Wedding invitation suite designed by Hadiya Williams: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Wedding invitation suite designed by Hadiya Williams for the wedding of Shantrelle Lewis and Oluwatoyin Lawson. The suite consists of the following pieces:

2018.30.1a: (1) large black outer envelope with circular gold stamp at front center, with [Z] at the center surrounded by [11 / 19] on the left and [20 / 16] on the right. In the outer circle of the stamp is [SHANTRELLE & OLUWATOYIN / NEW ORLEANS, LA]. The envelope is closed by a gold foil sticker with lion insignia.

2018.30.1b: (1) invitation with attached RSVP envelope. The navy blue invitation has gold printing with art deco styling. A decorative [Z] is at the top, followed by an invitation from the parents of the bride and groom in small block font. At center of the text is a large [Shantrelle / & / Oluwatoyin] in a script font, followed by details of the ceremony in small sans serif font. Attached below the text is a small white envelope with gold foil lion insignia sticker, to hold an RSVP token (c). The obverse of the invitation has an all over gold foil art deco style ornamentation, with the letter [Z] in the center of a skyscraper building at top center and a lion insignia in a round medallion at bottom center.

2018.30.1c: (1) RSVP token from envelope adhered to invitation (b). The circular token depicts the silhouettes of Lewis (right) and Lawson (left) in the center with the [Z] wedding logo between them with geometric tribal ornamentation surrounding. [RSVP BY SEPTEMBER 15] is printed at the top and [WWW.JOLLOFANDJAMBALAYA.COM] at the bottom. There is a linear border around the outer edge of the token.

2018.30.1d: (1) invitation without attached RSVP token envelope. The invitation is identical to (b) with the envelope removed to display an art deco waterfall skyscraper design.

2018.30.1e: (1) invitation without attached RSVP token envelope. The invitation is identical to (d).

2018.30.1f: (1) maroon invitation envelope with gold stamped return address on closure flap. The circular stamp has the [Z] wedding logo in the center and the return address printed around the outer border.

2018.30.1g: (1) gold tissue paper invitation sleeve with black string wrapping adhered with wax stamp with lion insignia on one side and tied on the other.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2016
• Designed by: Hadiya Williams, American, born 1978
• Subject of: Shantrelle P. Lewis, American, born 1978
• Subject of: Tony Oluwatoyin Lawson, born 1978
• Type: programs
• Medium: cotton paper with gold foil, tissue paper, wax and string
• Place made: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Cultural Place: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, North and Central America
• Cultural Place: Nigeria, Africa
• Cultural Place: Africa
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Africa
• Topic: African diaspora
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Graphic design
• Topic: Identity
• Object number: 2018.30.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Hadiya Williams
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © 2016 Hadiya Williams Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.