Best of Boston

If you’re going to request the honor of someone’s presence at your wedding, you better make sure the invite is enticing. That’s where Gus & Ruby comes in. Launched 14 years ago by best friends Samantha Finigan and Whitney Swaffield, the Portsmouth, New Hampshire–based stationery business — which now has a brick-and-mortar outpost in Beacon Hill — specializes in creating customized invitations developed with each couple in mind. Experts in letterpress, the duo’s creative designs are true works of art that your guests won’t ever want to toss — right down to the envelope liners, which can include gorgeous illustrations of whatever you fancy.