Real Wedding

  • Watercolor Cartagena Wedding Invitation

    Watercolor Cartagena Wedding Invitation at Hotel Charleston Santa Teresa

    When one of the stars from the Price is Right contacts you for wedding invitations for her Cartagena wedding in Colombia, you jump up and down! Well, I know I did. It was such a pleasure working with Manuela on her gorgeous Cartagena wedding invitations and wedding day paper. Like many of the brides I work with, she considered every single detail. This is apparent in the photos below from her wedding. Cartagena’s most iconic street is featured in her thank you cards, and is available as an invitation design in the Hand-Painted Weddings shop.

    Manuela also wanted to make sure the classic Cartagena street and cathedral was on her wedding invitation. But the main focus of her Cartagena wedding invitation was her wedding venue, the historical showstopper, Hotel Charleston Santa Teresa. With her main wedding color being gold, we splurged for the gold foil lettering on the invitation which really elevated the entire invitation set. Cartagena is a very colorful city in Colombia so I was fortunate enough to get to paint many of the colorful elements in this invitation set.

    P/C: @andresespinosa1030 of MatFotografia

     

    For Manuela’s wedding day paper, we worked together on her menus, which featured a local Colombian woman with a basket on her head carrying fruits and vegetables from the menu the guests were about to enjoy. The place cards tied in with the Wedding Particular card from the invitation set and featured string light and a soft blue background. String lights hung outside from the cocktail hour location so it was a perfect detail to include. I then worked with one of my friends, Letters by Kristen to do hand calligraphy on all of the place cards in metallic gold ink. These matched the seating arrangement cards we worked together on which hung on top of an antique gold framed mirror for guests to figure out where they were going to sit during the reception. I have to say, it was pretty fun doing the famous Drew Carey’s seating card!

     

    SaveSave

    SaveSave

    SaveSave

  • Dreamy Lilly Pulitzer Inspired Wedding invitations

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    This fall wedding was dreamy in every way imaginable. The bride was one of the sweetest, most appreciating people I have ever had the fortune to work with. And she was also one of the most creative brides I worked with. Christina wanted a bold, unique wedding and I was over the moon that I was creating her wedding invitations, wedding day paper and gifts for her.

    When we first started gathering inspiration for her invitations, she gave me all sorts of beautiful snippets she had planned for her big day such as her stunning wedding gown, unique bouquet, along with photos of the church she was getting married in. This process is so helpful for me because it gives me a full picture of the day and I love to incorporate pieces from the big day into the paper if it seems fitting.

    During the inspiration phase, Christina also mentioned her overall taste. She likes bold designs, no florals, and maybe something inspired by the water since it’s a Virginia Beach wedding, but not too beachy, because it is a late Fall wedding. Oh, and I love Lilly Pulitzer, if that helps. Ding, ding, ding! That little inspiration token became the inspiration for her entire wedding paper designs.

    I love doing research. It goes back to my days at college where research would set my designs apart from the class. So, I started researching Lilly Pulitzer‘s patterns and quickly learned that this style was completely in line with my painting style and this would be one of the most stunning invitations I’ve ever created.

    I created a water inspired, Lilly Pulitzer inspired pattern with the bride’s colors for the day, magenta, navy and gold, and I love how it came out.

    In addition, I painted an abstract painting of the church the couple was getting married in for the ceremony program cover, and the couple loved it so much, that they hired me to recreate it larger as a gift for the pastor that was marrying them.

    I hope you have enjoyed hearing my journey working with this lovely couple on their watercolor wedding stationery as well as seen a glimpse of their big day.

    If you have any questions on working with me to create your very own custom watercolor wedding invitations, learn more here.

    Photos by: Serena Genovese Photography

    (more…)