Hello everyone, I’m so excited to be here this week on one of my favorite wedding blogs. A little introduction: I own a design studio in San Francisco called chewing the cud, where my work involves designing for boutique brands, wedding clients and my product line. For me, regardless of whom I’m designing for, each idea needs to tell a story. When designing for engaged clients, I always aspire to make the little details count. This is what sets each couple apart and make the design unique. By this I mean, there may be many red and black weddings adorned with chandeliers but what can I do to make it truly distinctive and personalized for my couple? I thought it would be fun to delve into how the initial design idea can be enriched with secondary elements and extended into the different details, from invitations to menus to place cards etc…
About the couple: Doug and Tracy are one of the most dynamic and passionate couples I’ve ever worked with. Both share a love of collecting iron-wrought furniture and planned to furnish their first home together with these pieces. They also knew that they wanted their wedding to be opulent, sexy, and adorned with a dramatic, bold palette of black and red. Black chandeliers and red blossoms were to play a big role in the décor.
The most sentimental gift they ever exchanged were their initials tattooed on each others wrists. I took inspiration from their tattoos and created an identity for them.
This quote from Bob Dylan has a special place in Tracy’s heart, so we thought it apt to include it in the invitation suite.
Tracy revealed that they were going to have a Finnish crown ceremony on the big day. That little detail became the inspiration for the place cards.
Instead of a traditional program, the couple wanted something fun that would illustrate the bridal party like a family tree. The chandelier icon acted like a lineage diagram while Gabby the bulldog stood beneath it for her 15 minutes of fame.
The same chandelier appeared as an ice sculpture at the bar.
To tie everything back to the invitation suite, the menus and table numbers held similar design elements, from the chandeliers, the sparkles to the calligraphy.
How are you guys using details to personalize your wedding? I’d love to hear some ideas out there…
xoxo
viola
{all images c/o chewing the cud}
6 comments
I’m doing lots of things to personalize our wedding
On our first date, my fiance read me the book ‘I Like You’ – it was a funny joke at the time, but I’m going to incorporate it into our ceremony as a surprise to him. I can’t wait to see his face! Some other things I’m doing are taking black and white pictures of our Golden Retriever in a tux with the table numbers around his neck and framing them as our table numbers. We are also having a cake topper made of clay with us in our respective university attire (Auburn and LSU) and our two dogs 
I love these invitations! Beautiful job!
Viola…
Congrats on your guest blog. You know I am a HUGE fan… And to answer your question – My guy and I have incorporated maps and vintage luggage tags into the design for our invitations and wedding design. Although it may not be the most unique concept it does reflect his love old vintage maps and our combined love of traveling. And it is also fitting as we are hosting a destination wedding.
xoxo – Jordan
NIcely done! Reminds me of my wedding invites – very elegant. Of course that meant the bridesmaids needed dramatic flowers to compliment the whole theme, but that’s the fun part of planning the wedding -tying it all together!
I love Violas work and I hope to get to meet her soon in SF! Great post!
Those are cute. I love chandeliers. The idea of incorporating it into a wedding is awesome.
I love how the quote from Bob Dylan was used on the stationery! I am a big fan of incorporating quotes into stationery! They just add more meaning and add a unique touch to a wedding!