Bernard & Desarae.

2012 was a good year, for all sorts of reasons. One of them was the wedding of our dear friends Bernard and Desarae, in the beautiful setting of the hills of Spencer, Massachussetts.

We've known Bernard a long time. Poet, writer, activist, musician and partner to Sage Francis, BDolan has informed our music libraries and idealogies for almost as many years as Sage himself. He performed at the opening to our 'If A Girl Writes Off The World' show in Manhattan, as Evel Knievel, and as Bombzo the Clown - one of our most memorable evenings ever - and this big, warm, creative human has had a place in our hearts ever since.

So to be asked to make his wedding stationery was an honour indeed. The wedding was, of course, never going to be ordinary, and a whole eighteen months ahead the punk marching band, the puppy groomsman, the record-label stablemates, the cowboy boots and the tux were already in place, and the stationery had to reflect what guests could expect. Their bees, their little house in the woods, and their pets all needed to be in there.

The final Save-the-Date artwork was exchanged an hour before a gig in an unsalubrious Big John's over a plate of chips on BD's UK tour - here's how it developed from sketch to final:

The invites came a few months later, and looked like this. My favourite bit on the whole thing is Cupcake, the pug. Ella, the kitty, is in her cowboy boots, and we met both of them at the wedding, naturally.
In fact, I'm gonna blow up the doggy so you can see her, right here. She was as cute as she looks, but not so anxious as I've drawn her here. And she was SOLID.

The original sketch had a bit more bat action - culling the bats was in the end the only concession to tradition:

And in September, high up on a New England hill, the wedding took place in a barn, under hot sun which forced all the guests into shades so we could ALL look like record company execs. Bride Desarae not only organised virtually the entire wedding, she was instrumental in making two pale English vegans feel welcome and most handsomely catered for (our own dessert table? come on!), was the model of a perfect hostess throughout the whole event - no mean feat at your own wedding - and was beautiful on the day, a sparkly princess wearing crystals and that precious vintage ring which formed the centrepoint of the illustration. We spent time with a lot of people we don't see very often but who play important parts in our lives. I'll always be grateful we got the chance to be part of this very personal event, and that my pencils helped to create it - it remains among my favourite jobs of all time. Thank you Bernard and Desarae.