Case Study 03
Designing Belonging
Expanding Who Gets to See Themselves in Celebration
Creative Direction · Inclusive Experience Design · Editorial
The Question
Who gets to see themselves reflected in the images we associate with celebration?
Long before belonging became common language within the events industry, Sol Vé Custom Events was exploring that question through creative collaboration, editorial styling and experiential design.
Projects including Painted Love, Our New Old Fashioned Love and Upcycled Grunge provided opportunities to challenge conventional visual expectations and explore different expressions of identity, relationship, environment and celebration.
The Approach
Each project began with an idea rather than a template.
Sol Vé worked collaboratively with photographers, models, designers, florists, stationers, jewellers, beauty professionals, attire partners and other creative contributors to build complete visual narratives.
The objective was not simply to create something beautiful.
It was to create something intentional.
Something with a point of view.
And something capable of expanding the visual language traditionally associated with weddings and celebration.
Painted Love
Set against the landscape of Waterton National Park, Painted Love brought together art, fashion, florals, jewellery, stationery, cake design and environmental styling within a distinctly expressive editorial concept.
The project was subsequently featured by Dancing With Her.
Our New Old Fashioned Love
This project reconsidered the visual language of traditional romance through a contemporary lens.
Through attire, styling, décor, florals and creative collaboration, familiar elements were reinterpreted to create an experience that felt simultaneously recognizable and distinctly its own.
The work appeared in Bridal Fantasy Magazine.
Upcycled Grunge
Created at Claresholm Industrial Airport, Upcycled Grunge moved intentionally away from conventional wedding environments.
Industrial surroundings, fashion, florals, custom details and collaborative styling were used to explore contrast and challenge assumptions about what a wedding editorial was expected to look like.
The project was also featured by Bridal Fantasy.
From Representation to Belonging
These projects helped shape a principle that continues to influence Sol Vé today.
Inclusion is not something that can simply be added to an event after the important decisions have already been made.
It influences who is represented.
Who is considered.
How environments are designed.
How people are welcomed.
And whether those entering a gathering feel that the experience was created with them in mind.
Today, that philosophy extends well beyond weddings and editorial work.
It informs how Sol Vé approaches celebrations, workshops, fundraising events, conferences and international convenings.
Because belonging is not a demographic exercise.
It is an experience.
What This Work Demonstrates
Creative Direction
Developing a distinct narrative and carrying it across the complete visual environment.
Collaborative Production
Bringing independent creative professionals together around a shared concept.
Inclusive Experience Design
Considering representation and belonging as part of the creative process.
Environmental Storytelling
Using location, objects, texture, fashion, florals and visual composition to communicate an idea.
Brand Evolution
Translating principles first explored through creative work into a broader philosophy for how people gather.
Designing belonging begins before anyone enters the room.
Designing how you gather.
Looking for an experience designed around the people who will inhabit it?
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