How to Create a Wedding Crest That Tells Your Love Story

Your wedding is a reflection of you and your partner's love. Each decision—from your selected entertainment to your attire—showcases your passions, interests, and taste. However, in addition to your vendors, venue, and guest list, there's another way to bring a personal element to your nuptials, specifically when it comes to your invitations and paper goods: creating a wedding crest. “It's a great way to work with a designer and still get a white-glove experience without having to go the completely custom invitations route,” says watercolor artist Cami Monet Miller. “Custom art will really elevate any paper piece and make it feel extremely bespoke.”

Your wedding crest can be used throughout your ceremony and reception. You may decide to include it on your invitations, cocktail napkins, and favors. How frequently it appears in your celebration is entirely up to you. Yet if you want it to be a prominent part of the festivities, consider working with a designer to ensure you achieve the end product you're looking for. “A professional takes off the pressure of doing it and makes it look cohesive,” says Joy Montgomery, the founder of The Stationery Bar. “It’s hard to piece it together [yourself] and tweak the size and the color. You may not understand the proportions and how to make it larger without distorting it.”

Here, the experts break down everything you need to know about crafting a truly unique wedding crest, including key elements to consider including and real-life examples to take inspiration from.

What Is a Wedding Crest?

A wedding crest is a symbol created for a ceremony and reception that contains multiple elements, including the couples' initials or their joint monogram. While you may be envisioning a coat of arms, nowadays, many couples opt for a less traditional approach. “Typically, when we design [wedding crests], they're not that intricate—more modern than Victorian-looking crests,” Montgomery says. Many done in watercolor and are usually a circular shape featuring your initials or names in the middle surrounded by decorative flowers or greenery.

What Is the Significance of a Wedding Crest?

Wedding crests “help [couples] preserve their memories for years to come,” says Montgomery, who adds that a custom design can ultimately become a modern family crest to be passed down through generations. And they're not just limited to your big day. After your nuptials, you may use your crest on other items throughout your home, such as personalized stationery, embroidered pillows, and heirloom-quality crystal stemware.

Elements and Symbols to Include in a Unique Wedding Crest

“Designing a crest is like making a cake: you can keep it classic or simple or go absolutely wild,” says Miller. All of her crests start with a base “ingredient” of flowers, which she uses as a frame, but you can choose vines, greenery, or even just simple lines for a more streamlined look. You can then customize your monogram in the middle by selecting your preferred font. From there, you and your designer will layer in different unique elements. Here are a few to consider.

Flowers

Most crests start with a wreath of flowers. “We often use floral inspiration from the bouquet, but flowers in my crests can also be representative of special people or locations,” Miller says. “For example, a bride asked to use forget-me-nots to symbolize her late grandmother, and I love incorporating state flowers as a nod to hometowns.”

Animals

Couples often opt to include their shared pet on their wedding crest. However, you're not just limited to the dog, cat, or fish you have at home. Other soon-to-be newlyweds include animals that have had a particular significance in their life. For example, equestrian couples may choose a horse, or if there’s a farm in the family, a favorite cow, goat, or alpaca may make the cut.  

Places

You may also want to add in a building or place. This could be your wedding venue, the spot you got engaged, or your shared home. You can also go a little bit more abstract with a depiction of a landscape that means a lot to you as a couple, where that's the the beach, the mountains, or a city skyline.

Coat of Arms

For couples rooted in tradition, existing family crests or a coats of arms may be incorporated into their design. You may also want to integrate a special family heirloom, such as an antique engagement ring that's been passed down through generations, into your creation.

How to Make a Wedding Crest That's Personal

To make a crest truly personal, small symbols throughout the outlining frame can add visual interest—while also taking on secret little meanings. Some couples opt for a more simple crest, letting different types of greenery and flowers with small details—like bees and butterflies—shine. Ultimately, you and your partner can decide how personal you want your crest to be. Below, the experts often some key tips on how to make a design that's truly unique.

Add a Surprise or Two

To create a more personal wedding crest, go for an unexpected element. In her work, Miller has incorporated running shoes, Hawaiian shirts, ginger jars, stethoscopes, passports, sushi, surfboards, and footballs. “Making all my crests chock-full of surprises—like a Ferris wheel that represents the Santa Monica pier—is a must, and I love coming up with creative ways to offer sneaky nods to unexpected details about the couple,” she says. 

Consider a Special Place

Tie your crest to a location that's meaningful to you and your partner. “If you are having a hard time deciding what to use, florals, plants and animals that are native to a special place are a great starting point,” says Julie King, a watercolor artist and stationer.

Think About Placement

To ensure you crest is unique, King recommends considering where and how your crest will be utilized throughout your wedding. For example, if it's primarily appearing on cocktail napkins and cups, you may take inspiration from you and your partner's favorite drink garnishes.

Consider Future Uses

If you plan to use your wedding crest in the future, you may want to think about familial elements and themes to add into it, such as the greenery at a favorite vacation spot or a traditional food that your entire family loves. In the decades to come, your children may even opt to use your crest at their own nuptials.

Go For an Unexpected Combination

“Crests are unique in the sense that I can bring in a couple's love of hot wings and hockey in a sophisticated way—and why yes, I did add buffalo wings and ranch dressing into a crest,” Miller says. “It's the unexpected pairings that make the best crests because every illustration plays an important part in telling the story."

Below, we gathered some examples of unique wedding crests from real-life celebrations to give you some inspiration.