From the Not-Quite-Normal Files: Owl Obsessions

I can never get enough of the whole bird-and-twig motif you see floating around West Elm, hip fabric designs and the like. Even before Holly made birds THE herald of the design-obsessed, I’d caught the bug. I’ve already posted once about a fabulous bird-theme wedding, and the finger’s posed on the trigger to post still more, more, MORE!

But not today. Today’s a wrinkle, a spin, a subset of the bird and twig thing. That’s, like, different. Right?

Sweeter-than-sugar vintage owls. Orange flower cake by We Take the Cake; Yellow Owl print by Sugarloop, Etsy; Gilded Owl earrings by Anthropologie.

So let’s talk owls. You don’t have to spend many hours digging through Etsy before you see the owl thing taking shape. There’s legions of them. And they’re very, very cute.

And fresh. I see these adorable little guys being perfect for a couple who’s planning their wedding outside the box. There are so many cute applications: night owls, for a pair of Red Bull-fueled programmers, for example. Then there are the couples with pet names for each other: turtle, bear (and owl, of course). Have one drawn with glasses or any other personal tic (that Betty Boop tattoo?) and your friends and relatives will catch the resemblance right away.

Autumn-owls. Florals and copper-wire boutonniere by Brides.com; Owl & flowers card by Patina; bouquet at Grace Ormonde.

Now, before we talk about the perfect owls, let’s talk about the wrong owls. The wrong owls not only chain-smoke Gauloises, they lean toward things like: Harry Potter. Halloween. Ultra-realistic Audubon style imagery with scary eyes and ruffled feathers. Wondrous though they be, those are not our owls.

Ours are children of that beautiful geometric tradition that renders flowers as two circles on a stick. We love them owls. The only thing that could makes these guys cuter is to moosh two of them together on the same branch. That, my friends, is love.

Owl theme wedding inspirations in aqua.

I see the owl theme taking shape like this: you find one or two of those indispensable artists on Etsy, and have them develop some dual-owl imagery for your custom stationery, programs and so on. I see the owls going in an upbeat autumn direction (with just a touch of rustic, but only the tiniest), or spring colors like pink or mint. I also see them in a full op-art, pop-crazy brights setting, with big geometric leaf patterns as a backdrop.

Then, you go to Ann Wood. Yes, we’ve all seen Ann Wood on more blogs than the threadcount in your Pratesi sheets, but did you know she can do all KINDS of birds? The woman is a marvel. And I bet some sweet talking would land you a pair of nuptial owls for your cake topper. And yes, by God, I really would treat an Ann Wood creation as a keepsake and display it after the day, whereas your average ‘keepsake topper’ appeals about as much as the thought of storing kimchee in my eyeballs.

Oh, a final twist with some Olde English sweetness: if two owls doesn’t flip your skirt, reach back to some rugrat romance and pair the owl with his first true love, the pussycat.

So, which owls grab you you (if any)? The pink LOVE owls? The soft and shabby or mod black & white ones? What slightly left-of-center design ideas are you tossing around for your wedding?