Traditional Rwanda Garden Wedding Stationery

Stationery: Lush Rwanda Garden Wedding

CREDITS

Creative Direction & Planning Mwai Yeboah At Love From Mwai Photography Stepan Vrzala Head Of Décor Amida Sama Floral Design Karolina Garwacka, Fiona Quiambao Flowers & Design Support Fairy Weddings, Eyforiya Events Invitations And Graphic Design Rosey Willis Menus Occasional Heaven Rentals Urbane Designs, Eyforiya Events, Fairy Weddings Production Bora Bora Sounds Entertainment Inganzo Ngari Master Of Ceremonies Lionel Imanzi Catering Cafe Camellia Hair Blue Tooth Mafuta Makeup Nshutiyase Lina Of Maison De La Beaute Videography Made To Reminisce

PROJECT DETAILS

Alice and Armin’s spectacular seven-day wedding celebration was a truly unique affair, taking place across two countries with distinct cultural influences. In February 2020, the couple hosted their first wedding, a grand garden celebration surrounded by 350 guests in Kigali, Rwanda, followed six days later by an intimate second wedding with 160 guests in Livingstone, Zambia.

For this extraordinary event, Alice and Armin sought stationery that moved beyond traditional romantic designs. They wanted pieces that captured the richness of their cultures and the adventurous spirit of their union.

Working with a wide range of cultural and graphic design elements, I crafted a cohesive suite of stationery that reflected both their personal story and the grandeur of the celebrations. Each piece told a story, blending artistic craftsmanship with bold design choices, making this one of the most rewarding projects I’ve had the pleasure of working on.

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The guests’ first glimpse into the wedding festivities came through the Save the Date, and it remains one of my favourite printed design creations. Alice wanted to incorporate a nod to her Rwandan heritage and their shared love of gorillas—a symbol of Rwanda’s natural beauty and strength. To achieve this, I turned to one of my favourite classic works of art, Robert John Thornton’s “Cupid Inspiring Plants with Love” from The Temple of Flora (1807), using it as the backdrop for the Save the Date.

The process of seamlessly incorporating a gorilla into Thornton’s painting, replacing the figure of Cupid, required a blend of advanced graphic design techniques that I’ve honed over the years. Using my design expertise, I carefully blended and layered the gorilla into the existing scene, ensuring that it fit naturally within the historic piece.

This was a particularly challenging process, as I had to meticulously adjust lighting, texture, and colour to match the intricate details of Thornton’s botanical art. The result was a striking fusion of traditional and contemporary elements, with the gorilla becoming a subtle yet powerful focal point.

Overlaying the painting with vintage-inspired typography—carefully chosen to reflect the style of old travel books—I brought the design to life. After several rounds of proofs and adjustments, the final version was printed with a gloss finish, which beautifully enhanced the vivid colours and ensured the highest quality finish.

For the invitation suite, I continued to balance cultural symbolism with modern design. The invitations incorporated subtle references to both Alice and Armin’s heritages, printed in a soft sheen on luxurious paper. The minimalist approach allowed the quality of the materials and the boldness of the design to take centre stage, without the need for excessive embellishments. Instead, the strength of the invitations lay in their elegant simplicity—an understated yet powerful nod to the couple’s journey together.

One of my favourite aspects of this project was how involved Alice and Armin were in the creative process. Armin played an integral role in bringing the event signage to life. Using the graphics I had designed for the invitations as a backdrop, Armin designed and printed the signs locally in Rwanda.

The day itself was nothing short of magical. With the creative direction of Mwai from Love From Mwai, the garden wedding was a visual masterpiece, filled with lush, unique florals and vibrant cultural details. Mwai’s team wove traditional elements into every corner of the garden, creating a stunning seating area adorned with rich textures and colours that beautifully reflected Rwandan culture.

Working on this project allowed me to showcase the full range of my artistic and graphic design skills, ensuring that the stationery not only reflected the couple’s vision but became an integral part of the larger creative tapestry of their wedding celebrations.