Making
How the invites come to life.
It started with one cute little idea. We (well, Winki) thought this would be a fun little project.
How Our Wedding Invite Got Slightly Out of Hand...
We knew we wanted to design something ourselves, and we wanted something practical, personal, and very us. Winki is basically fuelled by coffee, Kelvin loves a drink, so somehow we landed on a coaster.
Why a coaster? Honestly,
we're not entirely sure.
Donut gave us the soft grey colour...
Naturally, the cats had to
get involved.
...while Jiujiu - currently going by Nanabi - inspired the warmer tortoisehsell browns and orange.
Naturally, the cats had to
get involved.
We (it's Kelvin) designed the coaster from scratch in Rhino, down to the little reccess for the bronze centre.
Then we thought:
how hard can it be?
The design was 3D printed to make the master, then used to create silicone moulds for the full batch.
From screen to something real.
​
Each coaster was mixed and cast by hand in Jesmonite, with plenty of colour tweaking along the way. This was around the point Kelvin realised he was doing most of the work and was far too deep to back out.
Then came the pouring.
Lots of pouring.
Every single coaster had to be taken out of its mould and finished by hand.
And then the part we definitely underestimated: sanding.
So we wrote every guest's name ourselves and had the handwriting etched into ultra-thin phosphor bronze.
We wanted each one to feel
properly personal.
The bronze was patinated to darken the lettering, then sanded back (yes - another round of sanding) to reveal the warm metal underneath.
Then we made that more
complicated too.
So each coaster became 1 of just 120 made.
At some point, we decided they should all be numbered as well.
We added cork underneath and a matte seal on top, so yes - you can actually use it.
A small attempt at practicality.
​
Cards, envelopes, personalised QR codes, stickers, wrapping papers, boxes, stamp... apparently the coaster was only the beginning.
And then we remembered there was still an invitation to make.
By this point, we (Kelvin) had fully accepted what we (Winki) had done to ourselves. A lot more work than we (Winki) imagined, but exactly the kind of thing we wanted to send to the people celebrating with us.
Everything was packed and stamped by hand. And somehow, it's done!
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Kelvin was very much part of all of this — he’s just a little camera-shy, which is why Winki appears to be running a one-woman stationery factory.
Â
Special thanks to the studio workshop, for helping make this slightly ridiculous idea possible.
A small credit where it's due.
​
How Our Wedding Invite Got Slightly Out of Hand...
It started with one cute little idea. We (well, Winki) thought this would be a fun little project.
Why a coaster? Honestly we're not entirely sure.
We knew we wanted to design something ourselves, and we wanted something practical, personal, and very us. Winki is basically fuelled by coffee, Kelvin loves a drink, so somehow we landed on a coaster.
Naturally, the cats had to get involved.
Donut gave us the soft grey colour, while Jiujiu - currently going by Nanabi - inspired the warmer tortoiseshell browns and orange.
Then we thought: how hard can it be?
We (it's Kelvin) designed the coaster from scratch in Rhino, down to the little recess for the bronze centre.
From screen to something real.
The design was 3D printed to make the master, then used to create silicone moulds for the full batch.
Then came the pouring. Lots of pouring.
Every coaster was mixed and cast by hand in Jesmonite, with plenty of colour tweaking along the way. This was around the point Kelvin realised he was doing most of the work and was far too deep to back out.
And then the part we definitely underestimated: sanding.
Every single coaster had to be taken out of its mould and finished by hand.
We wanted each one to feel properly personal.
So we wrote every guest's name ourselves and had the handwriting etched into ultra-thin phosphor bronze.
Then we made that more complicated too.
The bronze was patinated to darken the lettering, then sanded back (yes - another round of sanding) to reveal the warm metal underneath.
At some point, we decided they should all be numbered as well.
So each coaster became 1 of just 120 made.
A small attempt at practicality.
We added cork underneath and a matte seal on top, so yes — you can actually use it.
And then we remembered there was still an invitation to make.
Cards, envelopes, personalised QR codes, stickers, wrapping papers, boxes, stamp...
apparently the coaster was only the beginning.Everything was packed and stamped by hand. And somehow, it's done!
By this point, we (Kelvin) had fully accepted what we (Winki) had done to ourselves.Â
A lot more work than we (Winki) imagined, but exactly the kind of thing we wanted to send to the people celebrating with us.
A small credit where it's due.
Kelvin was very much part of all of this — he’s just a little camera-shy,
which is why Winki appears to be running a one-woman stationery factory.Â
Special thanks to the Studio Workshop, for helping make this slightly ridiculous idea possible.
