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When designing an invitation for an event, it has to be perfect – and that’s why you can turn to nowhere better than Papel & Co. in Miami, Florida. Founded by artist and visionary Natalia Otalora, she and her small team conceptualize, design and create wedding and event invitations that will literally take your party to the next level. So many “experiences” and events fall flat because the invitation isn’t up-to-par, but Papel & Co.’s attention to detail and otherworldly vision will set the tone for something truly amazing.
We worked with Nat and her small team in Miami, from New York, to create a bespoke invitation that would be sent to 28 guests in an effort to entice them to join us in Ireland for a weekend they’d never forget. We found Papel & Co. through Instagram and knew, instantly, that their aesthetic and commitment to perfection was what we needed to bring the event to life, before anyone even set foot in Ireland.
We contacted Nat and showed her our venue, Lismore Castle. This stunning and historic private home was ours for the weekend, and we needed to show our guests exactly why traveling the distance from across the world was worth it.
Papel & Co. specializes in everything paper – stationary, announcements, invitations and more. We organized several phone calls with their team and gave them our vision – Ireland. We wanted everything about the invitation to scream Ireland, elegantly, and nudge our invitees to come. Mission achieved.
The team in Miami helped us source all the supplies we needed – a handmade wooden box, key and locks, Irish moss, special black matte paper, gold foil, printed vellum and more. The Papel & Co. team assembled the invites – and that wasn’t an easy process. They purchased the boxes, in their raw form, from an artisan source and hand-stained them to echo rich, deep ancient wood you might come across in an Irish forest. They sourced Irish moss to place inside the box, for our invitation to rest on. The words were printed in gold foil on matte black card stock. A ghostly pencil drawing of Lismore Castle was printed on sheer vellum that would house the black invitation. The locks and keys for the box were sourced separately. A custom wax seal closed the vellum over the invite and the crown in the center echoed Lismore’s long royal history.
The invitations were mailed to our guests in two parts, received a week apart. The first part was a simple key that was attached to card stock with hand-dyed green silk ribbon. The card read one simple line, in the Irish Gaelic language. It read, “Tá mo chroi istigh ionat,” which translates to, “I love you”. This saying echoed our love for our guests and people that were traveling to celebrate – our readers and more. The second part of the invitation was the box, in which the key opened. And, inside the stunning invitation rested on the Irish moss.
Papel & Co. helped make this dream happen and they never hesitated, not once, to make it perfect. They made sure each part of our packaging was flawless and invented new ways of doing things, to make the dream a reality. This invitation, as elegant, inventive and sexy as it is – set the mood for the celebration and made such an impression that not once invitee declined.
