There are so many wonderful ways to include a watercolour illustration in your wedding, from save the dates and stationery to on the day decor. While I love being part of your wedding in any way, shape and form, I especially love being able to deep-dive on your story and illustrate your whole day – which is exactly what I got to do for Shirley and Albert’s barn wedding at the stunning Bury Court in Farnham!!

Flat lay photograph of wedding invitations with beautiful watercolour illustration and hand lettering. Giraffes feature as a motif and the styling has textured silk teal ribbon flowing down the left hand side — Photo by Ami Robertson. Instagram: @amirobertsonphotographer
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Illustrating the Personal Details

Shirley and Albert were really keen to include loads of bespoke details in their wedding, which is always my favourite kind of inspiration. This meant we had a number of consultations and meetings throughout the wedding planning process, to ensure the watercolour illustrations were super specific to, and perfect for them. I loved learning more about what they liked, what was important to them, and their story, which was really integral to their day.

Because they’re Shirley’s favourite animal, and as a nod to their honeymoon plans, we decided on a giraffe motif to recur through their wedding watercolour illustrations.

A close up of a hand and paint brush painting watercolour details of two giraffes with trees and grass. Hand lettered brush calligraphy can be seen in a green colour with names and a wedding date as part of these beautiful invitations

Wedding Invitations with Giraffe Motifs

The first piece of stationery that I worked on for Shirley and Albert was their wedding invitations. After we’d discussed some ideas, I did some initial sketches, which I then narrowed down to a final design. I sketched that up to show Shirley and Albert and, once they were happy, I started drawing and painting ‘properly’ to work up the final invitation.

Alongside two entwined giraffes, I incorporated lots of leafy green detail. This was not only inspired by the acacia trees in the savannah, but also the greenery of the gorgeous grounds at their wedding venue, Bury Court Barn.

Zoomed in paper with a watercolour illustration painted in ink and watercolour. The page shows a stylised map of London indicating a train coming out of Waterloo station towards Guildford where the wedding was held.

On the reverse, I painted a little stylised map featuring some key buildings in London. These included their future home together as well as Waterloo Station, to indicate where guests would need to get the train from to make it to the venue! There was also a painting of the venue, and the key information for the day as well as a link to the wedding website.

Thanks to Covid and a number of international guests – most of the bridal and groom party live abroad! – the invitations were sent digitally, but I was really proud of how the watercolour illustrations held up for scanning and it was lovely to carry the designs through to have their personality at different touch points for the guests!

Green cutting mat background showing a beautiful watercolour illustrated wedding invitation with paint brushes and palette to the side. The invitation shows a watercolour map and a beautiful venue illustration of bury court barn — Photo by Charlotte Knee. Instagram @charlottekneephotography

Watercolour Illustration for their Wedding Website

Shirley and Albert were really keen on weaving their relationship story into their wedding day, and even before then too. Their wedding website featured a recap of their story that was tender and funny in equal measure, and so I also created a watercolour illustration to accompany that. Among other things, it included a coffee and a bagel, a ball of brown yarn (Albert’s gift to Shirley on their first date) and a jigsaw, which was how Albert popped the question!

Flat lay with a warm beige background and wedding invitations laid out on top. Beautiful watercolour illustrations tell the couples story, with giraffe motifs and an intricate watercolour illustration of their wedding venue. — Photo by Ami Robertson. Instagram: @amirobertsonphotographer
Facebook: Ami Robertson Wedding Photographer

On-The-Day Stationery

Welcome sign

As soon as they arrived at the beautiful Bury Court Barn, guests were greeted by an A1 sign welcoming them. It also acted as the order of the day, and featured lots of watercolour illustrations to accompany the information about how the incredible day was going to go down.

Table Names and Table Plan

I loved the direction Shirley and Albert wanted to go in for their table stationery. I was so excited when I came off the call where we discussed it all! As I mentioned above, Shirley and Albert wanted to bring their story and personality into their wedding day as much as possible, so we discussed each table being named after a different place that meant a lot to them.

To bring this to life I created a watercolour illustration of a building, view or feature that represented each place. Then, on the back, I wrote a little story so that guests could read about what the place meant to the couple, and where it fitted into their story. Having these little insights into their lives throughout the room was such a lovely way to bring their friends and family into their story.

Brick wall with a wooden stand holding a beautifully illustrated table plan. All the names are hand lettered and each table has a beautiful watercolour illustration of one of the couples favourite places or notable places from their lives — Photo by Ami Robertson. Instagram: @amirobertsonphotographer
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Close up photo of a beautifully hand lettered, calligraphy wedding table plan with intricate watercolour illustrations for each table depicting notable places and things significant to the couple and their story — Photo by Ami Robertson. Instagram: @amirobertsonphotographer
Facebook: Ami Robertson Wedding Photographer

Originally, these illustrations were framed on the tables and were obviously then able to be kept by the couple after the wedding. I also scanned the watercolour illustrations and brushstroke calligraphy table names to create the table plan. Every single guest name was written by hand, then scanned in, so every detail was perfect when it was blown up to A1 size!

Wedding table setup with the focus of the photo on a framed illustration. A watercolour painting of the Serengeti with hand written brush calligraphy depicting the title and table number. The illustration is small and beautifully detailed. — Photo by Ami Robertson. Instagram: @amirobertsonphotographer
Facebook: Ami Robertson Wedding Photographer

Illustrated Place Card Bookmarks

As another nod to their story, Shirley and Albert’s place cards were styled as bookmarks. This also made them resourceful, as guests could take them home and use them!

Each place card featured their little wedding motif, the two giraffes, and then the guest’s name hand lettered. Shirley and Albert had originally thought about having the names typed, but I suggested they opt for hand lettering instead, and they were glad they changed their mind: “I'm so glad you told us to go with hand lettering for the place cards in the end, instead of typing the names up. It certainly made the guests feel extra loved.”

I hand finished each place card with a silk ribbon from Silk and Purl. The ribbon tied in with the linen napkins that their wonderful wedding planner Andri had sourced; going for something other than the standard venue linen is a really simple but impactful way to make a wedding seem even more personalised and luxurious.

Wedding table setup showing a close up of a plate, cutlery, teal coloured napkin and a bookmark style hand lettered calligraphy place card. The place card has a watercolour illustration of two giraffes with the wedding date below — Photo by Ami Robertson. Instagram: @amirobertsonphotographer
Facebook: Ami Robertson Wedding Photographer

Hand Lettered Watercolour Menu Cards

Each table also had menus, which I created with a mixture of handwriting and the watercolour illustration of the venue from the bottom of the invites. It was a delicious menu, and I think they looked really lovely on the tables with a little nod to the venue too.

Photo of a wedding menu hand lettered in calligraphy with a watercolour illustration of the wedding venue, Bury Court Barn, at the base. There are flowers around the menu and some in vases out of focus and the background is a grey woven table cloth — Photo by Ami Robertson. Instagram: @amirobertsonphotographer
Facebook: Ami Robertson Wedding Photographer

Bespoke Wedding Favours

There was one final place where my watercolour illustrations were used on the day: the favours. As Shirley and Albert’s couple name is – brilliantly – Sherbert, they chose a little dib dab and honey as their favour, with a card explaining their personal meaning for the word. Andri said there were hardly any of these left at the end of the night, which I think we can all agree is a sign of a great favour…

Flat lay of the wedding favours including a sherbet dip ab, jar of honey and small business card style card. The card has the couples names in brush lettering and a watercolour illustration of two giraffes amongst some trees. — Photo by Ami Robertson. Instagram: @amirobertsonphotographer
Facebook: Ami Robertson Wedding Photographer

Watercolour Illustration and Hand Lettering for Weddings

It was a total joy to work with Shirley and Albert on their wedding day – two of the kindest, sweetest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, never mind working with! If you’re currently planning your wedding and looking for someone who can bring your story to life with watercolour illustration and hand lettering; you can get in touch here – I can’t wait to hear more!

Wedding table set up at Bury Court Barn with glass windows and doors beyond. The table can be seen to have the watercolour illustrated table name in the centre and watercolour illustrated calligraphy place cards as bookmarks on each table setting. — Photo by Ami Robertson. Instagram: @amirobertsonphotographer
Facebook: Ami Robertson Wedding Photographer

P.s. you don’t have to just take my word for it – here’s what Shirley and Albert had to say about working with me for their wedding:

“We feel so lucky we came across Imogen to be our wedding illustrator! She was super easy to work with and listened to what we wanted. We also appreciated her honesty in what looked / would work best too. Her drawings are absolutely exquisite and we got lots of comments from our guests on how much they loved using their place cards as a bookmark! Due to Covid, our final guest list was very last minute. Thankfully, Imogen worked extremely hard to get everything done in time! Thank you Imogen for helping us tell our story and making our day so special!”

— Shirley. London

Thank you to Shirley and Albert and the wonderful team who worked together on their wedding led by the marvellous Andri and to Ami for the beautiful photos.

Wedding Planner, Andri Benson - Always Andri Weddings
Photography - Ami Robertson
Venue - Bury Court
Beauty - Joyce Connor Makeup
Flowers - Floral Evolution
Cake - Whisk In Seasons
Catering - Jacarana
Bar - The Good Life
Entertainment - Festival Wedding DJs

Find out more about bespoke illustration

Jan 27, 2021

CREATING YOUR BESPOKE ILLUSTRATION