A wedding-book : an original wedding gift idea
The wedding paint-book of an original wedding in Spain
Today I would like to tell you the story of Aurore and François. Both of them are French and they have decided to get married in Spain. Everything has started when I met Elisabeth, the bride’s mother, during an Art exhibition in the South of France. She is also a fine Art painter, and obviously we were talking about Art during this event. When I have told her about my work as wedding painter, her eyes have lit up ! Her daughter was going to get married in the next few months… And she was losing the hope to find an original gift idea for the couple. So I have explained her my new concept of wedding-books with original watercolor paintings, and she was delighted about this idea !
Before the wedding
Reflexion about paintings which will be in the wedding-book
First, Elisabeth had to think about the moments she wanted to be in the wedding-book. The moments I would paint ! The bride’s preparing, the wedding venue, the ceremony, of course, the bridesmaids, cocktail time, the dinner (the witnesses speeches?), the wedding cake, the first dance… And surely other unexpected moments !
Then, the bride’s mother had to give me the pictures of all the guests who would be painted. It would be much easier for me to recognize the people I would have to draw !
Why did they get married in Spain?
The bride’s family comes from Spain: the grandfather still lives in Spain. The bride parents have a vacation house in Denia (in eastern Spain, near Valencia). Aurore loves this home, and this place. She has spent lots of summer holidays there. And for her wedding, she wanted above all to get married under the orange trees !
The day before the wedding… The bachelorette party
Witnesses, friends and bride’s family had planned a big party the day before the wedding. It was a costume party, and the theme was : « Come with your celtic costume ». And the bride herself, has worn a celtic wedding dress.
A friend costumed as a druid, spreads evil spirits with a Galician ritual. You will see, there have been many rituals during this wedding !
The wedding day
Each page of the wedding-book shows a symbolic moment of the day
In France we say : Mariage pluvieux, mariage heureux ! » ( literally « Rainy wedding, happy wedding !). Aurore and François will have a very happy wedding ! The rain has invited itself to the wedding…
All the guests were sheltered under a marquee, to attend the ceremony outside.
And it was the beginning of many rituals :
- the candles ritual (or light ritual) ; the bride and groom have both carried a candle for each of them. They have gathered they respective candles to light a third candle, symbolizing their destiny’s union. Three other candles were symbolizing the Time : Past, Present and Future.
- The orange tree plantation ; as I have explained above, the bride absolutely wanted to get married under orange trees. During the ceremony, Aurore, Fransois and Hugo (the son) have planted an orange tree symbolizing their love that would grow day after day.
- The handfasting cords (literally « Tying the knot »): a tradition from Celtic origin. This ancient tradition of handfasting represents a deep spiritual union between a man and a woman. There were 13 ribbons of 13 different colors. Each color of cord had a meaning (blue : understanding, patience, health / red : courage, sexuality, passion / white : peace, sincerity / yellow : harmony, communication…). Thirteen relatives of Aurore and François came each in turn, to tie one ribbon around their hands.
Then came the long-awaited moment : the wedding rings exchange! And the witnesses signatures.
That’s it ! They were married ! The party could start !
Another ritual during the dinner : an oriental ritual from Algeria. A section of cut hair, a knotted belt (symbol of union between the newlyweds), and Aurore had to drink milk and to eat dates, sign of fertility and good relation in the couple.
And the last ritual for the wedding cake : the bride and groom had to cut the cake with… a sword !!
Testimonial
« I wanted to amaze the newlyweds, by offering them a unique and original gift … and I met Kiara during an exhibition! A truly talented artist! She has proposed me to paint all the important moments of the wedding in watercolor and to group them in an album that I would offer to the newlyweds after the wedding … I had finally found THE original and artistic present that I was looking for! The result was magnificent, touching and unique! Kiara creates watercolors from what she sees or from photos with her very personal own style and signature. She establishes an harmony between her painting and Reality. She creates a real piece of Art, for which you are one of the models. Believe me, offering an original paintingnin which we can relive those moments of happiness through the artist’s eyes is something unique! »
Elisabeth, the bride’s mother
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