Walking down the narrow alley from San Francisco's Union Street puts you in the mood for discovery. Of the five studios huddled along the quaint courtyard, the small, personal invitation company, A Day In May, certainly is among the most contemporary, sleek, and organized. Two experienced graphic designers, Lesley and Eve, have built a thriving business, combining their exquisite design with an experienced letterpress printer in Nevada City. I met Lesley on a Wednesday morning. From the way she introduced me to her and Eve's work, I could tell how much these designers enjoy their jobs. "We love to interact with our customers and get inspiration from them," Lesley told me.

From seeing a number of articles about the company in popular wedding magazines come calls from customers from all over the States. There are basically two lines of invitations to choose from: the Signature Line and the Custom Line. Yet in the end, even the signature line has custom elements in it. For a couple that planned to get married under a tree, Lesley and Eve designed the invitation with a walnut branch; the theme for an Indian wedding was a Henna pattern, and for an island wedding, a variety of sea shells enhanced the paper. The invitation package for the island wedding was particularly elaborate, sent in an envelope with light blue lining. The folder containing the package had the same blue color. It was held together with a wrap-around in another shell design. Inside was the wedding announcement, which had a blind seashell design with lettering in a darker shade of the same blue. The package also contained a reply card with envelope, and a place card, enhanced with white or blue shells. I liked the save-the-date-cards for another island wedding in Hawaii. It showed a map of the islands with a circle around Kawai, indicating the wedding location. Other fun designs were a tiny cow and a fish on the menu card instead of the words beef and fish.

Simple, yet very elegant are the invitations on which the lettering is the design piece. That immaculate, pure invitation can take on the famous Crane invitations. In order to help clients make their decisions, the clients will receive beautiful cards with a library of sample type faces and ink colors. Most paper used is tree-free, with a cotton base.