A Black Tie New Orleans Wedding at Saint Louis Cathedral: Katea and Andrew

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Sep 9

Bride and groom kissing on the rooftop of the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans

There are couples who choose New Orleans, and there are couples who let New Orleans choose them right back. Katea and Andrew did the second one. A February evening at Saint Louis Cathedral, a reception at the Hotel Monteleone, a brass band, a second line, parasols, pedicabs, a mariachi band. Their weekend held all of it, and every piece of paper we made had to hold it too.

Custom wedding invitation suite with Saint Louis Cathedral illustration and interlocking monogram

The Save the Date

We started where the story starts, with the cathedral itself.

The save the date carried a fine line illustration of Saint Louis Cathedral, drawn with just enough detail to be recognizable to anyone who has ever stood in Jackson Square and looked up. Beneath it, Katea and Andrew's names in a soft, romantic script, the date, and the city. Nothing else. The building did the work.

That illustration became the thread that ran through the entire weekend, which is exactly what we hope for when a couple lets us begin with artwork.

The Invitation Suite

The invitation went formal, and it earned it.

At the top, an interlocking monogram built from their initials, ornate and old world, the kind of mark that looks like it was pressed into a signet ring long before it ever reached paper from Shuler Studios.

The palette stayed quiet so the details could speak. Soft ivory and pale lilac, black script, and a whisper of lavender in the envelopes.

Two pieces I especially loved:

The map liner. Every outer envelope was lined with a custom map of New Orleans, streets and river bend and all. Guests opened the envelope and were standing in the French Quarter before they read a word.

Two versions of the enclosures. Katea and Andrew hosted a full wedding weekend, so we built the details and reply cards in two versions. Weekend guests received the rehearsal dinner at Marché, the welcome party, and the reception. Everyone else received the welcome party and reception. Same suite, same beauty, different information, and no one had to wonder whether they were invited to something.

The reply cards were designed to actually work, with a place to indicate which events guests would attend, initials beside each entrée choice, and a line for dietary restrictions. Formal does not have to mean impractical.

The Rehearsal Dinner at Marche

This is where the suite stretched its legs.

The menus were tall and slim, framed with a delicate ruled border, crowned with that same monogram. Each one wore a lilac belly band with the guest's name in calligraphy, which turned a place setting into a place card and gave every guest something to take home. Truffle goat cheese mousse, spicy boiled Louisiana Gulf shrimp, boneless beef short rib, pan roasted red fish with blue crab dressing, warm Creole bread pudding. A menu worth printing.

The signature drinks sign paired hers and his, a margarita and an old fashioned, each with a hand drawn glass sketched behind the ingredients. Small illustrations, big personality.

The matchboxes might be my favorite piece of the whole weekend. The cathedral illustration returned in deep green on ivory, with their names, the date, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Guests slipped them into pockets and purses. Some of those matchboxes are still sitting in a kitchen drawer somewhere, quietly reminding someone of a February night in the Quarter.

That is what a well made favor does. It outlives the party.

Why it All Worked

The whole suite hung on one idea: use the cathedral, use the monogram, and let them recur. Save the date, menus, matches, signage. Repetition is what turns a stack of pretty printed things into a wedding identity, and it is the difference between paper that decorates a wedding and paper that tells your love story.

Katea and Andrew trusted us with that thread from the very first mailing, and it paid off all weekend long.