Last week I shared a glimpse of Danielle & Brad’s gorgeous wedding with you, when it was featured on Vogue.com. In 2014, they got in touch with me to ask about working on wedding invitations for their summer 2015 wedding in Italy, and we ended up working on the details together for six months. I am so glad to have had the chance to work with this friendly, warm, thoughtful couple! Today, I’ll take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the process.

Above: the wedding invitation complete with custom monogrammed wax seal, next to the ceremony program. Image by photographer Lelia Scarfiotti.

Danielle and Brad’s wedding was in Arezzo, Italy, a small city in Tuscany. From the start, we knew that creating a color palette to reflect the Tuscan countryside would be of utmost importance and would guide much of the rest of the process. I  made half a dozen color palette variations for them choose from.

Here is the final palette we went with, which is reminiscent of bright Tuscan summers, with a slightly 1960’s twist.

The couple also had in mind a custom-crest for the front of their wedding invitation, as well as a monogram incorporating the first letters of each of their last names. Researching the history of heraldry was super interesting, and I loved looking at images of florals native to Tuscany for inspiration. Below are some of my preliminary crest, monogram and floral sketches. 

Above: various crest sketches 

Above: sketches of monogram variations

Above: floral sketches  

Danielle and Brad also knew they wanted all of the writing to be hand-lettered throughout their wedding invitation suite. I sketched several styles of lettering, and they chose a not-so-formal cursive style that fit the rustic-but-elegant, relaxed mood they envisioned. Here are the final components of the wedding invitation suite: the two-sided wedding invitation, reply card, and information card. The pieces were put together in a vellum enclosure, sealed with wax and pressed with a custom MW monogram stamp before being sent to guests in a craft paper envelope. 

Above: The final wedding invitation suite.

Danielle and Brad also asked me if I would help them with various pieces for the wedding weekend- a ceremony program, place cards and escort cards, and lettering that could be used throughout other pieces they would use to welcome their guests. They thoughtfully chose every detail that was part of the celebration, including this beautiful poem by Hafiz, and a letter to their wedding guests, which I hand-lettered to adorn the cover and back of their ceremony program. 

Above: the ceremony program front cover

Above: the back of the ceremony program.

Every detail of the wedding weekend was beautifully coordinated. Danielle & Brad incorporated my hand-lettering in a weekend itinerary they designed for their guests. The gorgeous floral arrangements throughout the reception tied into our original color palette. 

Above left: various hand-lettered components incorporated with Danielle & Brad’s wedding weekend itinerary. Above right: Image by Lelia Scarfiotti .

Above Left: my hand-lettered escort cards soaking up some bubbly. Above right: the tables incorporating the escort cards, place cards and menus along side gorgeous floral arrangements. Images by Lelia Scarfiotti.

The wedding meal was obviously a huge aspect of this Tuscan celebration. I illustrated and hand-lettered the menu, which was placed atop gold chargers with a sprig of olive branch at each guest’s seat.

Above: the final dinner menu I created for Danielle & Brad.

Above: menus and place cards amid stunning table arrangements at the wedding reception. Images by Lelia Scarfiotti.

Above: a close up of the dinner menu framed by shiny gold chargers at each guest’s seat. Image by Lelia Scarfiotti.

Above: more wedding details incorporating my illustrations- on the left, matchbooks printed with the hand-lettered wedding date, and on the right a beautiful guest book hand-embroidered with the crest I illustrated for Danielle and Brad. Image by Lelia Scarfiotti.

I feel truly lucky to have met Danielle and Brad, and honored that they trusted me to help them create pieces for such a huge moment in their lives.

Complimenti, Danielle e Brad!!! 

The happy couple in their first married moments! Image by Lelia Scarfiotti.