Wedding preparations are a great source of pleasure for many brides. However, with the huge scope and seemingly endless range of options for every aspect, the task of wedding planning can seem overwhelming.

One way of simplifying the process can be through the dual or even triple use of one element of your wedding needs.

Think about date claimers, invitations, sign in board, place markers, wine labels and bridesmaid/groomsmen gifts. Often the task of looking through endless albums of card styles, colors, prints and fonts can become overwhelming.

A novel and fun way around this onerous task can be through the use of a custom drawn caricature.

Now before you think of traditional caricatures as being big noses, teeth lips etc, also think of caricatures as having some slight parody effect, while remaining quite true to the individual. Of course if you prefer more exaggeration….!

A custom created caricature can provide a wonderful method of portraying the bridal couple in whatever way you wish.

Take for instance the Date Claimer. The comedy effect can be gained from the approach of the girl getting her guy.

The wedding invitation can reflect the location of the wedding, the couple in their wedding attire and can be used to set the tone for the wedding. It can be very formal, with a nicely posed couple, or can have a hint of cheekiness or dual announcement, perhaps the groom carrying the bride (or the other way around!) or the groom with a ball and chain around his leg or in some what under the bride’s control! Wording can also be included as part of the image. Or have one version with wording and one version without and the second version can be part of the multi-use that the caricature can play.

While many couples have a book where people can place their well-wishes, increasing numbers are now opting not to have an sign-in item that will live it life in a drawer, but instead to have signatures placed on a beautiful item that can then have a place in the home as a decorative item.

The sign-in caricature can be the same image used for the invitations – printed at a large size and perhaps placed in a frame with a wide white mat. After the wedding the protective cover can be fitted to the image and then there is a wonderful artwork to hang in the home. Often bridesmaids will suggest this to the bride and help take care of its production.

The caricature can also be used on table seating cards and also through specialist printers, as a very unique and wonderful wine label. Some artists will also create a plain line version of the art and this can be printed on the neoprene ‘stubby coolers’ that are popular at Australian weddings or ‘can coolers’ for UK or ‘can coolies’ in the USA.

Finally there are the bridesmaids and groomsmen gifts. These can be custom drawn caricatures of each group, or maybe reuse the wedding couple caricature with new wording!

The possible combinations for caricature use are:

• Date claimer and thank you card
• Invitation and sign in board
• Sign-in board and bridesmaid/groomsmen gifts
• Invitation and wine label/cooler/coozie
• Invitation and seating name tags

As you can see, a single custom drawn piece of caricature art can have several uses and be created to suit your exact needs.

Contact us to discuss your needs. We do not charge any extra just because it is a wedding…

Here is a nice BW caricature by caricaturist Zalo.

He has his own style, more in the true caricature style than some of the other artists who have a more realistic style, but one that has a loyal following – with many of his customers coming back for more.

click for bigger

Sometimes it does not take too much to create a really nice piece of caricature art. No fancy props, complex background or high tech input.

Here is a nice simple caricature by artist Zalo. It shows that from a photo that is fairly ordinary (especially is others are in it, as was the case in this sample before it was cropped) this can be used as the basis for something special.

A caricature like this can be poster printed, framed, printed onto a T-shirt or coffee mug, used as a social website avatar, blog etc.

Click images for larger view

Catching people on the move is always a fun thing, and here caricature artist Zalo has caricatured some runners.

All workmates, they will be using this on their blog that will be a lot of fun I am sure.

I think the image would also be a great item for a Christmas card.

Weddings are great affairs, with the organization in the lead-up to the big day, plus those few hours when you are more famous than anyone else in the world and then the honeymoon.

Of course then it is time to say Thank You! to all those people who attended and provided gifts and helped make your day soooo special.

One great way to pass on your thanks is through a fun caricatured thank-you card like this:

This example was drawn by Zalo. A nice simple style, but of course we have several other artists so you can find a style to suit your tastes. Wording is included.

While we do not handle printing of the cards we do suggest these printers in the USA and Australia.