The Serbskiwi Saga

When Andjelija and Danie approached me about helping with the visuals of their wedding shortly after their engagement, we all knew this would be a creative challenge. The Los Angeles based couple, Andjelija from Serbia and Danie from New Zealand by way of South Africa, had ties all over the globe, and wanted that reflected in the celebration of their union. The wedding was to take place in the little resort town/former film set of Mecavnik/Drvengrad in Mokra Gora, Serbia— this stood as our jumping off point for finding the ‘voice’ of this project

The church in Drvengrad where the wedding would take place in September 2021

The church in Drvengrad where the wedding would take place in September 2021

We got together and decided that our vision was to tie Danie’s NZ culture into Andjelija’s Serbian culture to form a unique visual library that was rustic but bright and fun, like the venue. I put together some hand-drawn elements that we tied into the entire wedding project.

We started with the official bird of Belgrade, the Sparrow, and the NZ Kiwi bird, and put elements of Serbian National Dress and NZ jandals to signify each person taking on their partner’s culture. We incorporated fruits and plants to tie into the rustic feel the couple wanted. Elements of Serbian traditional embroidery and costumes were included as well.

We started with the official bird of Belgrade, the Sparrow, and the NZ Kiwi bird, and put elements of Serbian National Dress and NZ jandals to signify each person taking on their partner’s culture. We incorporated fruits and plants to tie into the rustic feel the couple wanted. Elements of Serbian traditional embroidery and costumes were included as well.

the first piece putting everything together was the Save the Date, introducing the wedding hashtag #serbskiwi (Serbian in serbian is srpski/serbski). This introduced guests to the concept and feel of the upcoming event.

the first piece putting everything together was the Save the Date, introducing the wedding hashtag #serbskiwi (Serbian in serbian is srpski/serbski). This introduced guests to the concept and feel of the upcoming event.

The invite followed a couple months later, including the Save the Date elements, but incorporating the mountains of Mokra Gora, the belt of the Serbian National Dress (that would be incorporated in the bridesmaids’ outfits) and the handwriting of the bride’s grandfather, Serbian poet, Matija Bećković.

The invite followed a couple months later, including the Save the Date elements, but incorporating the mountains of Mokra Gora, the belt of the Serbian National Dress (that would be incorporated in the bridesmaids’ outfits) and the handwriting of the bride’s grandfather, Serbian poet, Matija Bećković.

The couple’s ties to all corners of the globe was very important to them to include, especially since the wedding would be attended by those from all parts of their lives from upwards of 15 different countries. To represent that, we included airport codes/stamps from airports/places that held significance in the couples’ lives and relationship. This was introduced on the back of the invitation and served as the table numbers/assignments at the actual wedding.

Back_Of_Invite_.jpg

The initial creation of the library of elements gave us a really strong brand and made every part of the wedding feel intentional and cohesive.

Elena + Kevin

Elena approached me well into her wedding planning process about wanting something special to incorporate the couple’s beloved dog, Freddy. They had almost everything done but they wanted just one more special touch to act as their couple ‘logo’ and call out their furry family member.

the aforementioned Fred the dog!

Elena didn’t just want a cocktail napkin with her dog’s face on it, she wanted a couple coat-of-arms of sorts to signify their new unified family. We settled on an elegant monogram, wrapped in elements that symbolized them. Oysters, for their connection to Boston, and Meyer lemons for their last name, along with some greenery to tie the whole thing together. After a couple sketch iterations, we settled on a design and added color!