Wedding Blog
I may be a scientist, but I’m constantly inspired by many forms of art to include in the design style of our wedding.
Something I’ve been searching for desperately is botanical sketches of flowers to work as an underlying (dare I say it?) theme to the wedding design.
I absolutely love the food sketches of John Burgoyne on the back of my Cook’s Illustrated each month! Wedding planning aside, I wish I could frame each of these sketches and hang them in my kitchen! The sketches really drive home a rustic, homemade feel, don’t you think?
Plus, mushrooms are delish! If only I could incorporate chanterelles…
I’ve been looking on Google now and then for hand-drawn sketches of poppies and lavender, but you know what? Botanical sketches are really hard to find! Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places. Have you come across an inspirational botanical sketch?
Isn’t this poppy just beautiful?
My favorite botanical sketches are the ones made from early scientists (as the poppy, above). I love how the analytical science of the sketch blends with thoughtful curiosity and the intensity of having to look at a flower for so long.
I’ve got a secret, too! We told our invitation designers about our idea of including botanical sketches (along with pressed flowers, as found on Etsy here) - if I can’t find it on Google, I can contract an artist! 
I can’t wait to share the results with you! And honestly, I can’t wait to see them myself! While I would have loved to have someone from the states like Milkmaid Press make our invitations, the logistics (which I may go into later) proved to be quite a headache. 
When I was looking for more inspiring photos to give to our invitation artist, I re-stumbled upon Mrs. Cherry Pie’s invitations. Hers had such beautiful simplicity! Kindred spirit, you’re coming in handy, now! 
I love how the sketch of the wheat and the flower marry so nicely. I showed these to our artist also, and requested he “marry” the lavender and the poppy.
I’ve got another secret about our invitations, too - but we’re still waiting to see if it will pan out!
Sketches of botany introduce what I call “subdued elegance”. Take these place mats from a wedding, for example - rustic elegance at its best.
Have you been inspired by a particular form of art for the design style of your wedding? What’s been your biggest inspiration source? (Please tell!!)
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How interesting - I guess botanical sketches were an art form that I kind of take for granted - I mean, I do really like them, but I’ve never actively sought them out. I do love their style - that lovely analytical thoughtfulness combined with the elegance of the art itself.
I think having someone create the sketches for you would be so cool - can’t wait to see how they turn out!!
Wow! I didn’t think anyone would try to make this the “theme” of their wedding, but I, too, have been quite inspired by botanical drawings (just recently started planning my wedding) and I get lots of blank stares when I tell people I want a “vintage botanica” theme - the biggest blank stare at all comes from FI! We are getting married outside and having the reception in a barn, so I think it fits. You are correct, the basic Google search doesn’t turn up much at first. I would recommend scouring your local used bookstores - I just found a really nice book with botanical sketches of all the wildflowers of Europe last week, and the sketches are full color. I’m hoping to somehow incorporate sketches into our escort cards maybe? You could have a designer scan in the images and recreate in Illustrator.
Good luck and can’t wait to see how your invitations turn out!
Try searching “botanical artist” or “botanical diagrams”
American Society of Botanical Artists (living artists! Not vintage work)
http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/ASBA/
and vintage prints for purchase:
http://www.vintageprintgallery.com/artist.php?catid=5&subcatid=13
Okay, done geeking out on botanicals for now!
I wanted botanical drawings too and after a million google searches I ended up looking in the public library’s archives where they keep old & rare books. They had fantastic illustrated books and I scanned one of these for our invites and save-the-dates (we used trees instead of flowers but you know it’s all related). Might be kind of hard to get to in Chile but good luck!
Have you looked here:
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/sitemap/plants.htm
I used these files for my invites.
Again, it may not be helpful for you in Chile, but I have seen beautiful botanical drawings in antique shops. Good luck with your search! That poppy drawing is gorgeous!
These are lovely! I know that LindseyRyanDesigns has botanical artwork that she’s encorporated into invites that are absolutely beautiful and affordable. She’s an etsy vendor. I’m positive that these could be worked into a wedding theme! Lovely!
Ooh! A Cubbie after my own heart! My favorite place in all of Miami is Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Their gift shop has notecards featuring botanical sketches. I remember seeing ferns and palms (of course). http://www.fairchildgarden.org/
For poppies, I’d check with the shop at UC Berkeley’s Botanical Garden! :o)
Try searching for John James Audubon (who the Audubon Society was named after). His drawings might work, too. There are usually birds in the drawings, but lots of flowers and plants, too.
I saw this image on an inspiration board on snippet and ink and it gave a link to the source:
http://etsywedding.blogspot.com/2008/03/enfinlavoila-hothouse-invitations.html
The flowers on the invitation seem very similar to the drawings you like.
http://snippetandink.blogspot.com/2008/03/board-169-spring-is-here.html
I was looking for sketches of corn and wheat for my invites, and I had better luck finding them on .edu sites. Like college resources. Maybe try narrowing your search down that way?
I’m so with you! I love the horse that Mr. CB drew for our save-the-dates. It has that same sketchy, homemade feel. I’m trying to find something similar with horse breeds for our table numbers, since Mr. CB doesn’t want to sit through drawing 10 horses.
This makes me think of sketches of birds by the Audubon Society for some reason. Good luck!
I came across some awesome sketches of herbs by an Etsy maker. Kiss and Tell cards I think. We almost used them.
Check out the Dover website. They have a ton of great books and digital sources (many of which are royalty-free) for clip art like this. I’ve had good luck with them in the past.
In a quick search, I just found
Ready-to-Use Old’Fashioned Floral Illustrations,
Merian’s Antique Botanical Prints CD-Rom and Book,
Plants and Flowers: 1761 Illustrations for Artists and Designers
Wow those invitations are beautiful! I love the mix of the sketch w/ the real botanical!
Our biggest inspiration has been other weddings we’ve seen on the web and our favorite interior design elements.
Thank you BC! I’m glad our invites were inspirational for ya. 
I have had a similar thought for my invitations. I haven’t run it past FI yet though and since we are both graphic designers I know he’ll have an opinion =)
Here is a site I found that has HUGE images that from my understanding of the copyright can be used freely so long as its not for profit and you give them credit somewhere. You may be able to ditch that if you email them explaining what your usage is. It’s not easy to sort through but the scans are really nice (12″x18″ at 300dpi on the ones I grabbed).
I love those drawings too! I really wanted to have them in some way as table numbers but I cannot find a good source of reproductions. Maybe you have found some?
Oh the pressed flower idea is so nice!!! I hope it works out!!!!!
There was an exhibit at the NY Botanical Garden of Georg Ehret who was an 18th c. botanical artist, who did lovely work.
I’m a biologist and I’ve been thinking about a similar theme! I found several old texts online at Project Gutenberg - two of my favorites are
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20390/20390-h/20390-h.htm (Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany 1890)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18913/18913-h/18913-h.htm (Hardy Perennials 1884)
@ jmc - Those are gorgeous! I looked him up at http://www.botanicus.org/ and they have a couple black and white illustrated books and one really lovely color book of his work. You have to look at the stuff labeled Tab instead of pages which is the actual text for the illustrations but you can download them high res and the are gorgeous!
Ooh I just saw this and remembered your post. Check out the mushrooms on the cake!
http://rachelthurston.blogspot.com/2009/05/tess-adam-reception-coto-de-caza.html
Best Wishes!
wow, these are all amazing resources!! Thanks, everyone!
We are also going for a vintage botanical look - we had InkyLivie on Etsy do our STDs and invitations. Here is our design:
She changed the colors so they were softer and more summery.
A few weeks back I realized that we should probably make menus, programs, and escort cards. I was able to find some great antique-looking botanical “brushes” for Photoshop by googling. I have been trying to replicate the sorts of patterns on http://www.whiteaisle.com/ and they are starting to look pretty good! You also have the flexibility of going in and modifying all the coloring when you do it with Photoshop!
Botanical sketches are wonderful. I have a cousin who does scientific illustrations, but she does bugs, so not too useful in the wedding world unless you are REALLY offbeat:P.
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Mrs. Cub, Chile/Portland
Age and Occupation: 26, Astronomer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Astronomer
Engagement Date: May 10, 2008
Wedding Date: September 2009
Venue: Westwind YWCA camp
About Me: I'm a small-town girl who's making a living in Chile, with her heart in the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in Southern California, went to high school in Texas, grad school in New Mexico, and now I can't wait to settle down in Oregon! I love pears, hazelnuts,
knitting, traveling, running, baking, and long talks on the phone with
good friends. I'm planning my Oregon coast summer camp wedding while
abroad with my best friend - I'm always at home when I'm with him!
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