Bespoke wedding stationery mediterranean plants flowers Cat Moore rosemary eucalyptus pen ink gouache illustration love marriage birds pair — Bespoke Wedding Stationery

In late 2018 I was asked to design some wedding stationery. Originally, my client wanted a linocut motif, but after I’d produced my first few illustrations, they changed their minds and asked me to stick to a drawn design.
The outcome of the project was an entire set of wedding stationery. from invitations to RSVP cards, place settings, table plans and thank you cards. I kept the design simple enough to make it versatile for use beyond our original discussion, and to help create a look and feel which complimented their cosy late summer wedding near the sea.

The brief

To design a set of wedding stationery with a continuous theme running across all media

Mediterranean foliage (olive, rosemary, eucalyptus)

Blue, deep, but not overpowering

The couple’s cat

Romantic

Using my handwriting

I met the bride and groom to discuss their requirements, settled on a timeline to get things done by, then went home and began drawing. I got hold of a variety of mediterranean plants (to whit, I borrowed my parents’ potted olive tree, bought a rosemary plant from the supermarket and some sprigs of eucalyptus from a florist) and drew and drew each of my subjects. I did the same with their beloved cat, Ginny.

Once I had preparatory sketches, I began working them into a more stylised design: intertwining the foliage, creating dynamic layouts to frame each piece of stationery, and came up with the watercolour blue background as a way to strengthen the composition. I made pages and pages of sketches in this way, which I then scanned and altered in Photoshop to build each image exactly as the couple wanted it, and to give them maximum flexibility of design right up to printing.

Once all designs had been settled, I transferred hi-res images to the couple to print, and waited for my invitation to land on the doormat…