Hand-Painted Weddings

Hand-Painted Invitations
Puerto Rico Wedding invitation
- October 15, 2015
- by Allison
The Puerto Rico Wedding Invitation is inspired by a recent trip my husband and I took to Puerto Rico. We had a fantastic trip, and while we weren’t there for terribly long we explored the rainforest, went kayaking in Fajardo, and explored the nooks and crannies at the most unique artist’s inn in Old San Juan, the historic district, but the most memorable part was when we stayed in a villa on Flamenco beach in Culebra, an island off the main island in Puerto Rico. Culebra is a small island, with most tourists (ourselves included) bouncing around in golf carts traveling from beach to beach. We adored taking our snorkel equipment to each and every beach on the island in search for the perfect underwater view…which happened to be the first beach we went to…go figure. 🙂

We were also so lucky to get a villa right on the beach. Flamenco beach has super clear waters and is part of a Natural Reserve area, so beyond the set of villas we were in, and the one next to us, we had the beach to ourselves at night after the day-trippers took the ferry back to the main island. It was magical seeing the sunset and then watching the stars from the beach. One of the unique things about Flamenco Beach is that the beach is like a cove with the beach arching around like a horseshoe. That is what I captured in the Puerto Rico Wedding invitation. The villas we stayed at along with the beautiful beach would make this an ideal location to get married. This design is ideal for destination wedding invitations as well.

While I am calling this beautiful beach invitation a Puerto Rico invitation, because that is where I gained the inspiration for this painting, I am sure this would be an ideal design for any couple’s beach wedding invitation.
Hand-Painted Guest book, Hand-Painted Invitations, Hand-Painted Reception, Real Wedding
Country Backyard wedding – DIY and personal touches
- October 8, 2015
- by Allison
As I mentioned in Tuesday’s blog post, the bride in this Country backyard wedding did a lot of DIY touches. She spent a long time designing and “crafting” for her wedding. I was lucky enough to work with her on some of the hand-painted touches such as the music themed wedding invitations, thank you cards at each person’s place setting, escort cards which were strung on an antique windowpane, and Country Cobblestone thumbprint guestbook.

The couple both shares a love for music so they included that love visually in their wedding invitation design with the music notes graphic. Laura is a wonderful singer, who wrote and recorded their first dance song at their wedding. This song literally gives me chills…it is so amazing! Craig plays the guitar, so they had a white guitar at their wedding for guests to sign with a gold metallic Sharpie marker.

Impressed by the amount of DIY touches, the bride created for her wedding, I asked her a couple of questions about her tips for other DIY brides out there, as well as how paper products are incorporated into a DIY wedding.

Allison: How did your wedding paper tie into the look of your wedding?

Laura: The Hand-Painted Wedding touches captured the the rustic elegance I was going for. Purples and greens were bled together in a simple, understated elegance as the backdrop for my wedding invitations, escort cards and personalized thank-you cards at each place setting. I chose the Country Cobblestone thumbprint guest book which was perfect because it looked just like the dirt road behind the alter at our backyard country wedding. I hand made almost every decoration in the wedding and so I really appreciated the originality and the beauty of the Hand Painted wedding paper. Allison Krosnick is so talented and I feel so lucky to call her my sister.

Allison: What tips do you have for other DIY backyard wedding brides?

Laura: “Be easy on yourself! Seriously, if you are anything like I was, you are putting way more pressure on yourself than other people are. After a year of planning and crafting, a million pins on pinterest, and a few dozen spreadsheets, the wedding finally came. It was clear about two hours into hair and makeup that things weren’t going to go as planned. Tents were flying upside down, I was a full table short of place settings, and half the lights on my DIY backdrop made with organza and Christmas lights wouldn’t stay lit! The groomsmen forgot their boutonniere and my aisle runner was blowing in the wind as I stood at the alter!

And it was STILL one of the most amazing nights of my life. I stressed out trying to make everything perfect and then nothing went to plan and I realized it didn’t matter anyway, and no one cared. So please brides, be nice to yourself, you are only one woman.”

Come back tomorrow to learn the bride’s favorite moment.
Photos by Neal Palumbo at Studio 11 West.
Hand-Painted Save-the-Dates
Cartagena Watercolor Save-the-Date
- September 23, 2015
- by Allison
When my client gave a photo of a shopping bag as inspiration for her custom save the date, I knew it was going to be a fun project! This is my first client who specifically requested an abstract watercolor design for their save the date, which was extraordinarily exciting for me!

This watercolor save the date design is light, bright, and joyful, as destination weddings on the beach ought to be! I love the way the paint colors are layered on each other in a fluid and organic way. The script Love is playful and loose. Oftentimes script and calligraphy fonts can feel very feminine but the font used in this watercolor save the date isn’t gender specific. I can’t wait to design their invitation next!