Shaun Smith House Beautiful Next Wave Designer

It really is a small world after all. A family connection and holiday party introduction sparked a long-distance social media friendship with interior designer Shaun Smith.  As Shaun's profile reads, he's Mississippi-born but New Orleans stole his heart. His Magazine Street boutique houses a curated collection of treasures that his clients, including the New Orleans Saints general manger and his wife, love to peruse. Flash forward just a few short years, and my up-and-coming designer friend is tapped as House Beautiful's Next Wave designer and needs an invitation for a celebratory party for the occasion: a glamorous cocktail party thrown in his honor by one of his most noteworthy clients.

We knew the invitation for Shaun's event had to have an understated masculine elegance to it, but with impeccable quality materials and a bit of sparkle and whimsy because he is so dashing and young. After looking through many letterpress samples, and overnighting some to his shop, we settled on a classic letterpress invitation printed on two-ply cotton paper with a clean typeset that is somehow classic and current at the same time. A gold foil edge on the thick hand-crafted card catches the recipient's eye when they open the envelope, as does a playful black and white cabana stripe envelope liner.

The best compliment came in a text from Shaun the day his package was delivered to the Magazine Street shop: "Everyone is DYING over how amazing they look! Thank you so so much."