"Couples may incorporate actual family coats of arms, or more modern elements such as hobbies, common interests, or even shared pets.” Wedding planner Susan Norcross from The Styled Bride.
You’re a unique couple. Your wedding is going to be unique. You need a beautiful wedding crest to pull everything together, a focus for the feel and personality of your big day. Let’s take a look at ‘what is a wedding crest?’ Why you’d love one of your own, and how to use a wedding crest…
Why do you need a wedding monogram?
A wedding crest can tie all the design elements of your wedding together, using colours from your colour scheme and florals from your bouquet but also bringing in meaningful illustrations that represent you as a couple. My past wedding crests have included all kinds of special illustrations from venue illustrations and pet portraits, to elements representing your hobbies, places you’ve travelled together and where you met.
Once complete, wedding crests can be printed on an array of wedding stationery and signage. So place a hand-painted, highly personalised wedding emblem at the heart of your day and it’ll give you cohesive, curated wedding styling that ties everything together perfectly.
In the example below, we have Borthwick Castle, which was the couple’s wedding venue and their two lively springer spaniels. The wedding illustrations also contains a plane to symbolise their travels together, red wine, gardening tools and a duck which represent their hobbies and common interests. They were having an autumn wedding and the colours were taken from their overall wedding colour scheme with some of the florals matching the bride’s bouquet.
What’s the difference between a monogram and a crest?
A monogram is a traditional logo with the couple’s initials intertwined. But a crest goes deeper, showcasing the interests, background, and other things that are special to them.
How to use your personalised wedding crest
Use your crest to unify your wedding stationery, wedding crests can be printed on:
- Save the Date cards
- Wedding invitations
- Hen party sashes and signs
- Favour / gift tags
- Tote bags for the bridal party
- Wedding signs
- Order of service booklets
- Menus
- Napkins
Having a garden or barn wedding? Wedding crests can be printed on cushions and flags, welcome signs and directional signage to help your guests find their way. I’ve also had couples print their crest onto the side of pop-up bars or outdoor catering shacks which looks incredible.
After your special day, your wedding crest is the beating heart of your memories. It’ll look gorgeous framed and hung on the wall in your home, a piece of original artwork that means so much to you and is a great conversation starter.
Wedding Crest Gifts
Looking for a wedding gift or first anniversary present? If the newly weds didn’t commission a crest themselves, it would be lovely for you to have one created. A wedding crest makes a wonderfully romantic wedding gift for a couple and is such a versatile way to symbolise everything about their love, their relationship, their past and their future.
Below is a lilac wedding crest that I created on request of the Mother of the Bride. She had it printed and framed as a lovely wedding gift for the couple.
What goes on a wedding crest?
Every couple’s marriage crest is unique, painted to reflect the couple, their love for each other and the things that matter most to them. But there’s usually an attractive shield-shaped outline for the design to sit in, with pretty florals and foliage to the sides and across the top.
Each crest has the couple’s initials intertwined in the middle and a banner or scroll underneath. At the top or bottom, you’ll usually find something meaningful which acts as the anchor for the illustration - such as a venue illustration or pet portrait (or both if you like). The outside of the crest is filled with decorative elements to reveal the couple’s story.
How your beautiful wedding crest is created
I’ll spend time talking to you about the design, exploring exactly what you’d like to include. Maybe you have a specific colour scheme in mind to match the bridesmaid dresses, bouquets or décor. The illustrations can include anything you like, symbolising the place you met, food and drink you love, your hobbies, favourite romantic holiday spot, even your first home together. Whatever moves you, whatever makes your hearts sing, I like to think almost anything is possible. Finally, hand-painted letters in the centre make your crest complete.
How long does a custom wedding crest take?
My crests involve detailed planning, careful drafting, and skilled hand-painting, so please allow 3-6 weeks for the design and creation, and book your crest in nice and early. I’m excited to learn what will symbolise your love best, so get in touch straight away and get the ball rolling!