Should Everyone have A Wedding Theme?

Today it seems most big events have a theme or a distinguishing thread that evokes an emotion or tells a story. However, not everyone wants a theme. Instead, you may have a small vision board, colors, or floral suggestions representing how you see your event unfolding. Here is how adding a touch of creativity to your existing idea can help you tell your love story in an interesting way.

what is your Love Story?

Most couples do not come to me with a theme, instead, they have some sort of special love story that they want to tell. Occasionally these stories are very unique, but more often than not the love stories are pretty typical.

This was the situation with Marisa and Corey. When they asked me to design their wedding invitation, they did not have a theme. They met while at Kutztown University, had dated for a few years, got engaged, and were now planning their wedding. So they hired me to find a way to tell their love story compellingly and creatively.

Designing A Love Story

Right from the start, Marisa and Corey knew they wanted sunflowers to be their wedding flower. These were the perfect choice because they are lovely to work with and very much in season in mid-August. Aside from being big, bold, and beautiful, sunflowers represent adoration and loyalty, so I thought they were a good start for a wedding invitation concept.

Step 1: Develop an interesting concept

I began this design project by writing a short poem about an adoring couple of sunflowers. Sunflowers needed to be the main characters so I broke the poem into three parts and began by designing the bright yellow text pages of this 8-page invitation book. Writing the poem text helped me develop the concept, in this case, the Sunflower.

Sunflower Concept: Although we often fall for surface beauty, it’s what’s underneath that’s important.

Here is the poem:

“A little bloom peeked out today, out of the earth and far away another bloom about the same came up to dance and feel the rain. They sunned and soared but always two, for each, alone, had much to do.”

“And then one day the sun went down, they looked beneath the garden’s ground. Below the tangled leaves they saw, inside the dirt, no light at all.”

“It’s not the beauty we can see, or bright, rich colors calling thee, It’s underneath and deep inside, undying love that’s true and tried.”

Step 2: Capture compelling Images

To capture the proper images to match the poem, I hired a renowned local watercolor illustrator, Jane Ramsey. Jane illustrated each poem’s page perfectly. I then brought her illustrations into my design program and gave each a thin border for definition. This helped define each sunflower illustration on the page opposite its corresponding bright yellow text page in the book.

Step 3: A good title says it all

The title “Intertwined” is centered on a deep soil-like background on the cover of this book. A small paper sunflower tied with a delicate string of raffia dangled over the saddle-stitched spine. All the pages were printed and bound by a professional printer. This book was the first thing guests saw when they slid open the invitation suite. The full suite consists of the love storybook, the loose wedding invitation that slides out of an envelope glued to the back inside of this book, a custom-designed response card, an accommodation card, and an envelope. You can see the full design and other love stories in my portfolio here.

designing your own concept invitation

If you want to tell your love story creatively, choose blooms, colors, or something special that embodies your emotions, and find a designer who can convey your heartfelt message to guests in a creative way.

Kim Bensing is the creative director behind Studio Sprig at Windy Hill. With the help of her 19th-century farmhouse and its vintage gardens, she shares floral styling strategies, custom stationery concepts, home DIY inspiration, and a new line of wallpaper and fabric designs. Join her on her artist's journey, one project at a time! Subscribe here