Ryann and Lee had been friends for many years. The wedding was in a few weeks, but they were having a small ceremony just for family and close friends. So, this was going to be the wedding announcement.

Ryann and Lee are both in the hospitality business, working part of their year in St. Thomas where Lee has a parasailing company and then spending the summer season in Myrtle Beach at Ryann's family's camping resort. I met with Ryann's mother, she helped me outline what they wanted the invitation to include. Ryann and Lee love the beach and were getting married on the beach. Their decorations included little tiki torches, flowering vines covering an arbor, and it was a Christian wedding, so they wanted the Cross in it. Also they wanted parasailing, and singing or music worked into the design, the mountains of the islands near St. Thomas and a sunset. Oh, and some palms and a shell. I was baffled, but got to work. Because they were working in St. Thomas, Ryann's mother and I met several times and she communicated with Ryann. This is the result...

Although the announcement was in the works, Ryann's mother asked if I could create some kind of small crest incorporating their intials and somes shells for the Wedding Program. They needed that design first.

This artwork could be used on other items as they spend their lives together. I gave this crest to a cousin who works with print media and was putting the program together for the couple. He created a three color tri-tone with the black and white illustration. (You'll see below.) Next came the illustration based on the list of items discussed in our first meeting.

This is the tri-tone artwork used for the Wedding program. The couple liked it so much, we used the colors for the actual invitation.