In February I was invited to participate in a styled shoot put at the incredible Chateau Selah wedding venue in Blountville, Tennessee. Chateau Selah is a gorgeous wedding venue perched in the Appalachian Mountains and it is the perfect spot for an outdoor mountain wedding.

I was asked to create individual menus, and maybe place cards, and was given the style board on the left to work off of. While this may seem like a small detail, it’s these calligraphy day-of details that can show of your unique style will still providing important information to your guests.

Sometimes having both place cards and individual menus at each table setting can feel cluttered. To combat this, I decided to combine the two elements together and create a singular place card menu. Or menu place card? Menu place setting? Whatever you call it, I knew it was the solution!

Now, time to create calligraphy place card menus, fit for a wedding at Chateau Selah.

Decisions, Decisions

4” x 9” is a classic menu size – big enough to fit all your details but not too big to overwhelm the table. The wedding planner told me the dinner plates were white and the table runner was dusty blue, so I decided to go with peach/blush from the style board as the menu color.

Next, the design. To ensure everything would fit, I decided to type up and print the menu items but hand calligraphy the menu headers such as Starters, Main, Dessert. There was going to be a dessert table at the styled shoot, so I made sure to include those specific desserts onto the menu. Otherwise, I used my imagination, and my stomach, to come up with the other food options. Yum!

For the place card component of these menus, I thought translucent vellum paper would be an elegant touch, but I needed a wax to attach the vellum to the menu. Enter my favorite thing ever – wax seals! I decided to pull from the dusty blue from the style board to provide the perfect pop of color against the elegant table décor and outdoor mountain wedding venue.

Creation Process

Time to create! Using heavy peach colored cardstock, I hand cut each menu to the right size and cut the vellum into strips for the names. After printing the food items onto the menu, I wrote the headers in calligraphy, as well as wrote all the names in calligraphy onto vellum.

Side note – want to know how I came up with 8 names for the place cards? Instagram! I posted a story asking my followers for names to use and my followers delivered with tons of options!

Once all the calligraphy ink was dried – a VERY important step – I created the wax seals to attach the vellum place cards to the menu. In this scenario, I melted the wax beads over an open flame and poured it onto the two papers (after measuring everything to ensure proper placement). As it was only 8 menus this method was not too time consuming. However, if I was creating 100 menus for a larger wedding, I’d definitely use a glue gun loaded up with a wax seal stick for efficiency!

Chateau Selah Wedding Day

While I wasn’t present at Chateau Selah on the day of the shoot, the photos I received are absolutely stunning and capture the beauty of the venue and talent of all the vendors involved. The bouquets from Blossom and Bloom Design were stunning, especially mixed with the elegant glass and gold table décor from All Occasions Party Rentals. I loved the partially naked cake from Petite Sweets and the little strawberry shortcake cups looked so yummy. Chateau Selah is clearly a stunning wedding venue, with elegant architecture combined with incredible Tennessee mountain scenery and greenery. These pictures are from February – just imagine all the greenery come spring and summertime!

The best part of this styled shoot though? It was collaborating and working with such incredible wedding vendors! As a San Diego calligrapher, I was able to expand my network by working with primarily Tennessee wedding vendors.

If you are interested in how AC Letters Calligraphy can help you create the perfect wedding menus – or any other paper good – click the buttons below to learn more about my services or inquire for a quote!

Participating Vendors
Planning & Design: Rayanne Rose Weddings
Photography: Callie Lindsey Photography
Venue: Chateau Selah
Custom Arch: Marsh Made Design
Videography: Heartstrings Creative Co
Florist: Blossom and Bloom Design
Rentals: All Occasions Party Rentals
Calligraphy: AC Letters Calligraphy
Desserts: Petite Sweets
Hair & Makeup: Power Pony Studios
Models: Sara Ruth Morris & Tom
Dress: Blue Willow Bridal
Vow books: Love Pioneer Photo