photos by: TAYLOR CLINE PHOTOGRAPHY
You stop at your mailbox after a long work day. Sitting there among bills and coupons is a diamond in the rough. A beautiful envelope adorned with shiny gold hand calligraphy and a row of postage stamps made of complimentary colors.
It’s gorgeous. It’s tactile. It’s a wedding invitation.
Meticulously wrapped like a present, you have been given a gift. This is the first tangible moment of the event to come. The mix of papers carefully layered with ink translates the couple’s vision into a physical language you instantly understand. Without even noticing, the typography, the color palette, the printing method—they all clue you in to the feel of the event.
At its core, paper design is storytelling, and invitations are just the beginning.
At KME Paper Co., a stationery store local to Winston-Salem, we believe every event has the opportunity to create a visual identity that feels uniquely tied to the couple or host.
A one-off cocktail napkin with an event’s date printed on it is beautiful, but it confines its use to that day. Building a recognizable brand with matchbooks, cups, custom hats, and bar menus to match allows the celebration to carry on beyond just that special day.
Working with our in-house design team to develop a cohesive personal brand creates palpable, dynamic details that carry through your festivities and for years to come. Custom monograms, thoughtful color stories, and custom illustrative elements become recognizable markers of the event, appearing across everything from invitations to signage, welcome gifts, menus, and beyond.
Instead of disposable details, they become meaningful extensions of your story.
An always-popular wedding detail is to include the couple’s pet somewhere. A drawing on a napkin, a cocktail named after them. That idea was flipped on its head last June when our bride, Austin, wanted to fully dedicate her Palm Beach-inspired cocktail hour bar to their English Labrador puppy, Caesar.
Caesar’s Bar was born.
The logo was a whimsical illustration of Caesar as a debonair cocktail waiter—complete with a Bud Light on his tray, the groom’s favorite. An a-frame sign with the logo directed guests to the lawn where custom cocktail napkins and matches were waiting for them. We printed signage that attached to the creamsicle-colored bar to solidify the branding. Guests were in for the best surprise when neon blue trucker hats with the logo were passed on the dance floor.
When design is intentional, guests don’t see items as favors, they see them as souvenirs from a meaningful moment. Guests at Austin’s wedding now had merch from their new favorite bar.
Yes, a paper company can recommend a print process, advise you on postage, and help balance your aesthetics with your budget.
But perhaps, most importantly, a paper company preserves moments.
Vendor Credit:
Photography: Taylor Cline Photography
Planning: Katharine Mann Events
Paper/Stationery: KME Paper Co
Rentals: The Prettiest Pieces
Florals: Green Bee Floral Designs
