How To Add An Artful Touch To Your Wedding

I’m always excited to share my favorite wedding day memories here with you. Most recently, I've been thinking about how our wedding day truly represented Phil and I as people - especially our creative sides.  As a fashion illustrator and producer, it was important to me that our wedding day embraced memorable, artistic touches that really told a story.

And since Phil also lives and breathes all things creative (after all, we met when I auditioned for his band!) our wedding was definitely a combined creative vision. We loved exploring innovative and beautiful ways to add artful hints throughout our wedding. I was even able to immortalize some of these moments through art - which I will get to later! Having fondly trawled through wedding memory lane this week--looking back at some older posts, today, I'm rounding up some of my favorite artful wedding moments. Even years later, these memories ignite some of our most cherished memories.

A Vintage Rehearsal Dinner Dress

The night before our wedding, my husband’s parents threw us the most beautiful, intimate rehearsal dinner for our wedding party and immediate families.  When I first heard that our rehearsal dinner would be taking place at an adorable Italian restaurant on the water in Westlake Village, I knew I wanted to wear something special. I asked my mom if I could try on her wedding gown a few months back and although it had some pretty crazy 80’s sleeves, I fell in love with its lace, its train and how whimsical its vintage fabric was. 

I asked my mom if I could revamp her gown for our rehearsal dinner and I was really excited when she gave me the go-ahead.  I started imagining what I wanted the final dress to look like and decided to get right to it.I worked with the amazing Loyce of LA’s Grace Bridal Couture, who makes wedding gowns from scratch but who also specializes in helping brides to revamp heirloom gowns for their own weddings.  I drew out what I was hoping to accomplish (I decided I wanted to modernize my mom’s gown by removing the sleeves and it also needed some alterations). I took some fun sewing classes at Mood Fabrics in LA to better understand the sewing process and Loyce ended up sewing away–creating the perfect dress. I absolutely LOVE how the dress turned out (more here)!

Enjoy planning (or designing) what you will wear for the events around the Big Day itself. It may seem like a lot to take on (your wedding dress is bound to be your priority!), but the tertiary events also attract a lot of photo opportunities, so you want to be looking - and feeling - fabulous!

As our wedding photos started to trickle in, we could not have been more excited!

One of my favorites is one of Phil and I right before sunset because every time I look at it, it helps me to relive one of the happiest moments of our lives.  Our photographer, Katrina Jayne captured this moment so beautifully and we really did feel like we had stepped right into a fairytale.

I wish we could have stayed in this perfectly-lit, storybook forest forever. In order to nail photos in light like this, our photographer captured us looking towards the sun during “golden hour”–-when the sun was in the perfect position and the lighting was nice and soft.

At first, we weren’t sure we wanted to take these extra photos during our wedding because there’s only so much time you get to enjoy all of the people who have come to see you from near and far.That said, our photographer promised that these photos would not take long so we went for it. We highly recommend trying to nail some on your special day because they ended up being so priceless. We can’t wait to hang them around our house and look back at them years from now.

Artful Wedding Tip:

Give yourselves time to savor the magic of photos. Remember: you have hired a photographer due to their professional insights and vision - so make the most of their talents! It’s also well worth noting that a beautiful wedding snap can be transformed into an original piece of unique art by a great company called Paintru.

They work off wedding photos (or any photos for that matter!) to transform them into artwork. They're able to create pieces in any style, such as Monet-style, Renoir-style etc. Get in touch with them to commission your own masterpiece! Sharing an example of how we used Paintru below, as well as a discount code!

Wedding Ceremony Forever Blooms

Early on, I also knew that I wanted to tie in sentimental elements to my bridal bouquet in particular.  Our florist, Jenn Sanchez, wrapped the beautiful pink peonies, anemones, roses and succulents in a piece of my mother’s wedding gown and in my maternal grandmother’s wedding gloves.  Then we held everything together with a vintage broach from my paternal grandmother. 

I also wore vintage earrings from my husband’s step mom and a charm bracelet from both sets of my grandparents that I’ve had since I was 13.When I walked down the aisle, I felt like I was holding little pieces of my family (and new family) with me and that in itself was really meaningful.  I’m so thankful that our amazing florist nailed exactly the look we were going for. I only wish all of our flowers could have stayed this beautiful forever.A lovely touch was commissioning my bouquet to be turned into a piece of fine art by paintru.com.

I opted for a watercolor piece to give the painting a mellow, ethereal feel. This was a great way of making my wedding flowers last forever. I found the process extremely easy--all I had to do was send Paintru a photograph of my wedding bouquet! Every time I look at this artwork, I am transported back to walking up the aisle. If you're in the market for unique art like this, it's the perfect time to send them inspiration for a painting that you'll have in hand for the holidays.

Paintru's artists are so talented and they're able to nail any style under the sun that most inspires you. For 15% off your order, click here and use the code ARIELLEWORONA at checkout!

Artful Wedding Tip:

Some of the most beautiful elements of a wedding are perishable, like flowers and the cake. I really recommend not only getting lots of wonderful photographs of these pieces, but also making them a permanent fixture in your home by transporting them onto a canvas...like I did with my bouquet above! So there you have it--I hope I have inspired you to ‘wed artfully.'

For me, it was as much about the creative process as it was the outcome. I found it so inspiring to explore my own ideas and see them come to fruition--even down to the smallest details. What types of artful details did you have or do you plan on having in your wedding? Tell us all the things in the comment section below and as always, thanks so much for stopping by!