We’re giving you a behind the scenes look at Co-Founder and Creative Director Christina Bryant Herbert and husband Thomas Herbert’s pandemic micro-wedding, recently covered in Vogue (where you can read all the deets on their COVID-19 love story and proposal), from the prep work to each of the weekend events. Today, we’re starting as most love stories do, with the first impression. In the case of an event, that impression is made through the wedding invitation itself and the first welcome the guests received to the weekend - their gift bag. With the help of their wedding planner, August Cole, the couple used each detail of the wedding to infuse meaning and share their vision for the celebration. Enter the wedding invitations by artist and calligrapher Stephanie Fishwick.
As an art history major, Christina has always been drawn to the meaning behind visuals. Sharing, celebrating, and preserving the stories behind heritage crafts we make at St. Frank has been core to the company’s DNA from day one. So, when working with Stephanie to bring the wedding invitations to life, Christina and Thomas wanted to weave symbolism into the wedding design. (This began with the invitations, but as you’ll soon see, this concept extended far beyond, even to the wedding cocktail napkins and the centerpieces.) Here’s a little iconography key: fruit and flora for fertility, prosperity, fruitfulness; a moth for transformation; a skull as a celebration of life and a sober reminder of the couple’s commitment until death; and an evil eye for protection. The font was designed especially for the couple by Stephanie.
The couple wed in Palm Beach, Florida, in February of this year, mid-pandemic, and therefore opted for an immediate family only gathering comprised of 15 adults (including Christina and Thomas) and eight children ages eight and under. As a result, the weekend was extremely family-oriented. Upon arrival, each family found one welcome bag in their hotel room along with a small floral arrangement and hand-written note from the couple. Here’s a peek at the goodies they included in their wedding guest welcome bags. Each family received a beach-ready LL Bean tote bag personalized with their family surname and complete with sunscreen, sand toys and games, hats for the adults and kids with an embroidered orange icon from the couple's wedding invitations, and cookies from Sant Ambroeus (the site of Christina and Thomas’ first date). In addition, they included some of their favorite St. Frank gifts in patterns used for the wedding decor, more of that to come! Their St. Frank selections included a cashmere throw that many of the guests ended up wearing as wraps to the wedding, a zip pouch in a print they used for their cake tablecloth, a lavender eye sachet in a print they used as their dining table cushions, playing cards, a Havana, Cuba candle, and matches.
Christina and Thomas saw these touches as a perk of the micro wedding. While the pandemic pushed them to their mini party size and they missed their friends and extended family, they ended up loving their tiny immediate family wedding party and say they wouldn’t change it! The weekend was extremely intimate and they were able to include many personal touches like this. Given all that was asked of the family in terms of pandemic travel, quarantining, and multiple rounds of COVID-19 testing, these thoughtful gifts felt like the right way to say thank you and welcome everyone to the weekend.
Stay tuned for more on Christina and Thomas’ wedding details, including custom St. Frank decor!
