For
the first case study of my wedding invitation designs, I thought I'd
bring you a wedding that was very close to my heart. My oldest friend in
the world, Miss Kelly-Ann Taylor, a friend I have known for a larger
percentage of my life than not, became engaged before my very eyes in
summer 2010 to her wonderful fella, Mr Daniel Mallon.
I
jumped at the chance of bringing their big day to life by designing the
hand screen printed paper goods for their wedding, and what a lovely
time I had too. Let me share it with you...
Knowing
Kelly-Ann's style very well I knew she'd have some top notch ideas for
the look and theme of her wedding, and we began the custom process by
discussing some of the elements they'd like to capture for their big
day.
The style was classic British summer vintage, with some
surprise elements to entertain the guests throughout the day. I got
working with this list of ingredients, sketching out some ideas and
researching the 'setting' of the invitations.
Everyday is like a Sundae.....
As
and ode to Morrissey and Ice Cream fans everywhere, Kelly-Ann surprised
her guests on arrival to the reception with 2 scoops of the yummiest
ice cream around by
Sunset Ices.
I would highly recommend the mint-choc-chip (although not if there are
pesky wasps around like there were when I was trying to slurp mine)
We
took this idea to be the first visual element on the invitations,
screen printing each envelope with the Bride and Groom's correspondence
details, alongside a yummy ice cream.
I
used a luscious calligraphy ink in baby pink to add hand-written
excitement to each envelope - how exciting would it be to find this on
your door mat in the morning?!
Inside,
the invitation bundles were bound with candy pink bakers twine, which
upon opening revealed an exciting little package, alongside invitation,
RSVP and information card.
Using the Bride's guidance, we chose the light summer vintage colours of rose pink and baby blue, knowing that these would be big features of the actual day.
Inside
the smaller package, the guests were treated to a selection of custom
made pin badges, using delicate matching fabrics and the invitation
design itself, to choose to either wear on the day or simply keep as a
love token.
Kelly-Ann
and Daniel had expressed that a particular element they would like to
include was their shared love of owls, letting me in to the secret,
post-wedding breakfast entertainment - a display from
East Lancashire Hawks and Owls.
I particularly liked the mini baby owls, all perched together keeping watch on the fun!
I chose to use the gorgeous flowers Kelly-Ann had picked to frame the front of the design, with a variety of soft pink roses.
St
Leonard's Church was a particularly special place for Kelly-Ann and her
family, being the very place her parents tied the knot, and christened
both her and her brother. So I knew that it would be a lovely place to
set the invitation in.
I incorporated the beautiful archway entrance, which I knew would feature heavily in a confetti shower :)
The
back of the invitations proudly waved banners inviting the guests to
the wonderful day, including cute little illustrations of bonbon jars
and cupcakes alongside handwritten text and a clean, modern font.
To distinguish between the day and night invites, we chose to print them in the differing colours.
The cupcake was used again on the hand printed RSVP postcards; the information finished with a soft, scalloped edge and postage stamp area.
The back of the RSVP, topped in bunting had a tick box for each reply, along with a space special dietary requirements.
Being
part of bringing this very special couple's day to life has been such a
joyful experience. As Kelly-Ann and Dan delightfully told me after the
invites were sent out - it is the first visualisation of what the day
will look like, both for them and their guests. I find it an exciting
and fun process to translate all that a couple are, their personalities
and style, and expressing that to their nearest and dearest....
....It's just a shame I didn't know about the Royal balcony kiss!