Rosie Powell 11/21/20 Rosie Powell 11/21/20

Songbird 2020 Holiday Shop: Custom Holiday Cards!

Can you believe the holiday season is here?? I’m so excited!! Even though the pandemic is going in full force around us, NOTHING can prevent the holiday spirit from coming alive.

This year, I think more than any other year, snail-mail holiday cards are a must! We’re separated, not seeing each other on a regular basis, and so much of life has happened without being around our most loved and cherished friends and family. A holiday card is the perfect thing to send to everyone on your list to let them know you’re thinking of them and to share the little joys in your life!

I’d love to design and produce your holiday cards this year! To make things simple, I’ve laid out the process here so you know what you’re getting when Songbird Paperie is your holiday card maker:

1. Contract & Deposit

Simple contract that says you agree to the design process and number of revisions included in design fee (I use HoneyBook.)
50% deposit & digital photos to begin work! (Also, copy submittal if desired.)

2. Design Pretty Things

After talking about your holiday card vision and/or going through inspiration photos, Rosie designs 2-3 designs for your perusal

3. Refine

We refine and go through the final design (combining elements from different designs if desired). Three rounds of proofs (if needed) and voila, a beautifully custom designed holiday card!

4. Order prints

Typical size ordered is A7 (5 x 7”). Matching envelopes in a variety of colors available.
Addressing is available! We can do calligraphy, hand lettering, labels, or print directly on the envelopes (light colors only).
Pro tip: always order extra envelopes for those human errors in addressing! Rosie suggests 20% extra.

5. Production

Invites take approximately 1 week to produce for digital printing (including photo cards). Addressing takes 1 week per 100 invites for hand-written options, 2 days for labels or direct-on-envelope printing.
Specialty printing also available, such as metallic foil, letterpress, and painted edges. This may extend production time.

Now there you go! Click HERE to start the process with Songbird!

Rosie Powell 1/29/19 Rosie Powell 1/29/19

Annual Award Nomination: Seattle Bride Magazine Best of 2019!

Hi Friends!

It's time for the Best of 2019 Seattle Bride Magazine award voting!

We have been fortunate enough to be nominated as a finalist for three out of the last four years and would be so grateful to make the list again for Best Invitation Designer!

You can vote for your 10+ favorite Seattle-area vendors here:

https://seattlebridemag.com/vote-now-best-2019-0

We know, there are SO MANY amazing wedding vendors and it can be hard to choose who to vote for! Below are some suggestions on vendors who we've had a great time partnering with in 2018 and past years.

Thank you for keeping up with Songbird, everyone!

xoxo,
Rosie

Rosie Powell 5/15/18 Rosie Powell 5/15/18

Wedding Tips | Envelope Addressing Etiquette

One question I get a lot from couples is, "How in the world do I address our wedding invitations?!". The answer is most definitely not a simple one, but when you have our tips, tricks and guides, you can be on your way to creating the address spreadsheet of your dreams in no time hand over to your calligrapher! (Okay, maybe not your dreams, but a pretty handy spreadsheet you'll make!)

Formal vs. Informal Addressing

There are two basic ways to address your envelopes - formal or informal. Depending on the level of formality in your wedding, you'll want to know how to address them right!
Formal - We're gettin' wordy here! Add in all the salutations (Mr., Mrs. Miss, etc.), include professional titles (Ph.D., MD, etc. - more on these below), and spell most everything out. Here is an example of a formally addressed envelope:

*Photo by Jonathan M. Steinberg Photography*

So, that being said,

Include salutations (Mr., Mrs., Miss)
Spell out all numbers twenty and below
Do not abbreviate anything (with the exception of salutations); "ave" becomes "avenue", "apt" becomes "apartment", but Mrs. stays as-is.

Informal: Ditch the salutations, numbers are numbers, and abbreviations are allowed. Here is an example of an informally addressed envelope:

Marriage, Dating, & Plus Ones

Married couple, shared last name: Salutations + Husband's first name + last name
i.e., Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Powell
Married couple, different last names: Mr. Matthew Powell and Ms. Rosanna Copas (same line)
Dating couple living together:
First line - Mr. Matthew Powell
Second line - Miss Rosanna Copas
Individual plus an unnamed guest: Mr. Ethan Powell and Guest

Families & Children

This one's fun! Where do the little munchkins go? For children 17 and younger, their names are on the line below the parents names. List them separately with commas, and use first names only. If the child is 18 or older and still living with mom and dad, do not list them under their parents' - they get their own invitation addressed to themself! The same goes with aunts, uncles, and grandparents living with their siblings or children. Here's an example:

William and Katherine English
George, Charlotte, and Louis
1459 Manhattan Avenue South
New York, NY 10010

Professional Titles

Got some Ph.Ds and honorable judges on your guest list? Formal invitation wording says to include their titles, but they may be abbreviated! For instance, Ph.D., M.D., but for judges, "The Honorable" is spelled out. Note: If you are addressing an envelope to a couple where one person has a title and the other does not, the titled guest gets listed FIRST, regardless of gender. See here:

Mrs. Penelope Desai, M.D. and Mr. Anand Desi

Informal invitation wording says "Who cares about the professional titles?!". They are not needed!

Apartments, Condos, Suites, Etc.

Formal: Write out the numbers into words (4th = fourth) and dear goodness, don't use pound/number signs.
Informal: "You can write numbers as numbers. But which line should it go on? My personal preference is to include the apartment/condo number, suite number. etc., on the next line after the address. It looks cleaner, and doesn't make the second line with the street address insanely long.

Zip Code

Again, this is personal preference, but I like zip codes centered and dropped below the address. Traditionally, zip codes are listed right after the state, if you want to abide by formal addressing.

International

This one bites me in the butt sometimes! Please have your guests email you their written out non-US address as they would have it written on an envelope, line by line. You don't want to send a beautiful invite to your cousin in Perth, Australia to only have it return to you a month later!

Final Notes
Here is our Songbird Envelope Addresses Template for your big day! This is the spreadsheet I send to all of my envelope calligraphy clients, and it can be yours too! It'll be a great help to you and whoever is addressing your envelopes (hopefully me!)

Hopefully this post helps! If you have questions, please comment below and I will answer you as soon as I can!

xoxo,
Rosie

Rosie Powell 4/13/18 Rosie Powell 4/13/18

Songbird Wedding | I Do Sodo 2018 | A Kentucky Derby-Inspired Wedding

I Do Sodo is one of my favorite events of the year, and this year was definitely no exception! Our venue, Westland Distillery, was decked out in a very Southern-charm Kentucky Derby-inspired way! We brought the elegance and poise of the derby party and made it work in the gorgeous whiskey tasting venue.

Annalise and Megan with A Kurant Event did such a fabulous job at planning the whole affair - they are AMAZING wedding planners to work with! Kim from Alante Photography took absolutely beautiful photos of everything, capturing the carefully curated art of our collective presentation. And lastly, the pièce de résistance according to yours truly - WE HAD REAL LIVE PONIES! Every little girl's dream just came true!

Enjoy the photos and pin what you love for inspiration for your own wedding or fancy event! Now that Style Me Pretty is gone (sniff, sniff!), never fear - I'll still be here providing wedding and event inspiration from my lovely little corner of the Pacific Northwest.

xoxo,
Rosie

Participating Vendors
Venue: Westland Distillery
Wedding Planning: A Kurant Event
Calligraphy, Signage, Stationery: Songbird Paperie
Bridal Dresses & Attire: BHLDN
Photography: Alante Photography
Custom Rings: With These Rings
Videographer: Dara Ek
Floral: Bloomed Out
Hair & Makeup: Ryann Brady
Photo Booth: Mokpix Photo Booth
Wedding Party Activity: Urban Sprouts
Antique & Vintage Rentals: Vintage Ambiance
Late Night Snack: Top Pot Donuts
Live Music: Harold Belskus
Officiant: Jason Groenink
Dessert: Frans Chocolates
Catering: City Catering
Rentals: Cort
Rentals: Prop Gallery
Up Lights: Braden Landen
Custom Suits: Duchess Clothier

Rosie Powell 1/24/18 Rosie Powell 1/24/18

Vote for Songbird! | Seattle Bride Magazine Best of 2018 Awards

How did 2018 get here so fast?! Wait -- it's almost FEBRUARY?! That means it's time for the Best of 2018 Seattle Bride Magazine award voting!

We have been fortunate enough to be nominated as a finalist for the past three years in row and would be so grateful to make the list again for Best Invitation Designer!

You can vote for your 5+ favorite Seattle-area vendors here:

http://seattlebridemag.com/vote-now-best-2018-2

We know, there are SO MANY amazing wedding vendors and it can be hard to choose who to vote for! Below are some suggestions on vendors who we've had a great time partnering with in 2017 and past years.