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The story of how we developed B + M’s one-of-a kindcustom pop-up boxes for an insanely thoughtful wedding favor.
Image from Chaz Cruz Photographers
The groom is something of a mixologist; he enjoys making custom drinks for his friends when they visit. (We had the honor of enjoying an handcrafted orange espresso tonic.)
THE ASK: For their closest loved ones, B + M had the idea of writing a personalized cocktail for each and every guest. They recruited us to both create a unique form for the recipes and design a special and emotional moment for each guest.
We were blown away by the dedication. A unique drink for every single attendee, tailored to their personalities? What a massive commitment.
Imagine the emotional experience: receiving a personalized object, small enough to slip into your wallet to take home... an exclusive memento of how much you are seen and valued.
We dove head-first into research, looking at a range of objects from the past that fit that bill. Personalized, wallet-sized, and exclusive.
One category we looked at was membership cards. Your ticket into secret speakeasies during prohibition, for fan clubs for children’s shows to encourage viewership (with secret code ciphers on the back!), library cards, and all sort of hobby clubs…
Images (left) from wanderwomannyc.com, (right) Alan Mays, flickr
What they had in common: they were exclusive, personalized, and meant to fit in a wallet. We also looked at other wallet-sized cards: “rent party” advertisements in Harlem in the 40s-50s, which feel very influenced by 19th century invites to social balls.
Image from (left) the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, (right) The American Antiquarian Society
Image from Alan Mays, flickr
Also from that era were calling cards (some of which could get a little spicy) — the Victorian-era equivalent of sliding into the DMs.
(Looks like flirting was easier back then.)
Receiving a pocket-sized card would without fail make you feel special & chosen and also excited for whatever special thing you can now look forward to. We were interested in harnessing this sort of energy into our design.
Images from wanderwomannyc.com
From these references, we were drawing our design priorities:
• Preserving the historic quality of the invitation design through type & composition—but a little more unbuttoned
• Embody excitement and intimacy in shape and form, and create an artifact of an unforgettable night.
We knew we wanted to highlight the guest name as the drink name, so we started with explorations with the same fonts and typesetting rules as our invite design.
We also took the opportunity to imbue the designs (top) with the 18th century print style that we relished in for the invite design (bottom): featuring generous use of small caps, italics, and oscillation between.
B + M were also interested in the fun energy of a little illustration — for the different ways the cocktails are served. We created a suite of doodles of various drinks.
For an extra touch of vintage ornament, we crafted this custom edge piece: something in between a wave and a scallop..
Oh, and— did we mention we printed them on double thick paper for a Hefty Sturdy Tuck into a wallet?
We landed on this classy little number for the design.
Image from MacDonald’s (duh)
The bride also really wanted to emphasize the entire experience—especially the moment of opening. She wanted a “container” for the card that created a special opening experience —one that garners delight and anticipation....
Sort of like a happy meal?
We brainstormed a couple of options (jewelry boxes/mini bags with sparkly crinkle paper) before coming across a diy pop-up box design that seemed familiar...we definitely have some vague recollection of making these in our middle school scrapbooking era.
Image from Etsy, HeyJBDesign
But anyway. We fell in love with the idea of a box, entirely made of paper, holding itself together with its own architecture and forgoing the need for tape or glue.
Best of all, it bursts open like a pop-up gift!
We re-engineered a basic template to fit the dimensions and desired poof-level for our cards...
We’re in love with the results — à la microbag trend. The white one looks like a little dumpling!
We love the look of them scattered across the tablescape, a pop of color amidst the moody restaurant. Since they were customized with guest names, the boxes doubled as placecards.
Image from Chaz Cruz Photographers
Image from Chaz Cruz Photographers
The moment of opening was filled with awe and wonder as guests realized each and every card was uniquely tailored to them.
As expected, the guests were blown away by the thoughtfulness of this favor...some even framed their cards💕🥺
1. Image from Instagram @georges.jp
2. Image from Instagram @aswingandamis
3. Image from Instagram @itsnaughtygee
What a joy to create. This suite was unreal, and felt like a real collaboration. B+M were involved and invested, giving us feedback, sharing their intentions. This artistic endeavor had been a team effort from the start.And what a beautiful celebration it was —touching, romantic, full of heart.
Image from Chaz Cruz Photographers
