Porcelain Moleskine Notebooks Make a Lavish Wedding Favor

Our location on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts means weddings are as plentiful as sailboats and Nantucket Red pants in the summer months. In the spirit of the season, we just had to highlight a project of the most beautiful wedding favors we’ve seen. In fact, we had the pleasure of crafting them.

The couple commissioned multi-disciplinary design studio RoAndCo to craft the printed elements of the wedding - invitations, placecards, and (here's where Jenni Bick Bookbinding comes in...) Classic White Moleskine notebooks custom printed with a Chinese porcelain motif and customized for the wedding day.

About RoAndCo:

RoAndCo is a multi-disciplinary design studio devoted to holistic branding that serves a range of fashion, art, and lifestyle clients. Led by award-winning Creative Director Roanne Adams, RoAndCo offers design, image, and branding capabilities across a variety of mediums, from print to moving image. By thoughtfully distilling a client’s inspirations, ideas, and motivations, RoAndCo generates fresh, sincere, compelling brand messages that engage and resonate.

Blue Chinese porcelain Willoware patterns inspired the wedding decor.

The Willow pattern, more commonly known as Blue Willow, is a distinctive and elaborate pattern used on ceramic kitchen/housewares. The pattern was popular in 18th century England, e.g. porcelain designed by Thomas Minton around 1790 and has been in use for over 200 years. The design was inspired by the china England imported from China during the late 18th century. Other references give alternative origins, such as Thomas Turner of Caughley porcelain, with a design date of 1780. Willow refers to the pattern, a specific treatment, either applied transfer, or stamp, known as transferware. Background color is always white, while foreground color depends on the maker; blue the most common, followed by pink, green, and brown. Assortment, shape and dates of production vary.

Production:

A custom printed Belly Band wrapped around the notebooks added just the right amount of color to echo the porcelain design. A Custom Printed Single Page Tip-In added inside featured the bride and groom’s names and wedding date – a warm hearted reminder of the origin of these beautiful gifts.

Our challenge was to transfer the intricate porcelain design from its digital form to a physical metal stamp, which is then what we use to make an imprint in the cover of each journal. We tested different sizes, different colors, and dozens of printing techniques and finally settled on a white-on-white design with a custom printed blue and white belly band and tip in page.

We’ll admit, the production of these ethereal books was a bit of a challenge that we spent months perfecting, but there are few things we love more than a challenge!

Most importantly, the finished products were gorgeous custom Moleskine journals as delicate as a China dish. The wedding guests had a beautiful keepsake of their wedding day to take home.

Custom printed notebooks are a wonderful way to express your personal style and send guests home with a meaningful keepsake.

For more examples take a look at the JB Custom Journals Inspirational Gallery.