Stones of the Yarra Valley Wedding Invitations
June 12, 2026
A Full Custom Design for Rene and Scott
When Rene reached out to me for custom wedding invitations that included a venue illustration, I did a little happy dance! Stones of the Yarra Valley wedding invitations had been on my bucket list of stationery to create, and this project turned out to be a dream. Let me take you through how I created these beautiful forest green wedding invitations.
The Initial Brief
Rene and Scott chose Stones of the Yarra Valley for their venue, one of the most prestigious wedding venues here in Victoria. They told me on our inital call that as soon as they saw my work, they knew it would suit perfectly. On the inital call, we went over what was important to them. They wanted a cohesive suite that featured forest green, a custom venue illustration with map and timeline, and most importantly, illustrations of their four dogs!
They were originally drawn to having Indie Handmade paper. This is a luxurious cotton paper where each individual piece is created in a mould, not cut or torn. The result is a soft yet sturdy card, with a textured finish and a deckled edge.
We all had an initial idea of what we were co-creating, and so I began the first iteration of this beautiful suite.
Designing the Wedding Invitations
I began drawing the Stones of the Yarra Valley chapel and map.
I had seen that iconic chapel wall before! I’ve seen so many images of the vines partially covering the stone wall, and I had been there in person once too. And that big tree at the front! So beautiful. It was easy to find images to draw from, and I primarily referenced an image on the Stones website to create my illustration.
Each stroke was digitally hand-drawn (absolutely no AI used), and I poured all my love and time into that piece. The final illustration was elegant yet bold, perfect to sit at the top of the main wedding invitation card.
The Map
I then set my mind to illustrating The Dairy and The Barn. These are two additional buildings at Stones that would feature on the custom map. When illustrating buildings that are to be displayed on a small map, the most important thing is to represent the recognisable parts. The Dairy illustration had the courtyard, with the tall thinner tree, and the Barn featured those stunning tall windows.
I illustrated a compass with some irregular lines, to continue the elegant hand-drawn look. It sat perfectly on the right side of the map.
To represent the roads and carpark correctly, I used a combination of photographs and Google Maps’ Terrain feature. This part was actually really fun for me! The map came together beautifully and Rene and Scott loved it.
The Timeline
The final illustration was the leaf, which again was digitally hand-drawn, and placed on the envelope and the timeline. The timeline was a digital image for their website rather than printed.
Given the forest green colour palette, and the beautiful texture on the Indie Handmade paper, I suggested a heavily textured dark green envelope called Woodland Emerald, milled in Japan. The dark colour called for white ink printing, a gorgeous finish to the suite in the reverse colours of the main invitation.
Drawing Their Dogs
Having their four dogs as part of the invitations was really important to Rene and Scott. We decided on a pared-back design, having all four together as an outlined illustration at the bottom of the invitation.
After the initial drawing, Rene and Scott had some great feedback on how to make the dogs look more like their fur babies they know and love! So I made edits to the plumpness and fluffiness of the faces and the size of the ears, and we got to the final product after a couple of rounds. I’m so glad they look like the dogs in real life!
The Custom Design Process
After the initial consultation, the custom design process involved a few emails back and forth. This is actually a really efficient way to design, because everything is written down.
Rene and Scott were emailed the first digital draft, allowing them to see exactly what pieces were being created and how it would all look together. Then they were free to provide any feedback on colour, layout, wording, fonts, illustration – all of it! This is the beauty of custom work, you can co-create the design so it feels exactly like you.
The venue illustrations and map were perfect, and so we just needed to tweak those beautiful dogs, and make some other minor changes. We made all the text dark green to match the envelopes. Rene requested that I change the font to one that she had been admiring from a sample I had sent her in the mail – easy done.
Are you enjoying this post? If a custom design sounds perfect for you, find out more about your options here.
Stone of the Yarra Valley Wedding Invitations
What do you think of the final suite?
After I posted the invitations to the couple, Rene emailed me and said “We received them yesterday and are OBSESSED. They’re so so so beautiful. Thank you for bringing it to life for us. It’s exactly what we dreamed of.” This is exactly what stationery designers want to hear!
On-the-day stationery
It’s important to weave the same look from the invitations through to the on-the-day stationery. This ensures that the invitations feel like they are part of the day, and so that all the pieces add to the same overall vibe. So Rene booked in for part two of her custom stationery!
Now that the main elements of the design were created, I began creating the menus that the happy couple wanted. They still loved the Indie Handmade paper, but also wanted to incorporate some really fun “fortune tellers” that they had seen in my portfolio (remember that game we all played as kids?!) The white paper for the fortune tellers was also textured, to match the style of the other elements.
So the plan was to have the main menu inside the fortune tellers, and the vegetarian/vegan menu printed on Indie Handmade. The fortune tellers added a fun and interactive element for guests, and the alternate menu added that luxurious paper to the table styling.
I created the digital first draft, replicating the layout from the invitations, and Rene was happy to go ahead and have them printed. It’s often a simple process to create on-the-day stationery once the design for the invitations is finalised!
The Main Event
As a wedding stationery designer, I don’t often get to go to weddings, but from the looks of Briggsy’s wedding day images, Rene and Scott’s wedding was amazing!
What do you think?
If you’re interested in a custom design with meaningful and personalised elements, get in touch today.
