I’m Benya, a creator of custom wedding crest designs and a watercolor artist. I work from my small studio in Kettering, England, and deal with private clients and wedding planners all across the universe.
Why choose me to do a watercolor monogram for your wedding?
• Each of my designs is tailored entirely to the client's preference.
You can get anything you want! I’m very flexible. I don’t have any set of premade design elements to mix and match. Everything is made from scratch, every single time. Just share your ideas and reference pics with me, and in three weeks you’ll have a truly unique hand-drawn watercolor wedding crest coming your way (and a bunch of printable files to use for your invites, too).
You can get anything you want! I’m very flexible. I don’t have any set of premade design elements to mix and match. Everything is made from scratch, every single time. Just share your ideas and reference pics with me, and in three weeks you’ll have a truly unique hand-drawn watercolor wedding crest coming your way (and a bunch of printable files to use for your invites, too).
• You get the original piece of art, signed, not just a digital copy.
A lot of creators only offer digital copies of custom crests they do to their clients. I provide them too — you'll get a PNG, a JPG and a vectorized PDF version of your crest — BUT, in addition to that, you'll get the original watercolor painting! You'll have a unique chance to treasure it as a token of your special day.
A lot of creators only offer digital copies of custom crests they do to their clients. I provide them too — you'll get a PNG, a JPG and a vectorized PDF version of your crest — BUT, in addition to that, you'll get the original watercolor painting! You'll have a unique chance to treasure it as a token of your special day.
First custom wedding crest I made. Still my favorite cause it has a cat in it!
WHAT IS A WEDDING CREST
It's a custom illustrated monogram, a unique visual representation of your wedding and your life as a couple. It tells the story of your love and your adventures together!
You can use it as a logo and have it printed on your invitations, menu, gift tags, welcome sign and garden flags, but it's not exactly the same thing. Logo is usually a small, simple graphic mark, minimalistic and plain.
A wedding crest is so much more than that! It's an art piece, meticulously designed and hand painted with watercolors on paper. It’s intricate, and it incorporates all sorts of things, such as initials, florals, frames, banners, portraits of family pets, and all sorts of other details that represent your hobbies, places you visited together, sports you love or your professional background.
You can use it in so many ways, and not just for your wedding. Put it on a set of custom family mugs or cushion cases to add a personal touch to your home, have it printed on tote bags, t-shirts, tea towels or on a set of coasters, or frame it and hang it on the wall.
Here you have just a few examples of custom wedding crests I've made for the last 3 years. Go through them! There's a whole personal story behind each and every one of those pieces.
Custom crest made for a birthday card for a Dallas Cowboys fan and golf enthusiast from Telluride town in Colorado
Watercolor wedding crest with Texas vibes, Fort Worth Stockyards elements and a black lab dog in it
Large watercolor wedding crest with a bear, a butterfly and a bunch of gorgeous sunflowers in it
Vibrant San Miguel inspired wedding monogram with Spanish colonial architecture vibes and traditional Mexican tin stars
One of my favorite watercolor crests, with a sacred heart and angel cherubs, and a key that refers to the Cuban coat of Arms
Romantic French Garden themed watercolor crest I made for a couple of lawyers, with a vintage scales of justice in it
How to create a custom wedding crest
For me, it takes days of research, and sketching, and working on details. But for you, the process is really simple.
First, think of all the elements you want to see in your crest. A portrait of your pet, or your wedding venue, flowers from your bridal bouquet, things related to your hobbies, career, a place where you and your fiancé first met or any other elements that are meaningful to you, like your high school mascot or things that represent your state or your family's coat of arms.
Then, think a little bit about your preferences.
• What color palette do you want to use?
• What font style do you like for your and your fiancé's initials?
• Do you want to put the date of your wedding on a banner at the bottom of the crest?
• Do you want it to have a shield frame, or a floral frame, or a combination of both?
• What color palette do you want to use?
• What font style do you like for your and your fiancé's initials?
• Do you want to put the date of your wedding on a banner at the bottom of the crest?
• Do you want it to have a shield frame, or a floral frame, or a combination of both?
Finally, email me all the reference pics you have, and all your ideas.
The rest is on me!
I draw sketches on iPad first, then I move on to painting an actual art piece with watercolors on paper
This is a sketch of the wedding monogram I made for a lawyer couple
First thing I'm going to do is a simple black line sketch. I’ll get back to you with it in a day or two after our initial conversation. On a sketch stage, I do unlimited revisions. The point is to make sure you feel happy with the layout and don't want to move, change or add anything to it.
After your approval on the sketch I’ll move on to the next stage and start painting the actual art piece with watercolors on paper. At this point, any major alterations to it will be at an additional fee of $50. Slight alterations, like twitching the colors a little bit, could still be made free of charge.
I’ll show you photos of the crest when it's completed to be sure you love it, and after your final approval I’ll pack it up and ship it out your way.
Watch this short video if you want to get a glimpse of my painting process.
Painting a custom watercolor crest, with a Corgi dog and Rhode Island references in it
Medium and Size
I paint my wedding crests with Sennelier and Daniel Smith watercolors on high-quality 300 gsm cold pressed paper.
As for the size, there are three options available:
• Large (portrait) — 15 × 22 inches
• Large (square) — 22 × 22 inches
• Standard — 11.8 × 15.75 inches (30 × 40 cm)
Large square crest (on the left) and standard crest (on the right)
The price for a large one remains the same, no matter what format you choose (square or portrait). The format only depends on the shape you choose for your crest to have. As you can see from the examples below and above, some designs fit better into a portrait oriented paper sheet, and some into a square one.
In all cases, in addition to the original painting, you also get a digital copy as a set of files to use for your invitations and all the other kinds of wedding stationery.
• 300 dpi full color JPG file,
• PNG file with a transparent background,
• vectorized version as a PDF file (you’ll need this if you’d like to print it BIG — on a banner, or a flag).
Custom crest with elements of family's coat of arms in it, coastal and hunting theme
Watercolor wedding crest for a couple who were getting married in Lake Como, Italy, with Villa Del Balbianello references
Custom wedding crest with a boxer dog
Art Nouveau style wedding monogram for a lovely couple who were getting married in Prague
Watercolor family crest with Italy vibes
Custom wedding crest with two lovely long haired dachshunds, autumn theme
Delivery
I’ll send the files to your email and ship the original painting to your mailing address.
I’m based in the UK and ship with Royal Mail International Tracked. It’s a delivery with end-to-end tracking so you know where your parcel is at all times. It usually takes about 7-14 days for a parcel to arrive in the US. Sometimes it takes longer, but it really is a rare case.
It's not just the US though. I ship to most places in the world. The shipping time varies from country to country, but most of the time it takes up to two weeks.
Price
I’m pretty flexible and open to any custom requests. If you want to go for an even bigger size or any unusual format, or you want to have a set of additional design elements painted for your invitation suite, or you want me to design your invites and provide you with ready to print files — I can do all of this for a small additional fee. Just get in touch and let me know what your heart desires!
Drawing an autumn themed crest with two lovely dachshunds in it, photo of the work in progress
REVIEWS
I have more reviews on my Etsy page! Here you can see just a few of them.
