Wedding season approaches and cherished moments filled with love and joy abound. For couples embarking on the beautiful journey of marriage, capturing those precious memories becomes paramount. While digital photo albums and social media posts have their place, there's something undeniably special about displaying your favorite wedding photos in elegant frames to last a lifetime.
Just as every detail at the wedding itself is meticulously chosen to exude a sense of beauty and romance - from delicate lace adorning bridal gowns to the fragrant bouquets brimming with fresh blooms - so can wedding day photo or keepsake framing. At Main Street Art, our designers love helping you transform your cherished moments into lasting treasures.
1. Choosing the Perfect Mats & Frame
The first step in creating a stunning display for your wedding photos is selecting the perfect frame design. From classic to contemporary, ornate to minimalistic, the frame you choose sets the tone and enhances the overall aesthetic appeal. When you bring your work into Main Street Art, our designers help you sort through hundreds of frame and mat samples to find the ideal design that complements your wedding photos and reflects your personal style.
Example: This couple’s joyful wedding portrait is kept light and airy in a thin gold frame and cream silk mat.
Example: The delightfully dramatic portrait of this bride silhouetted against a bright window in an historic building is punctuated by a black under mat and stark white top mat. A traditional frame walnut colored frame with a black lip encapsulates the piece in elegance.
Example: A photograph of a bride and groom captured majestically against a natural outdoor setting paired with their blush pink Art Deco wedding invitation are set inside a blush inner mat and shimmering fabric outer mat, with a delicate gold frame to match the arch on the invitation.
2. Enhancing with Fillets & Mat Embellishments:
Adding decorative elements to your overall frame design can provide an elegant touch to your framed wedding photos. Fillets - small and relatively flat pieces of wood moulding - can be used inside the mat or directly inside a frame to amplify colors or highlight the innate beauty of a piece. Decorative elements drawn on a mat allow for a deeper level of personalization, allowing you to communicate other details of this special moment.
Examples: We used ornate champagne frames and matching fillets to dramatize both of these monochromatic vintage wedding photos. The happy couple in the first image are full of old world charm, which is enhanced by the polished design of fillet, simple white mat and delicate design work on the frame. The grandeur of the bride covered head to toe in luxurious satin is complemented showcased within the fillet as though we are seeing an exclusive view through a window in time. The wide, white silk mat and decorative frame add the finishing touches to this beautiful piece.
Example: This happy couple (who are good friends of mine!) have made a wonderful life together in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Using the pen tool on my computerized mat cutter, I drew a simple black outline around the photograph that transforms into the Chattanooga skyline along the bottom edge. The year they were married and their names flank the skyline in script. The design is offset to the left to balance the offsetting of their rightward position in the photograph.
3. Telling the Story with a Gallery Wall
Why limit yourself to a single framed wedding photo when you can create a captivating gallery wall that narrates your love story? Hundreds of professional photographs are taken of couples during their engagement, and before and after a wedding, and each photo tells a different piece of the story. Building a gallery wall of wedding imagery showcases the various chapters of your wedding journey. You may choose a chronological timeline, thematic arrangement, or simply pieces that you like to tell the story of your love.
Example: We love the three inspired moments this client chose to frame. All in black and white with gray silk mats and crisp white contemporary frames, these three photographs display special moments from their special day.
4. Showcasing Important Elements
Wedding photographs represent a myriad of captivating moments captured throughout the day. However, the carefully chosen artifacts surrounding your special day hold significance as well: save the dates, invitations, bouquets, attire, etc. We love helping our clients to emphasize the significance of these objects by giving them the spotlight they deserve. These pieces can even become a focal point on a wedding gallery wall.
Example: This bouquet (not actually from a wedding, but from a Valentine’s day) is one of many we have framed. Dried bouquets make beautiful art for your wall or mantle. For this set of red roses, we mounted the bouquet on a white silk mat that was also used to trim the sides of the shadowbox.
Example: Greek Orthodox wedding crowns are likewise encased in an elegant shadowbox to forever signify the couple’s love for each other. A white ribbon weaves through the crowns, symbolically connecting them for life.
Example: The story of this couple’s wedding enveloped in a shining beaded silver frame is told through images and the record album played at their wedding. A sweet, custom heart cut surrounds their united hands.
Example: Elaborate wedding invitations with delicate designs represent both the special day and the amount of work that goes into planning a wedding, and are also worthy of beautiful framing. This invitation with exquisite blue and gold detailing is a perfect example of how our designers showcase your wedding stationery.
Example: Wedding invitations can also be combined with more elements in an artfully arranged collage. This bride’s embossed and blush wax stamped handmade paper invitation, lace vintage brocade pieces passed down from her grandmother and attached to her own dress, rose pink rosary and dried rose from her bouquet form a luxurious grouping of artifacts that exude classic elegance. Mounted to a suede blush pink mat and encased in a shimmering white and silver frame, this piece will tell the story of this couple’s love and beauty of their wedding day for generations.
Framing your wedding photos is a beautiful way to transform cherished moments into timeless treasures. The careful selection of frames, enhancing with decorative elements, and adding personal touches can turn a simple photograph into a piece of art. By displaying these framed memories in your home, you not only create a stunning visual display but also ensure that the love, happiness, and emotions of your wedding day are celebrated every day.
As you embark on this creative journey of framing your wedding photos, remember that it's ultimately about preserving the love and joy that radiated on your special day. Let your framed photos and objects become a constant reminder of the commitment and the beautiful memories you and your partner have shared.
Whether you choose classic elegance, modern minimalism, or a style that reflects your unique personality, framing your wedding day keepsakes will capture your love story in a way that will be treasured for generations to come.
Learn more about custom framing with Main Street Art here.