This month’s blog post follows a commission very near and dear to my heart, one that I’ve been dying to share for close to a year now!
Kathryn, one of my closest pals, got engaged in April of 2020 after a bonafide movie-worthy romance. She and her fiancé Chris met through a work conference and after many long heart-to-hearts, Zoom cooking nights, and flights between Belfast and New Zealand later, the pair decided to tie the knot! Although I do believe Kathryn’s engagement announcement was a text a bit less flowery and went something like “I’m engaged btw lol”, the absolute hallion.
And so, Chris moved to Belfast to be with his new fiancée and they created a beautiful new home together, complete with their two cats. Wedding planning was in full swing!
Kathryn came to me about a year before the wedding with an incredible commission idea, to say I was excited about it would be an understatement. Both Kathryn and Chris are huge fans of their Doc Martens, so their wedding shoes were a no-brainer, but they didn’t want the standard black boot, these guys really wanted to express their personalities and tell their story through every little detail of the big day; from their humanist ceremony to their vegan, well, everything! This extended right down to their shoes. No real surprise from two of the most stylish folks I know!
We decided on a bold, old school tattoo style to tie in with their distinctive style. Chris is a Kiwi and Kathryn’s Belfast born and bred (see what I did there) so I incorporated ferns and shamrocks amongst the traditional roses to tie together their two homes.
Chris followed his heart and moved halfway round the world to settle down in Belfast with Kathryn, so it made sense then to have the compass be the focal point of Chris’ boots, a compass leading his feet down the proverbial aisle to his new wife.
Unfortunately Chris’ two sons couldn’t join us to celebrate their amazing wedding, but Chris really wanted to make sure he had something of them to keep with him on the day. Luckily one of Chris’ sons is super into sloths, and wouldn’t you know it- I love drawing them. And so we ended up with two little sloths peeking out from the inner part of the boots representing Chris’ kids, with him every step of his wedding day.
Photography courtesy of Simple Tapestry
Of course we couldn’t have traditional tattoos without a banner! And ‘Just Married’ was the obvious choice for the bride and groom!
For Kathryn, we settled on tumbling roses and ferns as the central design, then, tucked towards the heel, a tiny map to mirror Chris’ compass; with a trail between Belfast and Wellington.
Like Chris, Kathryn also had the inner part of her boots decorated with some special family members, but in Kathryn’s case these were her two very loved rescue cats, Marcus and Darjeeling. Cats’ eyes in traditional tattooing can represent wisdom, intelligence, and protection, and so the watchful eyes of Kathryn’s two furry companions felt like a great fit for her wedding shoes.
Photography courtesy of Simple Tapestry
The finished boots came out so well, they’re honestly some of the best, most personal work I’ve ever done and I can’t thank Kathryn and Chris enough for letting me make something for their special day.
Photography courtesy of Simple Tapestry
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m away to get teary over their wedding photos again.
Photography courtesy of Simple Tapestry.
See Full Collection Here.
- Leanne
Photography courtesy of Simple Tapestry
