Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, couples everywhere will be making creative gestures of their love for one another – some more drastic (and permanent) than others. So before you rush out and get your honey’s name scripted across your low back, here are some really clever, romantic, and altogether beautiful works of human art that are subtle reminders for their wearers of their special relationship. If you’re a fan of tattoos in general and are considering some unique ways to serve as a permanent reminder of your wedding vows, here are some of my favorites:
1. Kate’s husband Ryan is a firefighter and EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), so she found a way to incorporate this aspect of his life into a beautiful symbolic tattoo. She had his fingerprint stamped and cut into the shape of a heart, and then placed the tattoo on her wrist in the place where medical professionals tend to take a patient’s pulse. “That’s where my pulse is, so it’s like his heart and my heart are close together,” she explains.
Tattoo artist: Tainted Skin, Crown Point, Indiana (www.taintedskintattoos.com) Wedding Photographer: John Sarver
2. Joe’s wife Nathalie is Taiwanese, raised in Bolivia, and they met when she moved to America 10 years ago. When he was considering ideas for his first tattoo, Joe decided to get Nathalie’s birth name written in her native Mandarin characters. “I always hear about horror stories of people unknowingly getting something offensive tattooed in a foreign language. I contacted Nathalie’s mother, sister, and brother to all verify the exact look of each character for accuracy. My tattoo artist copied them exactly and added some cool bamboo flourishes to round it out.”
Tattoo artist: Jennifer Billig at Brainstorm Tattoo (brainstormtattoo.com) Portrait: Photos by MAC (@MeaganCookePhotography)
3. Steven and his wife Ysabelle have a good family friend who is a tattoo artist, Roberto Poliri, who has done many tattoos for both of them over the years. As a fun wedding surprise, Roberto designed and created temporary transfer tattoos for all the guests at their wedding. Later, the couple decided to surprise Roberto by getting him to tattoo the real thing as a forever memento of their special day!
Tattoo artist: Roberto Poliri (@roberto_poliri_tattooer) Wedding Photographer: Janie Barclay (www.janiebarclay.com)
4. Lou & James are about as non-traditional a bride and groom as there exists, so when it came time to pick wedding rings, they skipped the metal and went for ink instead. They got these simple, sweet hearts on their ring fingers as a reminder of their wedding vows. Lou says, “We’re aware that tattoos on fingers can fade over time, but that’s just a good excuse to get them retouched – almost like renewing our vows!”
Tattoo artist: Jo Rawlinson at Broad Street Studio
