If I ever get married, I will beg my friend Kristy Caldwell to create the invitations. She is the most talented illustrator that I know, and all of her work is suffused with humor and tenderness. Apparently she recently got recruited by some dear friends to do their wedding announcements, and now that she’s done it once, she sees the potential of the medium.

Something has been introduced to me that I never could have anticipated: wedding invitation illustration and design. Consider this the confession of someone whose knee-jerk skepticism has been overturned in favor of love and one very happy day. Really.

The first commission came from a couple with very specific needs—like all pre-wedding couples, I imagine: specific content, tone, color palette. You know what? It’s kind of freeing. As I’ve reiterated (to myself and others) over the past couple of years, true collaboration is so appreciated in a client-based environment. Especially in a case like this, where the clients are so emotionally tied to the outcome. Together we put together a package that represented the personality and vision behind the occasion.

We started with (1) Save the Date cards, followed that up with (2) formal invitations and (3) enclosed RSVP cards inside (4) personalized envelopes, then created (5) two sets of driving directions to be included in hotel gift baskets, (6) programs for the actual ceremony and (7) food labels for the reception. I won’t bore you with a lot of process stuff, but below is a look at how it turned out.

Go check out the artwork she has posted: full of warmth and love and tenderness, which is exactly fitting for the event that the work is announcing.