october 2026
FULL DAYS and FRESH INSPIRATION
It feels a little strange to say this, but this is my first true blog post in two months.
This summer was much busier than I had planned, both personally and professionally, and somehow we are already moving quickly into fall. October is here, and it is shaping up to be very full too, but in a way that feels exciting.There are weddings and events. Lots of them.
I’m heading to New York City for the Welcome Conference, which I have been looking forward to for months. Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality has been such an inspiring read for me, especially as I think about the way I want people to feel when they work with Stone Hill Paperie. I’ll finish that trip with a behind-the-scenes tour of Radio City Music Hall with Societe Privee, which feels like exactly the kind of thing that will stay with me creatively for a long time.
There is also plenty on the calendar that has nothing to do with business - although those things always seem to inspire me too. Oktoberfest with friends in Philadelphia. Volunteering with the Bread Drop program in our community. Two different Fallfests hosted by family and friends, naturally on the exact same day. A tapas-themed dinner with friends.
And at the very end of the month, I’ll head to my Roots retreat with the business friends I adore and trust most, the group I lovingly refer to as my board of directors.
So yes, October is full.
But after the pace of this summer, I’m trying to notice the difference between being busy and being meaningfully full. This month feels much more like the latter.
featured post
Come take a closer look at Lauren and George’s beautiful Congress Hall wedding, where the venue itself became part of the design story. We used pattern, texture, and natural materials to create stationery and wedding-day details that felt right at home in historic Cape May.
Pro Tip…
Let the venue inspire the design without becoming the theme.
Look for architectural details, patterns, colors, textures, or materials that create a sense of place instead of relying on literal motifs.
SCHEDULE
October Checklist
Custom Invitations: Start the process now if you are getting married in April or May.
Semi-Custom Invitations: Order now if you are getting married in January or February.
Order Day-of Stationery: For November or December weddings, it is important to order programs, menus, place cards, and any other details now.
Pro Tip…
Cohesion does not mean repetition.
Choose a few strong design elements (a pattern, material, color, shape, or type treatment) and let them evolve throughout the invitations and wedding-day details rather than repeating the exact same look everywhere.
my current favorites
A quiet, cozy playlist for fall mornings, getting some work done, cooking dinner, or just making the house feel a little more autumnal. Soft, warm, and exactly the kind of background music I want on this time of year.
Listening
Ted Lasso, Season 4
I was already excited for Ted Lasso to come back, but a season centered on a women’s football team feels especially timely right now. Between the state of the world and the deeply disturbing allegations surrounding the “Cornell 7” case, I find myself rooting for women more fiercely than ever. I am very ready for something hopeful, funny, and unapologetically pro-women.
Watching
Broken Country, by Clare Leslie Hall
This book has completely pulled me in. It’s beautiful and messy and heartbreaking in a way that feels very human, and I kept thinking about the characters even when I wasn’t reading. Definitely one of those books that stays with you for a while.
reading
This is one of our favorite recipes any time of year. It’s healthy, easy, and always delicious. We recently turned it into grain bowls with lots of roasted vegetables, and it was so good - definitely a new way we’ll be making it again.
cooking
Here’s to October: full calendars, crisp mornings, dinners with friends,
and finding inspiration in places I didn’t expect.
Ready to bring
your wedding vision to life?
Let’s create something thoughtful, artful, and unmistakably you. Book a discovery call
and we’ll begin designing the kind of stationery that makes your guests say,
“This is so them!”