A few weeks ago, Great Western Railway (GWR) had a very special event onboard one of their Intercity Express Trains!
For one of, if not the only, time in British railway history a couple tied the knot onboard a moving train.
GWR was approached by a couple, Leah & Vince, who have an affinity with the railways. The couple were offered a truly unique experience to get married onboard a GWR train at 125mph and after a bit of careful scheduling and arranging a plan was formed.
As this was truly a one-off event, GWR wanted to make it as special and memorable as possible for the couple.
The communications team at GWR reached out to me to see if I would be up for creating a design as a wedding gift for the couple. I worked with GWR last year to design a print for a train naming and they were looking for another design in a similar style. They left me to create a vision of what I thought would work for this print and to execute my ideas; so, I had free reign to create whatever I felt would fit the brief.
I had an image in my head of what I wanted to create. I knew I needed to ensure that the print had as many links to the wedding day and the couple as I could practicality fit onto the design.
The wedding train was going to be leaving from London Paddington so I thought it would be fitting to have the poster centred around the iconic London terminus. I chose to illustrate a less commonly depicted part of the station being the frontage of the Paddington station roof as if you were looking back towards the station. I wanted to have the type of train that the couple were going to travel on as the focal point of the design, as well as a traditional steam locomotive; as I was informed the couple were a fan of the heritage railways.
I also added some more subtle details to the print that would hopefully make the print even more special and relevant to the couple.
It took a lot of fiddling and playing about with colours, style, and the more technical parts of the illustration, but soon enough it was in a state to be sent over to GWR.
After a few rounds of amendments, GWR were happy with the design and they sent it to be printed and framed.
It was so lovely to see, via social media, the couple’s reactions when they opened the print on the day of the wedding, and I am honoured to know they have kept my art as a keepsake from their truly ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ day.
Thank you so much to GWR for providing me with such a brilliant opportunity to work on this very special project and it was fantastic to work with such a great team again!
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