Hand Painted Wedding Signs

It’s often been said that love is an adventure. I was honored this summer to have a hand in seeing one lovely couple off on their next voyage.

This past July, my friend Michelle Lemon asked me to hand-letter a few signs for her friends’ wedding. The bride, Laura Seitz (now Seitz Anderson) and groom, Jake Anderson, knew Michelle to be a talented designer, and Laura had asked her to letter some of the décor.

Michelle and I met when she enrolled in one of my classes at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington, where I taught a few years ago. I could tell from the beginning she had a keen eye and would go on to do great things. She’s now a professional graphic designer based in Tacoma, and I’m proud to consider her one of my student success stories.

I was pleasantly surprised when Michelle contacted me for this project, as I’ve never done this kind of work before. Crafting these pieces was an adventure all its own!

“The signs correlated well with the betrothed’s down-to-earth personalities and the wedding’s warm and rustic motif.”

The weekend before the wedding, Michelle and I spent a day completing the project while the bride was away on a camping trip. We decided on the phrases based on the shape of the board, and did some on-the-fly design work from there. I first hand-lettered the words in chalk, then used paint to finish.

The signs correlated well with the betrothed’s down-to-earth personalities and the wedding’s warm and rustic motif—classic and beautifully Pacific Northwest.

Michelle and I were proud of our creations, and it was wonderful to see Laura so happy with the finished products!

As Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, “Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” Congratulations, Laura and Jake; and may your life together be filled with many more fantastic adventures!