Interview with Artist Emily Mayne of Emily Mayne Studio: Everything Brides Need to Know About Hand-Painted Wedding Invitations & Illustrations
“I believe that weddings are one of the few traditions our culture still honors and respects during this very casual age of technology, social media, and online convenience.” -Emily Mayne
“Emily’s work has something intangible, a certain lightness of touch. That inexpressible quality in art that transcends technical skill and could, in common terms, be called ‘it factor’ but is best described as grace.”
Today, it is my honor to interview Emily Mayne: artist, stationer, and, to my personal delight, a frequent collaborator. Emily is the illustrator of this, my beloved Chapel Journal. The lovely pink chapel, beautiful botanicals, and characters that grace Chapel’s pages all are Emily’s (read about our Chapel Journal collaboration here). But to speak merely of Emily’s work in relation to my personal connection to it would be to vastly underrepresent her. For Emily creates fine art wedding illustrations and invitations with an elegance, restraint, and lightness of touch that’s seldom experienced. She is not only one of the most talented stationers today; I believe she is among the most talented artists in the wedding industry at large.
Drawing from a background in both fashion and fine art, with a creative process inspired by flower gardens, couture gowns, and French Impressionist artists, Emily’s wedding work is unlike any other. I have only seen such scenes in a lavishly illustrated children’s book—or in a dream. Above all, Emily’s work has something intangible, a certain lightness of touch. That inexpressible quality in art that transcends technical skill and could, in common terms, be called ‘it factor’ but is best described as grace.
Among her many signatures, Emily sets herself apart with masterful venue paintings, from storied châteaux to grand estates.
One glimpse, and the viewer is transported to a turreted Irish castle or Tuscan vineyard in wedding venue paintings so fully realized, they more closely resemble an Impressionist- era painting.
Emily is renowned also for her stately wedding crests, and in this respect, I believe she is a tastemaker; she was among the first to popularize the personalized wedding crest, long before the wedding monogram trend took over. Above all, what I love is how beautifully grounded her work is in tradition. In today’s casual world, such a reverence of approach is rare. A sensitive eye will notice the rich tradition Emily draws from as she creates her wedding crests, which would look at home on a royal wedding invitation. Her invitation suites which are unabashedly formal and exquisitely rendered: a recipient would be overcome by the surprise of finding something so grand in the mail. Looking at these elegant pieces, I am reminded of a passage which speaks to fashion and couture collections, which, the author suggests, “propose that the little moments… on which, when we look back, so much of our life depends, could unfold as formally as they deserve to, and all dressed up.” Emily creates a moment, through her work, where weddings feel as important as they deserve to—where they unfold as formally and as gracefully as we prayed they would.
Read on for an insight into Emily’s artistic process, as well as her indispensable tips for brides. Everything readers need to know about working with a custom stationer is here, beautifully articulated by Emily. She has tips for level of personalization: how to create a wedding’s signature design with a wedding crest, how to create destination wedding designs with a custom wedding map, how to achieve luxury on a budget with her Custom Collection, and how to maximize your stationery investment with creative uses of her wedding illustrations. You will leave inspired and enlightened about the stationery process—and so very excited to plan this unforgettable part of your wedding. After the interview, be sure to follow Emily’s beautiful work on Instagram at @emilymaynestudio, on Pinterest at @emaynestudio, and peruse her portfolio here! Without further ado, please allow me to introduce the lovely Emily Mayne…
Tell us about your artistic background. Did you study art formally, or are you a self-taught artist? How did you first begin creating for weddings, and what were those early experiences like?
I double majored in both Studio Art (Painting and Drawing) and Apparel Design in college at Texas Tech University. I have always practiced art growing up and appreciate art in all its forms! I first started working in weddings when my dear friend asked me to illustrate her entire wedding party as part of her wedding program. I shared my work on social media and further work naturally followed suit. That led me to the practice of designing wedding invitations and exploring the printing methods and paper goods that accompanied my completed designs.
“I have always been inspired by the Royal Family and have been fascinated by the pageantry and traditions that they honor.”
When I think of the Emily Mayne Studio experience, I think of the wedding crest. Your crests are, in a word, regal. How were you first inspired to create wedding crests? Can you describe a favorite crest design?
I have always been inspired by the Royal Family and have been fascinated by the pageantry and traditions that they honor. Wedding Crests certainly take inspiration from that, but what is so special about a wedding crest is that it encompasses a couple’s specific wedding colors, flowers and overall style and sets the tone for the entire invitation suite. While it’s impossible to just choose one, a favorite wedding crest that I have done as been for Madison and Austin, who were married in Charleston, South Carolina. Their wedding style was classic and traditional, with soft tones of ivory, blush and white, accompanied by accents of gold.
From left to right, a Charleston-inspired suite, and a creative use of the crest design— customized wedding cookies!
In addition to fully customizable wedding suites, you also offer an exquisite collection of semi-customizable options, the Collection Suite. Tell us about the inspiration behind the beautiful semi-custom collection! What kind of bride did you have in mind when you created it, and how will this collection help her in her planning process?
The creation of my Collection Catalog actually came from natural progression. I found that brides would often reach out to me requesting specific designs that they had seen in my portfolio, while wanting to make subtle changes to the color palette and floral selection. At the time, I was only offering completely custom designs, and I was preparing for the arrival of my son and trying to figure out how I was going to balance the new role of staying at home with my baby full time while still running my business. Introducing the Collection Catalog allowed for brides to choose from a pre-designed selection of invitation suites that are semi-customizable to suit their wedding style. This option also provided a more flexible budget for the bride, as well as a more flexible time schedule for me, as a Collection Suite does not require as much time to create a fully custom invitation suite from scratch.
From the Collection Suites: The Blue & White Suite
Your simplest suites are masterpieces, but in addition to these, you offer the most incredible, luxury upgrades. From envelope liners to custom wax seals and smaller paper cards and inserts, there are so many ways to elevate an invitation suite. Can you describe some of these upgrades and the items you recommend in order to create the crème de la crème invitation experience?
Above left & right: Beautiful images from Emily’s Instagram account
Emily: I love getting to enhance a suite design with quality paper goods and embellishments. My favorite enhancement choice is colored envelopes with custom printed envelope liners featuring hand painted artwork. If I were to really add on the bells and whistles, I would choose double ply paper, a translucent vellum wrap, silk ribbon, wax seals, a tassel and letterpress printing.
“My venue paintings are first and foremost what separates me from other invitation stationers… A custom venue painting is a very elevated way of creating a one-of-a-kind invitation suite.”
Your venue paintings are transporting—from chateaus to vineyards, estate homes to castles, you capture each setting with such lightness and deftness of touch. Can you tell us why clients should invest in a venue painting, and how this illustration can be incorporated into others designs, like crests?
Thank you! I would say that my venue paintings are first and foremost what separates me from other invitation stationers, as the world of wedding crest offerings have taken off so much in the last five years. A custom venue painting is a very elevated way of creating a one-of-a-kind invitation suite that will surprise and delight your recipients when they open your envelopes and see it featured on either your Save the Date, the invitation envelope liners or the invitation itself. Your invitations are the very first impression your guests will have of your wedding, and what better way to excite them about your big day than to share a hand-painted watercolor rendering of your exact wedding venue that they will be coming to?
A charming English countryside home— the very essence of garden style— and a vision of Florentine beauty.
Your work seems to be beautifully grounded in tradition and in a sense of reverence, of respect for family and love. Can you tell us about some of the wedding traditions you most admire?
I truly believe that weddings are one of the few traditions our culture still honors and respects during this very casual age of technology, social media, and online convenience.
Magical scenes from Emily’s sketchbook.
I’ve always felt that crests act like a wedding’s signature, much like that of a fashion brand—for instance, the iconic interlocking Chanel C’s, the Hèrmes equestrian motif, Louis Vuitton monogram, and Lanvin’s mother and daughter, wearing matches dresses to a costume ball. One illustration captures the essence of the entire experience. Do you feel similarly-- that crests are the one design that best capture and convey a wedding’s aesthetic, its essence? If you were to encourage clients to invest in one piece above all others, what would it be?
Wedding crests are absolutely the best way to create a logo, if you will, for your wedding day. It symbolizes the unity of the couple and a reflection of their wedding style in such an aesthetically pleasing way. A wedding crest is always my first recommendation for a couples chosen artwork because it can be repurposed so easily throughout their wedding.
What should wedding clients know about the timeline for formal invitations and save-the-dates? Given a year-long engagement, how far in advance should a collaboration with a custom stationer begin?
I regularly start working with brides 1 year -10 months prior to their wedding day.
Can you describe the difference between digital and letterpress printing, and your preference for fine art invitations?
Digital printing is simply ink printed on paper, while letterpress printing is made with a custom plate and imprinted onto the paper, making a dimensional impression that is finished with hand-drawn ink. Letterpress printing is a specialty printing method that adds an extra layer of enhancement to your invitation suite.
Your work seems to be richly influenced by fashion. You create beautiful fashion sketches and seem to have an innate understanding of the female form —and of how garments fit and fall and move with the body. How is your creative process inspired by the fashion world? Do you have any favorite wedding dress designers, or fashion labels in general?
Emily: I have always been inspired by both the bridal and ready-to-wear collections of Monique Lhullier, Reem Acra, Maison Valentino, Elie Saab, Ralph Lauren, Emilia Wickstead, Erdem and Jenny Packman. Classic Silhouettes, feminine embellishments, timeless style and a bit of ethereal drama are the qualities of their collections that have always kept me excited and inspired by their designs. While the application of their designs isn’t directly reflected in my work, I love designing wedding crests and invitation suites that I feel would best compliment their collections, imagining a bride wearing their gowns for the wedding day and wedding weekend festivities.
From Emily’s diary: fashion inspiration by Reem Acra and Dior, as chronicled on her Instagram.
One of the hallmarks of your work are exquisite florals. Not only are your floral illustrations beautiful, they’re also incredibly precise and accurate, botanically speaking! Do you have a connection to flowers, whether through gardening or floral design?
Flowers have always been a foundation in my source of influence for any of my work, even since I was younger. While I don’t claim to be a gardener or floral designer by any means, the presence of flowers will probably always be reflected in my work, wardrobe, collected art, and home textiles.
Emily painted the most exquisite botanicals for my floral design business, Meadow Floral, and lovingly repurposed some of these stems as part of my renewed vision for Chapel Journal. These are my dream meadow flowers— so poetic and delicate they make my heart ache, in the best way possible. Notice how she balances fully unfurled flowers with ‘imperfect’ vines and nuances— just as you would find flowers in nature, or on a florist’s studio table.
What is your favorite celebrity or royal wedding, and why?
I will always admire the poise, grace, and restraint of Kate Middleton.
One of my favorite things about your artwork is that it can be utilized for so many other purposes—each of them breathtakingly creative. I have seen your clients display a crest on a wedding cake (!!!) and have seen monograms act as the design for the dance floor or as the focal point of beautiful bar. Your illustrations have adorned menus, magnificent seating charts, drink markers, welcome basket gifts, guest slippers, bath robes, gift tags, exquisite wedding cookies, and beautifully personalized vow books. What are some of your favorite creative uses of your artwork?
I fully credit my wedding planners for their creative ideas and resources for how they can utilize the artwork I create for their brides! My favorite use of displaying my artwork from a wedding suite that I’ve seen is definitely the dance floor, bar panels, and corn hole boards!
Of all a wedding’s paper good selections, the custom wedding map is among the most magical. When thinking through your portfolio, I am reminded of the most elegant Italian suite you created with a map of Italy, complete with beautiful landmarks, abundant natural scenery, lush rolling hills and cypress trees, and a sun-washed pink venue. Can you articulate your wedding map process, and some creative uses for this type of illustration?
Wedding maps are the most detailed and work intensive offerings in my portfolio, and actually take longer to create than a full invitation suite itself. I allow the bride to choose 4-5 venue locations and paint all of them individually at large scale, then I paint the wedding map background separately. I scan all of the artwork and digitally transfer it to my design program. From there, I adjust the scale of the venues and place them atop the map background. The outcome is always so magical and such a special suite piece for recipients to study and appreciate!
A Tuscan masterpiece.
I’ve also seen you create artwork for individual tables—for instance, a wedding that paid homage to the groom’s favorite golf courses, individually illustrated for each table. Can you tell us about a favorite day-of illustration series? For guests who plan day-of illustrations, how far in advance should these be decided upon?
That was such a fun project that was requested and by far my favorite of a series I’ve done. The groom was a professional golfer, and the bride requested for his favorite golf courses he’s played at to be labeled at each table, rather than table numbers. There were about 20 tables total, so I painted 4-5 different golf course scenes and repeated each scene 4 times.
The gentleman’s sport, as imagined by a watercolor artist: Emily paints a series of famous golf courses for each guest table, and her country club venue painting is used to masterful effect on the wedding’s seating chart.
Describe your ideal client. What traits facilitate the creative process and inspire your artistry? What can clients do to help you create your best work?
My ideal client is kind. Kindness absolutely facilitates the create process and helps me to create my best work.
Your pet and family illustrations are so charming! Tell us about these, and how and where clients can best incorporate them.
Family and pet illustrations are the perfect way to incorporate a personalized and fun element into the invitation suite, as well as wedding day-of paper goods. I most often recommend that brides include the pets on their RSVP Cards. Because the recipient sends the RSVP back, this allows the invitation suite to maintain a formal quality once the Invitation and Detail Card are all that remain. Then, when creating your coordinating wedding day paper goods, I find it so fun to feature the pet and family illustrations on items like cocktail napkins, welcome tags, koozies, drink cups and little items that the wedding guests will grab and hold throughout the reception that reminds them of that consistent element of lightheartedness and personal connection to the couple.
I cannot image anything more artistic than a live wedding painting. I’ve seen that you occasionally allow clients to commission you to paint a scene from the reception, which they can later display in their home (could anything be more meaningful?!). I’ve always felt this brings a moment of artistry to a wedding—to have an artist seated, Impressionist style, overlooking a garden or ballroom, and capturing the magic as it happens. Can you describe a favorite experience when you live painted a wedding scene?
This was such a special time in my career to offer this to my brides, where I would travel to the wedding of the bride I created an invitation suite for, wherever in the country their wedding was. I will never forget the opportunity to go to Vermont in the fall during peak color season. The couple set up a large tent on the property of the bride’s family farm, with horses and hills of fall leaves in the background. It was so magical! While I’m no longer able to offer that to my clients, due to my commitment to equally balancing work and motherhood.
One of the more difficult aspects of planning is finalizing the guest seating chart. Do you find that the escort card is the most elegant solution to seating charts, especially where last-minute cancellations or additions are concerned? Once brides have received all rsvp’s, how can they work with a custom stationer to relay seating information? How far in advance do they need to have rsvp and guest information to the stationer to finalize (and possibly ship) escort cards?
Escort Cards and Seating Charts definitely always come down the last minute, which is why you want you RSVP’s sent back a month before the wedding. The bride then has time to reach out to those still straggling to correspond and game plan their seating assignments before sending me the finalized list. I typically print them 2 weeks prior to the wedding day!
Are there any wedding trends you’re loving right now?
It may not be a trend, but I’m loving the more weddings I see with clear appreciation for artisan’s work, whether it be a dedicated film photographer, a floral designer with intentional arrangements, even wedding cake bakers, and of course, stationer’s, who practice their work as an art form, rather than a mass produced copycat of former wedding ideas. I realize that sometimes hiring these vendors isn’t allowed for in everyone’s budget parameters, but prioritizing details like this always immediately catches my eye.
Let’s end with some rapid -fire q’s!
If you weren’t a custom stationer and had to choose another wedding-related profession, what would it be? Wedding Dress Designer
Favorite cake flavor? Chocolate
Favorite color? Farrow and Ball Light Blue
Favorite flower? David Austin Roses and Sarah Bernhardt Peonies
Which historical figure do you most identify with? Berthe Morisot
Describe your ideal day! Spending the day with my husband and son, and always accomplishing some sort of project on my to-do list, whether big or small. It’s also an ideal day whenever our toddler sleeps past 5:30 in the morning.
What do you consider your greatest achievement thus far? My happy marriage, our son, and the ability to support my family by doing what I love.
If you could give brides one piece of advice or message of encouragement, what would it be? Practical Advice: Book your vendors early, even if you don’t know what you want yet. Get your name on their calendar and finalize the details later!
