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Décor can add so much character to a wedding. The little details help paint a much bigger picture of who a couple is and serve as a reminder of the things that mean the most on their big day. William Jarvis, founder of Jarvis Oakleigh Handcrafted, knows how much the details matter. With his custom barrel top wedding art, Jarvis crafts keepsakes for couples that not only make for beautiful décor on their wedding day, but that serve as a lifelong reminder of their special day. —Nicole Brown
EARLY INSPIRATION: I grew up around a woodwork shop; my grandfather was a mechanical engineer but enjoyed woodworking daily. He built a beautiful 18foot boat, a canoe, and lots of furniture in his spare time. My father inherited most of his woodworking tools and I was blessed to have the liberty to use the tools with projects as I got older. In the summer of 2013, an amateur artist passed away in my hometown and my father bought all their supplies from the estate sale (watercolors, acrylics, brushes, easels, pencils, etc.) and gave them to me. I began to draw, but never really felt satisfied with my drawings. It wasn’t until 2016 that I began to woodburn and really felt greater satisfaction with completed woodworking projects. I started out just making gifts for friends, a lot of scripture quotes or quotes from movies. In 2021, I had the idea of using a barrel top to make a wedding gift for my friend. I was so happy with how it turned out and fortunately so were they. It is currently hanging in their dining room. Then next time a friend got married, I knew I wanted to make another, and it just kept continuing. Only last year did I have a goal to finally start selling some and here I am.
LASTING MEMORIES: I would say that my interest started out in woodwork but found its way to artwork over time. It just kind of worked out that way. In regard to getting into the wedding industry, someone’s wedding day is one of the most important days of their life and I think the artwork in their home should bring them back to that special day. I know girls dream of the day of their wedding and envision what everything will look like. I would love my barrel tops to be a part of the decoration at receptions and a part of the artwork in their home. The idea of creating heirlooms for families that will be passed on is exciting to me.
HOW IT WORKS: Once I’m contacted by a couple either by email (jarvisoakleigh@gmail.com) or through the Instagram page (@JarvisOakleigh), I ask them what they want on the barrel top or ask them which design on the Instagram they like best. Some simply want their initial and family name. Others want the church, and the date listed, too. The options are pretty endless. I send them a few designs for feedback and make changes based on their preferences. It’s exciting when they respond so enthusiastically after we’ve finalized the design! I think they enjoy the fact that it’s personalized, and it’s not made by a machine like so many gifts today. Some want it for the dining room, others for the porch, or the bedroom. It can hang on the wall or be put on an easel in the living room. It provokes conversation and brings up those memories of dating and marriage.
QUALITY ASSURANCE: A lot of companies begin with quality products, but as they grow bigger the quality decreases. I don’t want the quality to ever decrease, quality comes before quantity. Every barrel top is different and done by hand. They come from different distilleries, and some have varied degrees of imperfection. I don’t guarantee perfection, but I do guarantee effort, and the imperfections are what give the top character.
WHAT MATTERS MOST: The biblical truth from Proverbs 11:25 comes to mind: “Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” It brings me a ton of joy to create a piece of artwork for a couple and to know that it brings up great memories. On Instagram, I post the answers from three questions about the couple, and I pry beyond the most basic responses for anything memorable: How did they meet? Where did they go on their first date? How did the proposal happen? When I ask these questions, sometimes the husband or wife learns something they didn’t know prior to the discussion. Maybe the husband had planned an earlier proposal attempt that had failed, or the wife has no idea the effort he put in to make it happen. It always leads a couple to smile when answering, and I know they feel a lot of joy remembering.