Happy Wednesday, friends! Today I want to talk about an exciting detail in the wedding planning process: the invitations! I had been a fan of Kearsley Lloyd’s watercolor wedding crests long before we got engaged and she was one of the first people I reached out to once we’d set a date for our wedding. Both my dad’s mom and my mom’s dad were talented painters so I love the idea of incorporating watercolors into our wedding invitations and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather work with than Kearsley! We’ve just begun the process of collaborating on a custom crest and illustration map for our invitation suite and I’m so excited to see what we dream up together. And if you’re looking for someone to create a crest or watercolor illustration for your wedding (or curious about how to incorporate these details into your big day), here are a few favorite examples of Kearsley’s work. I seriously get giddy just looking at them!

As you can see, I think one of the coolest things about commissioning a custom wedding crest is how many ways you can incorporate it into your paper goods and throughout your reception! Kearsley has a long list of vendors who work with her designs to incorporate them onto embroidered goods like napkins and pillows as well as printed goods like invitations, menus, plastic cups, programs, welcome boxes, and more. For more information, visit Kearsley’s website here and check her out on Instagram here! In the mean time, I’d love to hear whether you had/will have a custom crest painted for your wedding as well as any favorite ideas on how you made/will make your wedding day feel extra personal — check out ten more of my ideas here.