My Son's wedding and the Trauma of the Wedding Card

Well we have had a major event in our family, yes a wedding, been in the planning for over 18 months and finally happened New Year's Eve.. more about it later...

So one of the things I wanted to do was to create a "different" wedding card and I was going to make one loosely based on the wedding invites... however... my younger son unbeknown to me had already had the same idea and as he designed all the wedding stationery it seemed only right that he should bag that one!! The trouble is I had left it a bit late to rethink....I had asked someone much earlier in the year to make one for me, had left her my e-mail address to get in touch and never heard from her again. Anyway, sequence of events forced me to think outside the box and after one long sleepless night(does anyone else get their best ideas in the middle of the night and then end up even more awake because they are excited about it?) an idea started forming.....

First I decided to use certain elements of the wedding and incorporate them into the card and then I started to wonder if instead of a card I might do a painting?

A while ago, an internet/blogging friend Lorraine Brown introduced me to an artist called Karlyn Holman and as a result I bought her book and though I read it cover to cover,  never used it for anything until now. However I saw some of the things Lorraine was creating and always felt that I would have a use for it someday!!(Click on the link for Lorraine's blog and if you look through the archives you will see some of the super creative work Lorraine has done)

I used the colours and theme of the wedding... winter reds and deep blue and then chose to depict symbols and objects which I hoped would be meaningful to the newlyweds.

Her gift to him..a fob watch... something he had wanted for his wedding attire but decided not to get and for her, some Jimmy Choo shoes...then the rings, his dickie bow, the winter florals and their wedding cheesecake which formed part of the evening buffet, a little reference to the wedding stationery which was a zigzag design which I felt really added to the composition and finally our words of wishes to them for the future added as collage around the painting.

Here was the trial piece where I was just playing round with the ideas

I thought the colours needed warming up but I liked the basic composition and the white corners so  worked on a new piece neatening it up a bit and mounted and framed in a white box frame ready for the big day..

I gave it to my son and his new wife (my daughter in law... wow it feels fab to say that!!!) as we had finished the meal and people had started to move into the sitting areas... I never intended for them to have to hang or display in their home but for them to always have it as a memento of their special day and for it to be meaningful for them alone.

Here are some of the moments as I gave it to them

I do think they liked it.... my daughter in law had put so much effort, thought and creativity into the day I felt it needed recognising and recording in an alternative way..

I don't often create without any reference so this sort of thing is testing to the limit but once I got started I was excited and keen to play around and let it evolve... the practice piece was not only really useful but vital and I would certainly spend a lot of time in that stage again were I to do anything similar in the future.

Now to the wedding... I'm not sure I have the words to describe it...we were all overwhelmed with the love and warmth which exuded from every single person there and the whole thing just hit the most perfect balance of emotion, humour, laughter, tears, joy but most precious of all was the love between our son and his new wife....they are a wonderful couple and we are all very lucky to have his wife become part of our family (our other son also has a wonderful partner so we feel very blessed!!). Here is a snapshot from the day

Our transport for the day... the bridal party stayed at the reception the night before and any guests from the area travelled to the ceremony via the bus.

My 2 sons... proud moment!!!

Just married....

This was a beautiful touch... the table was filled with wedding photos from 2 generations, parents and grandparents... this table set the mood for the whole event as it was in the entrance hall for everyone to see as they arrived. It was almost dark as we reached the reception where the atmosphere was so warm and cosy and I can honestly say, never having been to a Winter Wedding it seemed to have an added dimension to a Summer affair..

Love this one, beautiful girl!!

Yours Truly....

Proud parents!!

My other son Mark and his partner Steph

So there you have a little taste of the event, I hope you got a feel for it though I'm not sure I could really do it justice.