So if you haven’t heard, Maureen and I were invited to attend a few events in Southampton last weekend.  Lara Shriftman from Harrison & Shriftman contacted us to design invitations and coordinating printables for two parties: A book launch party for the talented Gigi Grazer  hosted by Chris Burch, and a clothing line launch party for gold-medalist, Venus Williams hosted by Rita Schrager.

As we began to prepare for our trip, I asked Maureen the dreaded question:  What do we take for hostess gifts???  I struggle with this constantly when going to someone’s home for the first time.  I’m a gift-giver by nature, so you would think that this would be an easy task for me figure out… however, after tossing around several ideas, Maureen & I decided to design personalized stationery for each host/hostess and honoree.

We did a little research to see what the latest trends were (we researched what colors were HOT in the Hamptons for stationery, we looked at C. Wonder (Chris Burch’s newest store) for inspiration since he was one of the hosts and also had a store located in Southampton, and we made sure to incorporate fashion patterns used from  C. Wonder and Venus’ clothing line so we could create the perfect stationery set for everyone.

Once we narrowed it down – we knew we had to incorporate ikat and stripes along with EleVen‘s chain link pattern, as well as bold colors such as green, orange and pink.

****Helpful hint – when attending a party at someone’s home for the first time, get personal…..  you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a lasting impression!  Talk to friends or spend minimal effort researching online to figure out what the host or hostess might like.  Are they into fashion?  Do they collect wine?  Are they a dog-lover???  Do they love vintage books?   When you do a little digging up-front, the end result is typically well received!

Our stationery creations:

For Venus, we used a pattern from her latest EleVen collection – for everyone else, we used ikat and stripes,

which are the hottest patterns on trend in the Hamptons right now (especially at C. Wonder located in Southampton).

We purposely picked colors from C. Wonder for Chris Burch’s set (green & navy)

****Helpful hint – If you are attending a party, and can’t use on-line resources, pick up your phone and call a friend who knows the host or hostess a little more.

 It really only takes a few minutes to find out someone’s favorite colors or what kind of look they lean towards….  are they modern, vintage – are they athletic or preppy?

Just a little bit of investigation on your end helps so much!

For Venus – we chose patterns and colors used in her latest EleVen collection

Once we figured out the stationery sets for each person, we created coordinating favor tags to wrap around each package.

We typed their names in hand-written fonts, because it just gives that little extra professional touch that hand-writing can’t always achieve.

(Although, there is nothing wrong with a hand-written note!!!)

We packaged the stationery in clear cello bags from Nashville Wraps, then added the favor tag with twine from The Twinery.

Even with today’s technology, you would be surprised by how many people still like to send a note in the mail or pass to a teacher/co-worker a hand-written message.

We loved creating the perfect stationery as a thank you for those we met on our Hampton’s trip, and want to encourage you to remember how simple, yet thoughtful host/ hostess gifts can be!

If you are interested in this stationery set please contact us at: sales@andersruff.com (we can create printable pdf versions or you can purchase professional printing as well).

Stay tuned for more fun details about our Hampton’s trip… photos of the event are coming soon!