EVENTS & COMMISSIONS
Events I have worked on & bespoke commissions
JENNY & NIKKI'S BOAT-SIDE WEDDING
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Fellow boaters Jenny and Nikki were married in their garden where their boat is moored and the after party was held there too. We went sign crazy for this gorgeous wedding. I wrote on all sorts, blackboards, pieces of slate, boards from kitchen cabinets and even the top of washing basket! This wedding embraced using what is around you and it came together beautifully and created a truly unique wedding.
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HOLLY & NICK'S BRIGHTON WEDDING
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For this wedding, I created another bespoke "flower press" table plan with wooden painted hexagons as table names, torn paper hexagons with a hand-written list of guests for each table and extra paper hexagons for guests to write messages to the Bride & Groom. I wrote the guests names on tags that the family had sourced themselves. I also made a wooden box for cards which can be rented along with our beautiful old wooden easel to complete the theme.
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SOPHIE & PAUL'S JULY WEDDING
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This summer wedding had beautiful colours and themes. Think pink blush, mink, champagne and bronze mixed with origami paper birds, hand torn khadi paper, wooden hexagons and Cast Adrift calligraphy. I created a bespoke "flower press" table plan with wooden painted hexagons as table names, torn paper hexagons with a hand-written list of guests for each table and extra paper hexagons for guests to write messages to the Bride & Groom. I also made wooden stands from re-claimed wood for each table name to sit in. At the wedding, after the tables were cleared away, all the hexagons were collected and hung on the nails on the table plan. After the wedding, it is a fantastic memento to keep, hang and remind Sophie and Paul of their day.
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BESPOKE COMMISSIONS
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I was given this plain white, stylised Rocking Horse and asked to give him a face, flowers and the baby's name. He was then given as a Christening present. The lady who commissioned it, thought he was "elegant" and apparently, the baby's parents loved him!
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These cake cards are just a taste of the 37 (at least) cakes sold at the Café @ Lock 81 . Cast Adrift Calligraphy can also be seen on the blackboards and the Café's sign. Scroll down for more photos of the cafe . . .
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This 17 verse poem was commissioned as a Christmas gift from a lady to her parents. The poem is written in gold ink on 3 pieces of torn black Khadi paper. These are then mounted on an A3 piece of cream card.
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Here is another Driftwood sign using different hand-painted fonts. This bespoke commission was for a baby's first Christmas as a present from her parents. The colours and star theme used compliment the baby's bedroom.
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CHARLIE & SARA'S FUN SEPTEMBER WEDDING
This wedding was so much fun. I wrote commands onto slate signs to go with wild flower seeds (Sow me!), sweets (Eat me!), fortune cookies (Open me!) and bubbles (Blow me!). I also wrote names onto wooden hearts and ovals to tie onto wedding favours. These looked beautiful with lilac and green ribbon. I also wrote the guests names onto some stunning place cards.
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LUCY & HUW'S JUNE WEDDING AT AN ENGLISH VIN YARD & BREWERY
This Beautiful wedding was held at Old Luxter's Barn in Hambleden. To complement the location, the Bride and Groom chose hop names for the table names and wanted a rustic and natural theme throughout. For the Table Plan, I created a real first:
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The Table Plan is made from reclaimed ash floorboards, which have been fixed together and stained. The guests names have been handwritten on khadi paper and hang on nails. Each table of guests were given extra khadi paper to write messages for the Bride and Groom and they hung them into their table's nail on the plan. When the tables were cleared away for dancing, the wooden plaques that were the table names were hung onto the plan on top of the messages, like a vertical flower press! Lucy and Huw now have a great memento of their day to hang on their wall. There were also extra wooden plaques (like those for the table plan) for the props basket and the card table and smaller plaques for the cheeses.
I wrote a blackboard listing the events of the day. The place names were made from khadi paper & used wine corks, with gold ink. The "drink me" tags for the table favours were small luggage tags that Lucy supplied and I wrote on with white ink. I designed the menus, then printed, cut and folded them and added a white stamped design on to the front of each one. I also made the invitation bundles with a mixture of printed and hand-written lettering. Each had a hand-written envelope, the invitation, an r.s.v.p. card and an information sheet with hotels, taxi numbers, a map and directions.
I wrote a blackboard listing the events of the day. The place names were made from khadi paper & used wine corks, with gold ink. The "drink me" tags for the table favours were small luggage tags that Lucy supplied and I wrote on with white ink. I designed the menus, then printed, cut and folded them and added a white stamped design on to the front of each one. I also made the invitation bundles with a mixture of printed and hand-written lettering. Each had a hand-written envelope, the invitation, an r.s.v.p. card and an information sheet with hotels, taxi numbers, a map and directions.
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The photos of my work below, are taken by Adam Newland Photography http://www.adamnewlandphotography.com/
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JO & JOHN'S SPRING WEDDING
This wedding was lovely to work on. The bride's mother provided the tags for the "Drink me" & "Eat me" labels, the place card tags for the guests names and also the larger more ornate tags for the table plan. The latter were later strung up in an old suitcase as part of the table plan. As with many weddings, a small part can be overlooked, for this event it was the table names for the table plan. I sourced some rectangular cards in complementing colours and these were also incorporated into the table plan suitcase.
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FLOWER CALLIGRAPHY FOR CHELSEA IN BLOOM 2016 @ LIZ EARLE
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I was happy to be asked back to Duke of York Square for a second year running for Chelsea in Bloom. The theme was Carnival and I worked within Liz Earle's "Carnivearle" brief to create a bespoke design, which I hand-drew onto over 250 of their signature blue bags.
Click on the picture below, to watch a short video of me in action courtesy of accidentalstatement: 
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BESPOKE COMMISSIONS
This driftwood sign was hand- painted for a boat named "Bunbury". I matched the font to the painted name on the boat. It is now attached to the fence so you see both names as you walk in to the mooring.
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HAND-DRAWN ILLUSTRATIONS FOR CHRISTMAS @ LIZ EARLE
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In the lead up to Christmas,
I illustrated my own designs onto over 1,800 signature blue Liz Earle bags by hand. The first design (left) had a botanical theme to represent the ingredients they use in their products. The second design (right) was of 3 different snowflakes. The bags were sent out to stores across the country. They added an extra special something to many people's Christmas presents. |
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I attended events at Liz Earle counters in John Lewis, Birmingham and Fenwicks, Tunbridge Wells. I also attended 2 special evening events at their flagship store in Duke of York Square, London. At these events I personalised bags with my designs and customers messages. |
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BESPOKE COMISSIONS
These Ping pong ball place "cards" were a bit of fun for a Thai themed dinner party.
Make what you will of them! |
This hand-painted driftwood sign was a commission for a gate to a house in the New Forest.
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This wine cork photo frame was a commission to be given as a gift to a member of a wine club. They added a photo of them all at a wine tasting. Great idea.
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This commission was for a romantic gentleman who
found a poem he liked and made it his own with his own words and my calligraphy. |
SOPHIE & DAVE'S WEDDING
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For this wedding, I hand wrote the guests names onto khadi paper cards and cut wine corks to stand them in.
I made a large bespoke driftwood blackboard and wrote the events of the day onto it. Sophie liked a grid format that she saw on Pinterest which I encorporated and I also added a flowery design. I also continued the flowery design on a slice of wood which I cut and painted with blackboard paint. |
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ROSE & LEE'S WEDDING
This beautiful Wedding was held on the most beautiful sunny day at Gaynes Park.
I made 2 large driftwood blackboards for the day. On one of them, I wrote the events of the day and on the other, the table plan.
I made 9 smaller driftwood blackboards, one for each table, with the table name written on them.
I also hand-painted the guests names onto small pieces of driftwood to mark their places around the table
as well as serving as wedding favours to take home.
This beautiful Wedding was held on the most beautiful sunny day at Gaynes Park.
I made 2 large driftwood blackboards for the day. On one of them, I wrote the events of the day and on the other, the table plan.
I made 9 smaller driftwood blackboards, one for each table, with the table name written on them.
I also hand-painted the guests names onto small pieces of driftwood to mark their places around the table
as well as serving as wedding favours to take home.
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CALLIGRAPHY COMMISSIONS
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These poems were both commissioned as gifts, but by two different people. They were both A3 in size and hand-written on Khadi paper which is hand-made using re-cycled cotton rag. It has a lovely texture and looks great when framed. There are many colour combinations which can be used, but pictured are gold ink on black Khadi paper and bronze ink on white Khadi paper.
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2 EVENTS FOR LIZ EARLE, DUKE OF YORK SQUARE, CHELSEA
These events were to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Liz Earle and the 10th Anniversary of Chelsea in Bloom.
I was asked to decorate their bags and boxes with flower calligraphy and to add personalised messages for the guests if they wanted one. I also decorated 2 limited edition tins, one for each evening event, these were then won by one of the lucky guests attending . What a wonderful thing to be a part of, a wonderful company with great values and lovely employees.
These events were to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Liz Earle and the 10th Anniversary of Chelsea in Bloom.
I was asked to decorate their bags and boxes with flower calligraphy and to add personalised messages for the guests if they wanted one. I also decorated 2 limited edition tins, one for each evening event, these were then won by one of the lucky guests attending . What a wonderful thing to be a part of, a wonderful company with great values and lovely employees.
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SABRINA & ADAM'S WEDDING
This Wedding was held in Spring in Sicily. For the place settings, I wrote the guests names on luggage tags which Sabrina had sourced herself. I made oversized luggage labels with the guests names hand-written on them for each table. This is a great idea when having a wedding abroad as they could be transported easily in a suitcase and then hung up on a map at the venue to create a table plan. I also made some wooden plaques which I cut, dyed and distressed. These then had the table names painted on to them, in this case names of Volcanos. |
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A COMMISSION FOR CAFE @ LOCK 81
This was a fantastic commission to work on as my Calligraphy featured so heavily in the new look of the cafe.
I was commissioned to design and write the blackboards. I was also asked to plan out the lettering for the Cafe's sign.
The huge Larch sign was the router out and then scorched by the owner, what a great effect!
It was so exciting to see my Calligraphy up high in such large letters.
The Cafe @ Lock 81 on the Grand Union Canal in Rickmansworth is well worth a visit!
This was a fantastic commission to work on as my Calligraphy featured so heavily in the new look of the cafe.
I was commissioned to design and write the blackboards. I was also asked to plan out the lettering for the Cafe's sign.
The huge Larch sign was the router out and then scorched by the owner, what a great effect!
It was so exciting to see my Calligraphy up high in such large letters.
The Cafe @ Lock 81 on the Grand Union Canal in Rickmansworth is well worth a visit!
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DRIFTWOOD COMMISSIONS
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"HE WHO CONTROLS THE SPICE CONTROLS THE UNIVERSE"
This commission was for a kitchen on a Barge on the Grand Union Canal. It's a piece from an old Lock Gate. It's a great quote for a kitchen, and an awesome quote if you are into 1980's Science Fiction as it's from the film Dune. |
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RUSTIC DRIFTWOOD BLACKBOARD WITH
HAND-WRITTEN ITINERARY This blackboard was made using collected Welsh Driftwood. The itinerary was fun to write as we found some different ways to announce traditional customs! "ALICE"
This may be my favourite Driftwood bedroom door sign to date. Beautiful colours and fonts for a new little Alice in Wonderland. |
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CALLIGRAPHY COMMISSIONS
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"LIFE SHOULD BE A JOURNEY . . . "
A lady and her friend both loved this quote that they found on the back of a card. So, the lady asked me to write it out for her and she then framed it as a present for her friend. THANK YOU BOARDS A Bride & Groom wanted these message boards, so they could have a photo taken of themselves holding them on their Wedding Day. They then planned to use the photo on the front of their thank you cards. Great idea! |
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DOMAINE DE SAINT PRIVAT
"Scolopendre" is the first wine to be produced by Domaine de Saint Privat in Languedoc Roussillon. I was asked to provide the Calligraphy for the label. I also drew a Scolopendre which is a particularly nasty looking creature found in that part of France. This is such an exciting project, I cannot wait to see the finished label or try the wine! |
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DRIFTWOOD COMMISSIONS
"NOEL"
These were very popular this Christmas. Great for decorating Christmas Weddings, events, your home or as a gift. |
"DRESSING ROOM"
This was commissioned by a lady who was converting her newly spare room into her very own Dressing Room. She ordered this sign to complete the look. |
"SURF'S UP"
This was commissioned as a Christmas present by a couple for some family who live by the beach in Cornwall. |
CHARMS BY W.H.DAVIES
This bespoke Wedding present was for a newly married couple from their bestman. The poem is the reading he did at their Wedding and the idea of having it handwritten on a driftwood blackboard was all his! Such a thoughtful gift. |
TWO MORE HAND-PAINTED DRIFTWOOD BEDROOM
DOOR SIGNS. These are for two sisters, so I've used similar colours and fonts so as not to cause arguments, yet they are both quite unique. |
"EUAN"
This driftwood door sign is a present for a new baby boy, the nephew of the couple who commissioned it. |
4 AUTUMN WEDDINGS
Folded place cards with silver writing. These were for a small Wedding reception in a restaurant. The bride wanted "Cadbury's purple" card.
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Hand-made grey flags with collected corks.
I blended different inks to create this vivid blue and wrote each flag with a dip pen. |
White ink on kraft card.
These hand-written addresses were to be attached to special parcels containing Wedding invitations and other goodies. |
Gold ink on white luxury cards with driftwood discs.
These place cards were for the same Wedding as the above addresses. A beautifully natural theme. |
EVENT FOR LIZ EARLE
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The skincare company Liz Earle hosted 6 events on the Isle of Wight in the summer of this year. I made a large driftwood blackboard to be used at each event (which I believe is now hanging in their head office). I also hand-painted 270 pieces of driftwood with the names of the guests attending. These were to mark their place at each table as well as being a gift to take home.
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JAMIE & RACHIE'S WEDDING
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This wedding was held in the grounds of a beautiful Cottage in Sussex. I painted driftwood signs to display around the venue and made two wine cork pin boards to use as the table plan. The place-settings were hand-made and hand-written flags with champagne corks, and the table names were written in gold on cream card.
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MADDIE & MATT'S 2ND WEDDING!
This gorgeous little English Wedding was held in a field in Hertfordshire. Having already got married 3 years before in Australia, this was a chance to celebrate again with those who missed it. I hand-painted 3 driftwood signs and a blackboard for the Event.
This gorgeous little English Wedding was held in a field in Hertfordshire. Having already got married 3 years before in Australia, this was a chance to celebrate again with those who missed it. I hand-painted 3 driftwood signs and a blackboard for the Event.
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CARLA & MIKE'S WEDDING
This Wedding was held in Sorrento, Italy. The invitations were sent out with hand-written envelopes by Cast Adrift. For the Event, I wrote the guests names on place cards which Carla had sourced herself. I wrote "Grazie" on little luggage tags for the Limoncello bottles given to guests as Wedding favours. To match the luggage tag/travel theme, I made oversized luggage labels for each table and wrote the guests names on each so they could be transported easily in a suitcase and hung up on a map at the venue to create a table plan. I also wrote a message on another hand-made and over-sized luggage label to go in their guestbook. This tied the whole theme together.
"We have been using Castadrift since we came across their website over a year ago. We love Katy’s contemporary take on calligraphy and we are always amazed at the breadth of her artistic talent. We initially just wanted to have our wedding invitation envelopes addressed, but we have found ourselves back on the family houseboat on numerous occasions and have now met the whole family! When we sent out the invitations to our guests we received more compliments about Katy’s calligraphy than we did about the invitations themselves. Some of the guests have even kept the envelopes as keep sakes along with their invitations. Since then, we have had the pleasure of using Katy’s talents to help us, not only in writing our wedding stationery, but also in making key decisions regarding design and layout. From writing the place setting names, the names for the table plan to the favour tags, these finishing touches are what made our wedding setting look as special as it did and we couldn’t have been happier. So much so that we have recently gone back to Castadrift to help us write our hand made thank you cards and envelopes………. and I’m sure we’ll be back for Christening invitations!! Thank you Katy we’ll definitely keep on recommending you!!"
Carla Reeve, Hertfordshire. KIM'S WEDDING
This driftwood themed wedding took place this Spring. The guests names where hand-painted onto driftwood pieces to mark their places around the tables and they also served as wedding favours for the guests to take home. I made 2 large blackboards framed with driftwood and hand-wrote the table plan on to one and the events of the day on to the other. Kim also wanted a small sign with the words "sprinkle me" hand- painted on to it with a clip at the back so it could be attached to a basket of confetti. This was a great wedding to work on as I love working with driftwood and painting on driftwood has inspired me so much, that there will be some new hand-painted signs appearing on this site soon!
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ASAL & SIMON'S WEDDING
Asal & Simon were married earlier this year in Sri Lanka. Asal already had a Bohemian Ibiza theme in mind, the idea to pin a name card onto a fruit for each place setting and some multi-coloured pins that she wanted to use to do so. I sourced some pearlised pens to match the pins, came up with a "swoosh" shaped card that was similar to a guava leaf and allowed room to pin it onto the fruit. I also wrote labels for the disposable cameras, inviting guests to take photos and a sign for their guest book. I hope they had the greatest day.
Asal & Simon were married earlier this year in Sri Lanka. Asal already had a Bohemian Ibiza theme in mind, the idea to pin a name card onto a fruit for each place setting and some multi-coloured pins that she wanted to use to do so. I sourced some pearlised pens to match the pins, came up with a "swoosh" shaped card that was similar to a guava leaf and allowed room to pin it onto the fruit. I also wrote labels for the disposable cameras, inviting guests to take photos and a sign for their guest book. I hope they had the greatest day.
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RHIAN'S WEDDING
Here is a perfect example of how I can take some of the pressure off getting ready for your Wedding. Rhian wanted to write her own table plan and do a lot of the creative work for her Wedding herself, but as quite often happens, the list of jobs you intended on doing yourself doesn't get smaller as quickly as you'd like, the closer you get to the big day. I was able to take one of these jobs off her hands and make a board for her that would house her table plan. I matched the board colour to a box she was using for table favours and built a driftwood frame around it. Her plan was to then zigzag ribbon back and fourth across it and hang the tables lists on to that. I think this is a lovely idea. |
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JAMES & ALIA'S WEDDING
This Wedding was held in a Winery in Mallorca.
I made Menus that could stand on the tables, Orders of Service, cork place cards & table cards around a vine leaf theme.
I made Menus that could stand on the tables, Orders of Service, cork place cards & table cards around a vine leaf theme.
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LAURA & DAVID'S WEDDING
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This summer Wedding
was held in England. Laura sourced her own stationary. I wrote the guest's addresses in white ink directly onto the ribbed navy blue envelopes. I also added their names to the invitations and the place cards in navy blue ink. |
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JILL & DAVID'S NEW YEAR'S EVE DINNER PARTY
This commission was for a small Dinner party for 12 guests. This involved hand-writing 12 place cards and a menu for the table.
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GAIL & BRIAN'S WEDDING
This winter Wedding was held in Ireland.
Gail and Brian are both keen travellers and have visited many places around the world together.
I reflected this in the places settings around the table by making paper boats with flags made from maps of the world.
Gail and Brian are both keen travellers and have visited many places around the world together.
I reflected this in the places settings around the table by making paper boats with flags made from maps of the world.
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PUMPKIN CARVING FOR WINE RACK IN GERRARDS CROSS
Wine Rack commissioned 3 pumpkins for their shop in Gerrards Cross to promote their offers over Halloween.
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"Thanks again for the pumpkins! They drew a lot of attention to our shop, and also a lot of business. We will definitely be using your services again for future events".
Huw Rhys-Davies, Branch Manager, Wine Rack, 64 Packhorse Road, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 8EF
Telephone: 01753 890095 gerrardscross@winerack.co.uk
Huw Rhys-Davies, Branch Manager, Wine Rack, 64 Packhorse Road, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 8EF
Telephone: 01753 890095 gerrardscross@winerack.co.uk
TOM & LORRAINE'S WEDDING
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This September wedding was great fun to
work on. I worked closely with Lorraine to create a great theme and striking look to the wedding. I hand-wrote the guests names on the pre-printed invitations and the addresses on the envelopes. I made 160 red paper boats with black & White flags, 17 table flags and a table plan in the same colours. I also wrote the guests names along with their relationship to the Bride & Groom on black stickers for each guest to wear. A brilliant idea to get people chatting at Weddings. |
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STANLEY'S 2ND BIRTHDAY PARTY
For this children's Birthday party I sourced the party bags & made & hand-wrote the labels. I filled the bags with presents suitable for different aged children between 2 and 10 and decorated the bags with re-cycled paper ribbon.
I also made and decorated the Hungry Caterpillar Cake with cupcake body.
I also made and decorated the Hungry Caterpillar Cake with cupcake body.
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KATY & TOM'S WEDDING
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Our wedding reception was held in 4 giant tipis joined together in a field and had a very natural & earthy theme.
I designed and printed the invitations and menus for the tables. I hand-wrote the guests names on the invitations, the name cards and the seating plan and their addresses on the envelopes to tie the event together. I also designed and sourced the ingredients for the "cheese cake". Then I got married and had the greatest day!  Cheese cake  |
 Wine bottle corks with name cards  The Menu  Wedding invitations ready to post  Cutting the corks for the name cards |
SAM & SI'S WEDDINGSam & Si had a clear idea of the theme and feel for their wedding.
They had already created a monogram and had their invitations and place cards printed professionally. They asked me to cover all the calligraphy for the wedding. This meant hand-writing the name cards (below), the guest's names on the invitations (right), addresses on envelopes and filling in the wedding party details in the front of their guestbook . Sam had also collected some beautiful paper and bought a dragonfly stamp and ink. These were to be used to make covers for the menus which were to sit on each table. When it came to making the covers, I was able to help Sam with the design and put them together for her. |
 Hand-written names on invitation |
Please email katy@castadrift with any enquiries