I first learned about Lisa through her clients' emails. They told about her creativity, her ability to solve problems, her willingness to bend backwards to accommodate unexpected emergencies, and her meticulous and artful custom invitations and announcements.

When I visited her at her home in the Oakland Hills, I got to know a woman full of spunk and ideas, easy-going, and ready to laugh. As so many in the wedding business, Lisa, a graphic designer, first made invitations for her friends. They admired her work very much and encouraged her to start her own company. Being of Chinese heritage, she can read Chinese characters and has access to companies in Hong Kong that can print or engrave invitations. Lisa showed me one of the city's latest trends that had just arrived: a gold metallic invitation with Chinese characters and intricate lattice design on the top.

Her portfolio shows a large variety of her work. One couple brought her a calla lily photograph, which she used as the screened back image for their invitation. Another couple wanted to have included in the design the yacht on which they planned to get married. A third client wrote excitedly that she could not decide on having a bamboo or a red lantern theme. Lisa solved the problem by using the bamboo as background and the red lantern to highlight the couple's logo, one of Lisa's specialties seldom seen on invitations. "A logo embodies who they are and at the same time pulls the groom into the planning process," she told me. Her solutions are simple and striking; among them the response post card, which saves postage.

For several of her wedding customers, she now designs private stationery and invitations for house warming parties and baby showers.
Lisa designed the BRO Seal of Approval.
See also:
Lisa's 10 best wedding secrets

Before you order invitations