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Well hi there, it’s been a while since my last blog post. Between gorgeous stationery orders and revamping my website, I’ve had a lot on. I’ve wanted to talk about this design for a while, and I finally had enough time to sit down and give it the attention it deserves. I think you’re going to love what I have to show you today!
I absolutely love bespoke design. It’s my favourite. I just love it when a couple comes to me with even the faintest glimmer of an idea, and then trusts me to realise their vision in paper form! And when a couple decides to pour all of their personality into their wedding like Jo and Tom did, that’s when I’m totally in my element and loving every minute of what I do. Jo and Tom came to me with the idea of bringing in little nods to all of the wonderful adventures and travels they’d shared so far as a couple.
Inspiration came from their trips to South America, India and more. Linking in the Taj Mahal, Mount Everest, Mount Fitz Roy, an elephant and a llama, along with the wildflowers they were planning to decorate their wedding with- and an illustrated portrait of them both!
There was a lot to include, and so I got straight to work on bringing all of their favourite elements together.
A mix of watercolour and digital illustration paved the way for this design. Wreaths of wildflowers used as frames and picking out a beautiful plum tone from those floral details was a great way to tie everything together. From the wash on the details card adorned with the Taj Mahal to the banner between their two smiling faces, every element was unique and personal, but worked perfectly when put together as a set.
It’s really hard for me to choose a favourite part of this design! From the floral bellybands to the Mount Everest envelope liner, it was all so special.
But, for me, the most fun and unique part of the whole set was the monogrammed llama! This made a beautiful focus at the top of their invitations and was also carried through to their order of service as their guests loved it so much!
I mean, what says love more than a llama??
My own wedding invitations featured an illustrated portrait of us and our cats and it was really important to both me and my other half that as many of our wedding elements as possible really felt like ‘us’ and really suited our tastes.
When I launched my portrait offering, I wanted couples to be able to bring a little bit of themselves into their stationery just like we did.
To see Jo and Tom really embody this was honestly fantastic. They well and truly put their own personal stamp on each element even on their invitations, and they carried this through into their big day and the stationery that went along with this.
We kicked things off with their order of service which featured an illustration of the beautiful church they were married in. With the beautiful stonework and slate roof, this was an absolute joy to draw.
Along with this, I included more of their personalised elements like Mount Everest and Mount Fitz Roy on the inside pages. If you take a close look at the photos below, you can even see that extra special llama made it onto the back cover along with their thank you note to friends and family.
Next on the menu was, literally, the menu!
For this we stuck to their gorgeous wildflower elements, with a touch more plum for the rustic script to round everything out.
They had different versions of their menus so that guests with dietary restrictions didn’t have to worry about what they’d be eating and it also had the added bonus that each menu was never too cluttered with all of the different options for meals!
They finished off these menus themselves with simple twine and a handwritten tag to act as a place card- stunning!
For their table plan, they had a unique table layout which was a joy to design around! Jo and Tom had three long tables for their guests, I’m sure this got everyone chatting, sharing and really loving the whole vibe of the day.
Again, we stayed simple with this design, bringing those wildflowers back in to tie it all together.
The only thing I loved more than actually designing and illustrating for Jo and Tom, was getting this wonderful email from them after all was said and done.
Hi Becky!
Currently just sat in the airport waiting for our flight to Canada for honeymoon and getting a bit emosh thinking that the last time I was waiting in an airport, I decided to email a company I just found called Hawthorne and Ivory to see if they could make our random vision of invitations featuring some of our favourite travel memories a reality. Oh my god did you deliver, Becky! We feel like we cannot thank you enough for all your hard work with the invitations, order of service, menus and seating plan! They were absolutely perfect and so much better than we could even imagine! Everyone loved the church illustration and the llama has become a bit of a thing! Thank you also for being so professional and efficient and making all the stationary planning so stress free; it was so good to not have to worry about it knowing that it was in safe hands.
You are an incredibly talented woman and we are very glad that we found you!
Lots of love,
Jo and Tom xxx
This made me completely tear up. I’m so proud to have been involved in even a small part of bringing their wedding vision to life and to see how much they loved it showed me just why I love doing what I do. Even in the tougher moments of running my own business, highlights like this make everything so worthwhile.
Jo & Tom’s bespoke design really let their personality shine.
It gave them the chance to highlight the wonderful experiences they’ve already shared as a couple and I have no doubt that this is just the beginning of their adventures together!
Sending another huge congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Barker-Metcalf!
For your own bespoke wedding stationery design, please get in touch here!
Wedding Photography by the incredible Mark Tattersall