' My fiancé and I are from two different cultures. I am English and my future wife is Japanese. We are getting married in England but would like our wedding to speak to both cultures, especially as it has taken time for our families to accept us. We are particularly keen to keep our wedding eco friendly! '
We took inspiration from the art of origami in the Japanese culture. The wedding flowers were all made from paper, and were produced in the colours of the wedding. They formed the decorations for the venue and the bouquet / corsages for the bridal party. They were all fully biodegradable to speak to the couples environmental passions.
' Wedding planning can be a touchy subject for many family members. We have struggled to find solutions that reflect our desires while also appeasing the likes and dislikes of our combined families. We would love to find something that pulls us altogether as one large family, no hierarchy, to let everyone know how important they are. '
Our design played with the idea of extending the bridal party concept. We made the wedding favours as felt broaches, corsages, tie pins, so that the entire guest list could wear the wedding colours, and be part of the day.
' We want our wedding to express the commitment we are making, the longevity of marriage. We would love our wedding favours to be something that people keep, a symbol of our love within the homes of our family and friends, that they would always have to remember our day. '
The tactility and permanence of concrete as a material made it perfect for the couples desire to make the wedding favours feel like a permanent form. We used concrete to cast the initials of the guests with the forms dipped in the wedding colours for unity to the overall design. We even decided to produce two large forms for the head table, the initials of the bride and groom.
' We struggle with the stigma that the further you sit from the head table, the lower in importance you are perceived. We don't want anyone to feel as if they are not important to us. '
We decided that each seat setting should feel important. We achieved this through personalised portraits for place settings rather than the standard names usual to weddings. These are the mock up samples we produced to get a feel of the style. Due to Covid the wedding has been postponed and the extent of the guest list is unknown. We are looking forward to producing the full finished collection for the wedding when the day finally happens.
A snapshot from my own wedding invitations. People don't usually hold on to their invites, but we wanted ours to be different. Something unique. Set the tone for what's to come.
We hand illustrated the invitations with sketches of us as a couple, and formed an intricate paper form to encase the invite cards. Turning the opening of the invite into an experience of art. The envelopes were sealed with a wax stamp of our initials. It was the first glimpse into the special moments of the day. We loved seeing all the cute photos and videos as guests received their invitations.
‘ My fiancé is incredible. She has organised the most amazing wedding. I cannot wait to start our forever life together. I want a unique wedding gift that will blow her away and show her how much she means to me. '
We used an image from one of their birthday celebrations as it ignites beautiful memories for the couple, to produce a painting in her favourite colour tones. A forever piece of art for their forever home.
' We are really worried that Covid will mean face masks on our wedding day. '
This is a mock up of a bridal mask/headpiece. The geometric form would wrap around the brides head and face, integrating as part of her hair design. It essentially works as an alternative veil. The panels would be formed in a lace, mesh fabric to allow it to be see through. For a quirky, asymmetric, edgy bride…. this is perfection!