All About Gretchen—and it was! The husband of this client asked us to out-do what we had done for him on a similar surprise project for his wife. What a fabulous request!

We decided to create a book all about Gretchen with stories and memories of the people dearest to her. The book was to be unveiled at a surprise birthday party with all the contributors in attendance. Each attendee was to receive a hand-bound, hardcover copy of the book, and Gretchen would receive a unique book designed just for her. That was just the beginning...

To get things rolling, we sent out an amazing five-piece invitation to 50 of her closest friends inviting them to join in celebrating her 50th birthday and asking them to write something about Gretchen for her book. We made a triple-layered invitation letterpressed on 220 lb. Crane paper with a silver fleur de lis embossed at the top. We letterpressed the request for stories on 110 Crane paper and triple-layered it to match the invitation. For the accompanying envelopes, we embossed both with a fluer de lis and Gretchens initials, and then individually letterpressed everyone's mailing address.

Once we received all the letters, we designed a gorgeous 230 page book with all the letters from her 50 friends plus a story written by her husband and twenty pages of color photos of Gretchen throughout her 50 years. At the surprise dinner, each friend receieved a hand-bound copy of the book with a custom book jacket. Both items were delivered in a custom-embossed bag with a personalized bookmark and place card, each with the recipient's name on it. We also letterpressed the menus for each place setting. Gretchen received a specially-bound copy of the book with a matching clam shell box.

Following the party, our client asked us to create thank you notes and a custom photo album to house photos from the party, including photos of Gretchen who was 110% surprised.