Client Stories: Carlota & Oliver
Carlota and Oliver’s touching vision for their wedding stationery was to depict wildflowers and foliage native to their home countries of the UK and Northern Spain - a symbolic and beautiful representation of their union.
The fern, with its aura of mysticism and lush woodlands along with golden gorse or ‘toxo’ as it’s known in Spain were singled out as key centrepieces. The potential for the design to evoke feeling and sentiment was clear - the task was to make it happen beautifully and with intention.
From Concept to Creation
Carlota shared a collection of images as inspiration - many of them inspired by the 19th Century botanical observation style, featuring fine lines and muted tones. Layout-wise, she gravitated towards minimal, modern layouts where illustration enhanced, rather than dominated, the design. This balance of old-meets-new became the heart of the creative direction.
With this in mind, I began by crafting a mood board, pulling together colour palette, historical reference points, and illustration styles to shape the bespoke designs.
The Illustrations
I created several hand-drawn motifs that wove together ferns and gorse in various compositions. After reviewing the options, Carlota and Oliver were drawn most to the ferns and chose three variations to be used across their invitation suite. This allowed for gentle visual interest and a sense of movement through each piece.
Choosing the Perfect Paper
With the designs finalised we turned to paper finishes for print, reviewing paper samples for the perfect finish. Two options stood out: a cream heavyweight with embossed horizontal lines, and a slightly lighter off-white with subtle vertical embossing.
They chose the latter—crisp, clean, and quietly elegant—to let the illustrations and typography speak for themselves.
Bringing it All Together
In the final stages, Carlota and Oliver asked about adding some personalised tags and stickers for their handmade wedding favours. Using the fern designs, we created a set of beautiful accents that carried their stationery theme right through to the wedding day. A simple but powerful detail that tied everything together and added a touch of artistic consistency to the celebration.
The Finished Items
Carlota and Oliver were thrilled with the designs and made the final pieces their own, adding raffia and organza to the tags for their handmade favours, and applying the stickers to confetti packets - all to stunning effect.
‘‘What to say about Rachel?! She has been amazing.
She understood from minute 1 the ideas we had in mind and she perfectly reflected them in her illustrations. These were beautiful, delicate and really made out wedding stationary really elegant and special.’’
Thinking of Something Bespoke?
Carlota and Oliver’s wedding stationery was more than beautiful—it was deeply personal, thoughtfully designed, and infused with meaning from start to finish.
If you’re looking to create something equally bespoke—something that feels like you—I’d love to help bring your ideas to life.