When it comes to wedding invitations the options are limitless. But the moment I saw the work of de Winton Paper co by Harriet de Winton – even though we were yet to find a wedding venue – there was no other option for our wedding stationary. Known as a watercolour artist – she is nothing short of a genius and created invitations that we will treasure for the rest of our lives.
The first thing we had to do was find out if Harriet was available. She’s so sought after that you need to ensure she has availability for bespoke orders. Then you need to provide her with as much detail as possible. We were so lucky that she made the time for a coffee with us to discuss ideas. We began discussing the elements that would be part of the wedding and started with lemons. Firstly, they’re everywhere in Italy and we wouldn’t be getting married in Italy without limoncello so it was totally befitting. The venue we ended up choosing, Castello Di Celsa, has lemon trees that are over 150 years old and are looked after the whole year through. When we found out they would be lining the aisle – we had to include them… The invitations would be wrapped with a silk ribbon so we had the lemons over a blue disc that looked like a tile. The design was in fact taken from our wedding plates. Another little detail that we loved…
Upon opening the pink pocket we knew we wanted Castello Di Celsa to take centre stage of the invitation. We hadn’t shown our guests photos of the venue and we wanted them to feel how we did upon arriving and so a painting of the castle from the perspective of the Italian gardens (where we would make our vows to each other) was perfect.
The booklet with all the details for the weekend was more than we could ever have imagined. Harriet painted our initials within a floral arch – again all little details that would come to life on the day. We had organised an arch to the entrance of the Italian gardens so not to spoil the overlooking view of Siena and of the magic of being up in the clouds.
The Map: Harriet created a beautiful map from Portofino, to Florence, Tuscany to Rome, as we knew so many of our guests would be going on Italian road trips after the wedding. She added detailed paintings of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Chianti, prosecco bottles and planes. She even painted The Limonia for ‘The Day After’ where our guests came back to Celsa for a pool party…
One of my favourite parts was the back of the booklet, the gates and the quote ‘It only took a moment to be loved a whole life long’. Another little reveal… The lyrics are from WALL-E, our first film together where they play a scene from Hello Dolly. It would be our first dance, and I also had it embroidered on to my veil….
Every little touch was so meaningful.
Harriet was incredible to work with the whole way through. We knew our invitaions would be stunning – but we weren’t really prepared for just how special they’d be. Having friends and family cry upon opening their invites was testament to how talented Harriet truly is. We have them framed in our home as does my big sister.
Whilst 2020 has been a most turbulent year for weddings and ever changing wedding dates – I couldn’t recommend de Winton Paper co. more highly. There are a lot of ‘similar’ options and copycats out there – trust me we researched them all. But there isn’t anyone who is as creative and detailed as Harriet and no better keepsake of our Italian Dream Wedding.
Photography by Sacha Williams.