs: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.
As we were working together on the suite, baby Cecilia was still in the neonatal unit. Can you believe my dear friend and photographer, Sam, was able to take such an angelic photo under the glare of hospital lights? This photo was tucked beneath the belly band of the announcement.


Now baby Cecilia is finally home. Miracles happen all the time, y’all!

Basket Shower & Brunch

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Today’s post is a little personal project for my best friend Hope who’s getting married this summer. Since 7th grade we’ve been attached at the hip and when she asked me to be her matron of honor, I was… Well, completely honored!
When Ben and I got married she wanted to throw us a shower that was out of the ordinary—a basket shower. Have you heard of this? Ladies were assigned a certain kind of basket to bring, say a “Mrs. Fix-It” basket or a “Gourmet Basket”, where a related container is filled with all sorts of goodies that you can’t register for—the things that make an empty house into a home. As soon as she set a date, I decided to throw the same shower for her. If you’re ever in charge of planning a shower, I highly recommend it. We needed and used every last thing that we were given at that shower! My neighbor Mallorie and I are hosting at her loft apartment and whipping up a yummy brunch. She’s even going to attempt making cake pops like the ones from Starbucks!
I wanted the shower invitations to have the look of a vintage, springish postcard, but in a greeting card format with more information inside:
I’ve been saving these lovely Audubon-style bird illustrations for this very sort of thing!

Since bridesmaids and friends are also receiving a card inviting them to a bachelorette party, I bought these great little cellophane envelopes for mailing them:
We’re so pleased with how the cellophane envelopes turned out that Lucky Luxe will now be offering them for our postcard clients. That’s pretty exciting, huh?

Tom & Nichole

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I just stumbled upon one of our sweet couples’ wedding on OnceWed! Nichole and Tom were married in New York City and commissioned this postcard for their wedding invitation:
Their wedding day aesthetic was full of eclectic surprises set in a dramatic and cool venue. I’m in love with the look of it all:
Photography by Josh Goleman

Photography by Josh Goleman

Photography by Josh Goleman


Photography by Josh Goleman

Photography by Josh Goleman

Art Nouveau Destination Wedding

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Andrea and Sean are having a destination wedding in Malta and she requested a Bespoke invitation suite that would be art nouveau-inspired. Somehow, no one has ever requested that of Lucky Luxe and I was thrilled to give it a whirl. I love working with the celadon color family, so we mixed in some grey pieces for contrast and here are the lovely results (many thanks to our new pressman, Friedrich Kerksieck):