Emily Lewis
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Illustration & Design
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Emily Lewis 〰️ Illustration & Design 〰️
An exploration in personal branding and wedding stationery.
Background
Early on in my husband’s and my relationship, I had painted him a small greenhouse as a Christmas gift. That greenhouse turned into something of a symbol for us; The weird bubble of 2020 gave us the perfect environment to grow our friendship into a strong and healthy romantic relationship. When we got engaged just before New Year’s in 2023, we couldn’t think of a better place to get married than a greenhouse. Fortunately for us, we lived only a few minutes away from Blockhouse & Pomarius Nursery - a nursery that doubled as a wedding venue in downtown Portland.
We toured the space and took in the lush greenery and the dreamy glass house, and the event planner showed us photos from previous autumn weddings on the grounds. We knew it was perfect for us, so we booked it for October of 2024 without looking at any other spaces. From here, I was incredibly excited by the idea of designing our wedding stationery and got straight to work on the ideation phase of this creative undertaking.
Art Nouveau Inspiration
I took a lot of inspiration from the works of Alphonse Mucha and the Art Nouveau movement, as well as the textile works of William Morris. These design styles encompassed everything I wanted for the overall theme of our invitations and wedding decor:
Dramatic flowing lines | Symmetry | Botanicals | Romance | Vintage charm | Ethereal ambiance
Designing a Greenhouse
I was inspired by the colors of autumn as well as the colors from my mood board, settling on a few tints of green and blue, and a bright blood orange to contrast the cooler tones. I chose TAN Pearl as the font, a nod to the soft, curved lines of the decorative lettering from the Art Nouveau movement.
Greens: Botanicals | Historic element of green in weddings symbolizes fertility | New beginnings | Harmony with nature
Orange: Warmth | Autumn | Contrasts with blue and green
Blues: “Something blue” | Romance | Evening | Softens overall design
The design elements from the invitations were then used for various signs and menus throughout the reception to tie everything together. The greenhouse graphic was also used on coffee labels (I Do Brew) later given to guests as wedding favors.
Photography by Shannon Duffy | www.shannonduffy.net