Julep

Minted Real Wedding: Samantha & Mitchell in Montara, CA

Written by Heather Lee

After a romantic marriage proposal at her family’s lake house, Samantha Starkey and Mitchell Milner decided to plan a destination wedding in Northern California. The couple, who met during a documentary filmmaking course in India, scoured home-rental sites, hoping to find a private property that would accommodate a wedding. As chance would have it, a listing for Villa Montara—an architectural, rustic-modern home located 20 miles south of San Francisco—popped up and the couple jumped on the opportunity. And on a breezy, blue-sky afternoon in October, the couple exchanged vows in front of their 90 guests on a coastal bluff overlooking the Pacific.

Bride and groom: Samantha Starkey and Mitchell Milner
Occupations: Wedding videographer (Samantha) and account manager (Mitchell)
Based in: Carlsbad, Calif.
Wedding date: October 7, 2017
Venue: Villa Montara, Montara, Calif.
Number of guests: 90
Minted wedding invitation: “Oceans” (foil-pressed) by Wildfield Paper Co.
Wedding details card: “Elegant Angles” by Peony Papeterie
Wedding response card: “Mountain Sky” by Summer Winkelman (hand-cut by the bride)
Wedding planner: Katie Linter at First Comes Loves Events & Design
Florist: Meg Catherine Flowers
Caterer & cake: Salt & Honey Catering
Cinematographer: Canvas & Light; edited by SJ Videography
Photographer: Betsy Blue Photography

How did you and Mitchell meet?
Mitch and I met during a documentary filmmaking course traveling through India.

Tell us about the proposal!
My family has a lake house I grew up going to in Indiana and that we still visit every summer. This particular summer Mitch was unable to go (or so I thought). I arrived at the lake house, and was immediately sent on a scavenger hunt around town. At the time, I was thinking Mitch was just sorry that he couldn’t make it and set up this fun gift for me. At the end of the scavenger hunt I found him in the middle of the lake on a floating platform decorated in lights and flowers!

Since you’re in the wedding industry yourself (Samantha is a wedding videographer), what were your main priorities in planning your own nuptials?
I didn’t want to get caught up in the details, or to overdo it. I know how easy it can be to be upsold on so many things during the wedding planning process, and then suddenly realize you’ve lost the original vision. With that said, my priorities were keeping it beautiful and as simple as possible!

Did you encounter any hiccups along the way?
My only advice is to not wait to the last minute for the smaller details. For example, I did my programs about a month before the wedding and the blue I picked wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but I didn’t give myself time to customize it further.

How did you find your wedding venue?
I originally found it on VRBO. It’s a rental house, unfortunately the owners just sold it though!

Who made your wedding dress?
It was by Flora and was the second dress I tried on.

What did Mitch wear?
A navy suit from Nordstrom.

What did your wedding party wear?
Bridesmaids wore mixed dresses from Show Me Your Mumu and the guys rented suits from The Black Tux.

Click through for more from Samantha and Mitchell’s wedding…

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Top 10 Tips for Preparing a Design for Minted Foiling

Written by Emily Heaton, Olivia Goree, and Jocelyn Mock

Foil-pressing has been a specialty printing method for years, but is gaining in popularity. The traditional techniques haven’t changed much since the development of this printing method in the late 1800s. Heat, pressure, metal dies, and foil film are used to stamp an impression on paper after the digital elements are printed. Though the stamping process is slightly more automated than it used to be, operators still make manual adjustments to the press to create an even impression for every design. Depending on the size of the foil area, the pressure and temperature of the metal dies may vary across designs; however, a single pressure and temperature need to be applied to each individual design.

This foil-pressed Holiday Card, “Wonderfully Merry” by Annie Mertlich of Wildfield Paper Co. is a great example of a foil-pressed design that prints well. The lettering provides a solid area for foil adhesion while maintaining a hand-drawn feel.

In order to optimize your design for the unique process of foiling, here are the top 10 insider tips to keep in mind while designing foil-pressed designs for Minted:

1. Keep in mind that foil elements may shift up to 1/32’’ (or 0.03125”) in any direction due to the nature of the foil-pressing process.

2. Thin / small foil elements should have a stroke of at least 0.25 pt stroke to ensure proper foil adhesion to the paper.

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15 questions to prompt stationery design critiques on Minted

Written by Amy Schroeder

When asking for constructive criticism from Minted artists, there are varying schools of thought. Some artists prefer to ask broad questions, while other artists prefer to drill down to a specific point.

Longtime Minted artist Phrosné Ras shared her advice on generating critiques. “If you feel something is not working in your design, you should have some idea where the problem is,” says the artist known for hand-drawn elements. Same goes for providing feedback to others—aim to be the opposite of ambiguous. Thoughtful observations and pointed suggestions for improvement are more helpful than saying, “I don’t love it.”

This is an example of how Minted artist Melissa Casey asked for feedback on her submission to the What a Bright Time Foil-Pressed Holiday Photo Card Quickfire Challenge in April 2018. She created a poll to share several versions of the design and asked the question, “My thought with this one was to make it more of an art piece and not so much of a card. I therefore blended the text into the design. Do you think it works or should I make the text more obvious?” Her approach generated a significant number of critiques from fellow Minted artists.

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Special Prize Winners: Bundle of Joy Birth Announcement Challenge

Announcing the Special Prize winners of our Bundle of Joy Birth Announcement Challenge! New parents come to Minted to help share the most special and exciting of news with friends and family – the birth of their little one. We looked to you, our talented Minted community of artists to create designs as unique and special as this precious milestone. Congratulations winners!

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Font Award Roundup: Special Prize Winners

Announcing the Special Prize winners for our Font Awards! These awards are for designs that introduce new fonts and use them in a visually interesting and differentiated way. We’re always looking to the community to help us surface fresh new fonts to add to our Minted Font List. If you have a vision for an amazing design that uses a font that’s not in our font library, feel free to use it in your submission. You can read more about Minted fonts here. A huge congrats to all the winners!

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