Let's be frank, designing wedding invitations is a daunting task. Especially if you happen to be a graphic designer, Virgo and the groom to be. Its a once in lifetime project. So it was with a slight sense of dread mingled optimism that I opened my Moleskin and put 5mm fineliner to paper to begin thinking of ideas for our invitations.
Fast forward five months, numerous afternoons locked away in our study, a few weeks spent art directing photography across two countries, a season of Mad Men and Game of Thrones and finally we had the invites ready to share with our family and friends. If you are reading this, you most likely received one of our packs in the mail and like many others might be wondering, "what is the meaning behind the six quotes?" or in some cases, "how did he ever convince Eva to use a quote from Frodo Baggins‽"
Well you have come to the right place, bi-weekly* we are going to post a short article uncovering the significance of the quotes we selected for the invites – and those that did not quite make the final cut.
So let's begin with our cover quote.
A few mojitos at Hemingway's old haunt La B del M, a walk through the crumbling romanticism of Havana's streets, and we stumbled upon this quote. Sandwiched in-between a portrait of Penelope Cruz and an angry Cookie Monster, this mysterious - well mysterious for those of us non-Spanish speaking individuals – quote captured our attention. Actually, it was the illustration of Cuba's national hero Che Guevara that grabbed our attention, the quote become the topic of discussion over the evening's dinner at Los Nardos.
The quote is from Cuban author, Nationalist leader and local icon - he has an airport named after him after all - José Martí. Born January 28 1853 and died May 19 1885, the quote:
"Amor cuerdos no es amore"
Translates to
"Sane love, is not love"
The quote captured our feelings and perceptions of love, the crazy idea behind travelling half a world away to get married, our fascination with Cuba and the groovy** kind of love both Eva and myself share with each other.
So here's to the crazy ones.***
CB
* So we do plan on releasing two of these a posts a week in the month leading up to our wedding, but please forgive us in advance if we miss a few!
** Credit goes to Phil Collins for that additional reference.
*** Credit to Steve Jobs for that sign-off.