I had the honour to create a painting commission for Alica Boll (IG: @alica_boll_trauspielerin), who is an actress and a wedding speaker. She commissioned me to paint two beer bottles for one of her couples that she was going to wed.
I think the commission turned out so beautiful! And it’s also been so much fun and I feel I learn something new with every bottle. So I wanted to share it with you.
I’d like to begin by telling you more about what a wedding speaker is. In addition to that, I’ll also tell you a bit about Alica and what makes her special as a wedding speaker. After that I’ll share the inspiration for the bottle painting commission. Plus, I’ll of course share the bottles with you.
What is a wedding speaker?
While it is mandatory to have a civil wedding first in Germany, you have the possibility to follow up the ceremony with a confession-free wedding. In this ceremony you can be wedded by a so-called free wedding speaker.
A free wedding speaker is someone who is specifically booked by the couple and who creates a tailor-made ceremony for them on their wedding day. In this way you can have a ceremony that is similar in scope and structure like a religious ceremony but you don’t need to be religious/share the same religion, go to church or be married by a priest. Often the couples who choose a free wedding aren’t religious themselves or don’t want a religious wedding. So these ceremonies are often confession-free and very personal as the couple has complete freedom when it comes to choosing the speaker, the structure or content of the ceremony and the venue etc.
The wedding speaker has meetings with the couple before their big day, in which they talk about the couple and their relationship. Things like how they met, how they grew up or what is important to them as a couple. Some wedding speakers also sing songs for the couple or add in small activities into the ceremony. Generally the wedding speakers lead the couple and the wedding guests through the ceremony.
Alica Boll - actress, singer and wedding speaker
What makes Alica (IG: @alica_boll_trauspielerin) so special in my opinion is that she is also an actress. And she can also sing very beautifully. I think this set of skills is a perfect combination for a wedding speaker because Alica knows how to use her voice perfectly – both for speaking and for singing. And I think it is important to be able to express emotions as a wedding speaker. But it also key to be able to speak loud and clear, all of which is inherent to both singing and acting. Alica is also so nice and working with her was such a joy! I’m so glad that I found her and then decided to just reach out.
Head on over to Alica’s website (www.alica-boll.de) to see and hear more from her. Alica is located in Northern Germany and also works as a wedding speaker in this area. So if you are located in Northern Germany and are planning to get married, Alica might be just the right person for you! Or if you like to go to the theatre and see a play, be sure to check out Alica’s website for performance dates.
Now on to telling you more about the commission.
A meadow full of alpine flowers
Before I set out to work, Alica filled me in a bit about the couples interest.
Alica’s couple loves to go hiking in the alps. And the groom loves to collect beer labels from all the places that the couple travels too. So it was clear from the start that the theme for the bottles would be alpine flowers. And of course, the bottles had to be beer bottles in this special case!
I ultimately decided on the Alster bottles from the Bremen Union brewery. The bottles have a nice shape and the label (color and size) also matched my concept well. In addition to that, I also thought that an Alster fits perfectly in a backpack when hiking and also offers good refreshment.
An Alster is a mix of half beer and half lemonade. It is sometimes also know as Radler. It is very popular during summertime here in Germany. Have you tried it yet?
The floral motifs on the bottles:
I combined different alpine flowers on the different bottles. In this way, a series of small alpine meadows were created. 🙂
I painted the following alpine flowers:
Edelweiss, gentian, alpine azalea, ranunculus alpestris, spring pasqueflower, yellow alpine pasqueflower and Campanula alpina.
In order not to overload the beer bottles and to give the individual flowers room to shine, I only arranged three different types together on one bottle.
Bottle 1: Campanula alpina, yellow alpine pasqueflower and ranunculus alpestris
Bottle 2: Spring pasqueflower, Campanula alpina and ranunculus alpestris
Bottle 3: Edelweiss, alpine azalea and gentian
I’m so sorry that the english names are a bit of a muddle between the scientific names and the flowers generic names!
I liked the idea that the beer bottles are individual, but complement each other perfectly and visibly belong together. Just like the bride and groom.“
I had so much fun working with the bottles, I ended up painting three beer bottles. I coordinated all the bottles directly with one another so that they make up a beautiful set. However, every bottle is a little different.
I liked the idea that the beer bottles are individual, but complement each other perfectly and visibly belong together. Just like the bride and groom. 🙂
In the end, I chose two beautiful beer bottles for the wonderful bride and groom.
I was so happy that Alica loved the bottles! And thanks again Alica, for your trust with this project!
I really hope that the beer bottles will bring the bride and groom much joy too! And I hope they will be great keepsakes for them.
Now, I’d love to hear what you think of the hand painted beer bottles! Let me know in a comment.
