The possibilities are truly endless…
My (delightful) job is to help you find and hone your vision, then to execute it with the finest print methods and embellishments.
It was surprising at first…
that so many of my clients told me that designing their wedding invitations was their favorite part of planning a wedding. Knowing the stresses of wedding planning all to well, it is
C & Co.’s stated goal to make this process both beautiful and easy, creative and fun.
Finding your vision…
is trickier than it seems. Many of my clients come to me saying that they just don’t resonate with any of the overused designs you find on big platforms. My clients have a vision, even if they’re not quite sure how to translate it into their wedding paper. That’s where C & Co. comes in.
The custom design process…
should be the best part of wedding planning. You get to explore colors, motifs, and aesthetic choices all before you actual wedding day. I remove as much of the decision-fatigue I can, guiding you through the design process to find what your vision wants to express on paper.
The way you tell your story matters…
From tiny details (the Adirondack chairs where you were engaged) to the big picture (a watercolor of your venue), and the quietly subtle (lace embossed in the corners of your invitation), I create your artwork all by hand. I’ve never bought artwork or recycled ideas for clients. Absolutely every piece of your suite will be meticulously crafted.
Hands on luxury…
I spend anywhere from 80 to 200 hours on each client. From hand drawn sketches to beautiful mock-ups, from handwritten calligraphy and hundreds of watercolor flowers painted, to triple checking your envelopes before mailing them myself at the post office, you’ll have exquisite service and never have to worry about what you’re sending to your guests.
4 month Timeline
The more time we have, the less pressure on you. 3-9 months is the norm.
Month 1: First meeting. Concept sketches. Second concept meeting. Artwork creation!
Month 2: Mock-up. Revisions. Usually online meetings, discussing big and small picture details. Refining.
Month 3: Final edits, like wording (specific dates, times, places) and small changes to fonts, spacing, etc.
Month 4: Send to print, work on assembly, mail them out!
Contrary to industry standards, C & Co. believes in full transparency around pricing,
which is why you can find pricing directly on my website for everything I offer.
Wedding planning is opaque enough as it is. Pricing shouldn’t be.
Below, you’ll see a selection of galleries from a small few of the weddings I’ve worked on over the years, as well as some reviews from my lovely clients. This isn’t an exhaustive gallery, so if there’s something you’re curious about and want to see more, feel free to reach out!
Sarah & Zack
“Nika is wonderful and so creative! Her sketching talents and artistic design are unmatched, and she is so receptive to client ideas. It’s clear her priority is making products that are unique to each couple. We really enjoyed working with her and recommend her in a heartbeat if you are looking for bespoke paper goods for your wedding or other special occasion. We worked with her on our invitation suite, ceremony program, escort board, and menus/seating cards for the tables. We got so many compliments and still do! You won’t regret it!”
Where to begin! S&Z wanted to use their engagement photo paired with a vellum overlay. Gold foil for their calligraphy and text, along with a gold brad, made the cover page stand out. Sarah embroidered each table number for her wedding by hand, so I drew the same flowers that she stitched and turned that into a design on the back of her envelopes and menus. To get a perfect mix of summer flowers, we created a watercolor wrap on vellum paper, as well as a program fan for their guests! A new trend I’ve been seeing with my clients is having two types of response cards. One with a QR code (or just the website information) for the majority of guests, and one traditional response card to mail to older guests who might not be able to navigate the more advanced methods. It’s a wonderfully inclusive way to be sure everyone can RSVP with ease!
Printing methods & embellishments: Photo printed invitation with gold foil vellum overlay; white foil printed detail card; navy foil printed response cards; digitally printed invitation overlay; custom wax stamp
Mary & Clément
“Working with Nika on our wedding invitations and stationery was one of the highlights of wedding planning for me. Her creativity and partnership in building a completely unique invitation suite blew me away - months later friends are still commenting about how original and beautiful our invitations were. She always went the extra mile and embraced every request, edit, and wish down to the smallest detail - all with so much excitement and enthusiasm. Nika loves this work, and you will see it and feel it in what you create with her. I cannot recommend Calligraphette & Co. enough!”
For this wedding in the French countryside, we mixed as many details from M&C’s respective heritages (Chinese and French) as possible, with 2 versions of the invitation in both English and French. The overall design of the invitation itself was inspired by books, with a nod to the classic striped border design of books in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. Illustrations of each event in their wedding weekend were featured on the accordian style booklet, with bamboo leaves and a double happiness symbol on the teapot. A simple yet flourished calligraphy style worked well with a clean sans serif font to add a modern contrast to the illustration styles. The invitation was wrapped in a vellum map featuring France and California, with meaningful places sketched in. The final piece was the wax seal, combining their last names into a gently quirky crest that was also featured throughout the wedding day.
Printing methods & embellishments: Digital printing for all pieces; white printing for envelopes, custom wax stamp
Olivia & James
“I do not think there are words to describe how incredible and talented Nika is. When I began planning my wedding, I never thought my invitation suite would be one of my favorite parts of the planning process, but Nika made it so much fun to play with different colors, textures, designs and calligraphy styles that it has easily become the best part of planning. She helped us create a fully custom invitation suite including handmade paper, one of her beautiful calligraphy scripts, an AWESOME watercolor map, and the color palette of my dreams. She’s beyond patient (despite how indecisive I was), and the finished product speaks for itself. If you’ve ever thought about hiring a calligraphist for any part of your invitation suite, day-of goods, stationary, or really anything else - Nika is hands down the best choice. I’ve loved working with her so much that my fiancé and I decided to add on more projects so we can have even more elements of her talent come to life at our wedding. Trust me, look no further! Nika’s the absolute best.”
O&J had a very special location-specific wedding weekend, with all of their events taking place in one neighborhood. To feature each event, we decided to go with a whimsical fold-out “detail card” that served as a map and walked guests through the specifics. The maid-of-honor illustrated their venue, and I was very happy to include her sketch on the map (I love when couples ask for something a little outside the box like this!). For the invitation itself, we used what I consider to be the softest handmade paper of all time, with flat printing for the text and blind letterpress hydrangea petals floating toward the center from the corners. We used the hydrangeas on the back of the envelope in white, and on the response card in blush, as well as on their welcome mirror!
Printing methods & embellishments: Blind letterpress flowers and digitally printed text on handmade paper for the invitation; digitally printed detail card booklet; white printed envelopes
Ashley & Ross
“Nika was by far my BEST vendor! She was the most responsive, and easiest to work with (and we never even got to meet in person)! We did the all the planning via Zoom and Emails. She listened to my suggestions and made my vision come to life. Nika put so much love and effort into my wedding and it really paid off. She created our rehearsal dinner invitations, wedding invitations, wedding menus, and table names/numbers. I highly recommend using Nika for your wedding or next event!!!”
Every detail of A&R’s suite was meticulously tied back to their very special location… Nantucket. We used a monochrome color palette in shades of blue, and featured scenes from around the island on almost every piece. The invitation was printed in gold foil on C&Co. handmade cotton paper, with the lace details from A’s dress framing the bottom, and a re-imagined view of town from the harbor at the top with their church added into the middle. For a little color, we used watercolor for the front and back of the detail card, and featured a gold wax seal, navy silk ribbon, and vintage lighthouse stamps.
Printing methods & embellishments: Gold foil on custom C & Co. handmade paper; digitally printed double-sided detail card, response card, and envelope liner; white printed envelopes
Kathryn & Jonathan
“I really enjoyed working with Nika for our wedding invitations. From the start, she was very personable and responsive. She listened to our ideas and brought them to life! We did Zoom calls and an in person meeting and she kept in touch with us each part of the way. It was definitely a fun part of wedding planning, and I would use her again in a heartbeat for future events!”
Alex & Rick
“Thank you so much for all of your hard work designing and printing our wedding paper! Your designs are one-of-a-kind and truly made our special day reflect us as a couple in a unique way. We’ve received endless compliments on your work and truly enjoyed the process.”
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Alex and Rick on three separate suites of paper! They hired me for their Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations, then a year later for their sweet baby announcements.
Ellie & Christian
Jenny & Kyle
Rick & Meg
Emily & Adam
All Images on this page are from Jenny Wagner Photography