So I definitely didn't mean to do two tattoo posts in a row, but here we are. This is one of my favourite tattoos, and it's definitely the most meaningful of them all as this is a tattoo that I got to celebrate mine and Stephen's marriage. We started planning on it over a year ago at the end of 2020, but with all of the pandemic business and the rearranging of our wedding day, it made sense to have it be a tattoo that I get closer to the wedding reception so that it's still new and beautiful by the time we celebrate that we've been married for a year in May. I also kind of love that it's my 11th tattoo and if you're into angel numbers, you'll know what I'm talking about with that - PS. if you're coming to the wedding, please take photos of the tattoo while I'm in my wedding dress, that would be so cute!
I am absolutely in love with it and it's a super cool one as it's the first tattoo that I had someone else design for me. I knew that I didn't want my husband's name or initials on me as that's not our style, (no judgement at all if it's yours!), but I knew that I wanted something that was meaningful to us and reminded us of something special. Stephen and I reminisce about the day that we first met quite often as it was such a fun date, where we both felt like we really connected on it, and went home feeling like we'd had the best day, so it felt fitting to design a tattoo around that.
It's a map of where we first met which Stephen very cleverly transformed into a constellation style tattoo, with the points of the stars being where key moments happened. The saturn-esque symbol at the top represents Covent Garden station, as that's where we met. I think I've mentioned this in a blog post before but the entire premise of our first date was that during the two months that we'd been speaking, I must've been incredibly enthusiastic about Costa having the best hot chocolate, and as Stephen had never tried it, he invited me to go 'hot chocolate hopping' with him. Therefore, following that line down from the station, you can see the stars which represent the Costa and Starbucks sites that we visited, along with Pasta Browns, where we ate a meal together.
The falling shooting star that you can see in between all of this represents, well, me. I'm not too ashamed to admit that meeting Stephen made me nervous because I super liked him already, and while I was throwing every item of clothing that I owned around my room while getting ready, what I settled on was perfectly adorable, but considering that I'd put so much thought into the outfit, what then possessed me to walk out in a very thinly heeled boot, I will never know. I essentially fell down in the middle of the cobbled path and Stephen had to return to me, (as he and his 6'6 self were WAY ahead of me at this point), and pick me up from where I had quite literally fallen for him. The long lines represent us holding hands the rest of the date, and leads to a cute little heart which is where we had our first kiss (on our second date, not this one, but still!)
Here is a quote from Stephen on his design process, as it’s much more detailed than what I wrote above, (and also super sweet!)
So the thought was very much to design Esha a tattoo that commemorates us that isn't so direct that it risks jinx-ing our marriage - not something as explicit as, say, my name. We came up with the idea of drawing a map of our first date, but I had to make adjustments because that doesn't exactly match Esha's aesthetic - maps are way too blocky and detailed, her other tattoos are all minimalist line work, understated and cute! So I ran with that, tracing the route we took, adding a few details: small roads branching off, lines where the riverbanks are, places we visited and the rectangle of covent garden, for context.
Then I had an idea.
Anyone who's read Esha's blog posts (or in fact knows her in person) knows she loves all things celestial and is partial to a little astrology. I thought: what if we joined the dots in a way where it looks like a constellation? The cafés and restaurant we visited would become stars, the underground logo naturally became a ringed planet and - a little off theme, I know - the bench where we shared our first kiss became a heart. My favourite detail however, is the double lines, showing the route we took whilst holding hands for the first time, ending at the southbank from over the bridge, up to the northern-most part of Covent Garden's market square where she tripped, her high heels having lost a battle to the cobbled pavement. I marked that spot with a falling star.
The absolute cutest thing is that it pretty much does line up with the map of Covent Garden, if you hold it up to my arm. I'm so obsessed with how a literal map could be turned into something so special.
In terms of placement, when I started developing a bit of a cosmic themed right arm with saturn on my wrist, and a quote with a shooting star along my forearm, it made sense for it to slot in somewhere there. It sits just opposite my golden like daylight tattoo on my left inner upper arm, and that's one of the most romantic songs ever, so I think it fits perfectly.
My artist, Lucile, was absolutely incredible - this is the first hand-drawn design I'd ever brought in to show her, which is really special as I'm someone who now has more tattoos than fingers on my hands, but I've always been able to show some sort of reference photo of a tattoo I found on the internet which is kind of similar to what I wanted, or I've been able to describe it verbally, but this one was important to get right as it's hand-drawn and very specific. She did such a beautiful job with it, and even had the adorable idea to do the heart in red ink which I immediately said yes to because it's such a pretty pop of colour, and it's the only coloured ink that I have so it stands out - I absolutely love it!
I was super nervous about the two long lines on the left hand side of the tattoo as I am terrible with lengthy lines, (so I was grateful that Lucile shortened them so that they fit in better!), but they actually weren't that bad regardless. Weirdly, the most painful parts were the two outer-most stars, which makes absolutely no sense as I have a much larger star on my forearm which barely hurt at all. Bodies are weird. For the most part, I really enjoyed getting this tattoo and chatting through the design, what it means to Stephen and I, and our upcoming wedding plans as this is sort of like an anniversary tattoo as I really want it to be in the wedding photos. It took just under an hour, and it totally flew by.
I think it's the cutest idea ever that I can wear the map of our first date on my body forever, and to most people, it will look like a simple constellation or a zodiac sign, but to us, it's something much more - to quote Maisie Peters, this is the place we were made ♡
As always, I've popped this into the 'tattoos' category on my blog, so feel free to have a scroll through that if you missed any of my previous run-downs of my tattoos.
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