How your favorite (Turkish) series can lead you to the idea of original invitations

If it sounds too good, you simply must read further!

So… Here is my Ottoman culture inspired wedding invitation. It was born just because recently I was watching Turkish television series “The magnificent century: Kösem” (“Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem“) with my amazing Grandmother (she loves Turkish series, ha ha).

If you haven’t seen it, here is a short description for you:

A young woman Anastasia is captured from her father’s house in Greece, brought to sultan Ahmed I’s harem and given a name Kösem. Of course, she and sultan falls in love (however, despite many historical facts it is a soup opera). In a world of men, the former slave becomes the most powerful woman in Ottoman history and rules the empire through her sons.

The greatness of the palaces and mosques, jaw-drop worthy clothes, luxury all around and bizarre rules of royal etiquette made me want to know more about the Ottoman empire. And then the book “Turkey and the Turks” by Justin McCarthy and Carolyn McCarthy grabbed my attention. According the authors, there were times, when “the Ottomans had become the richest and most powerful rulers in Europe and the middle East, perhaps in the world”. If you still don’t get some sense of the extent and greatness of the Ottoman empire, here is another quote from the book for you: “A government messenger travelling from Istanbul on horseback would take more than 600 hours of constant travel to reach Basra in Southern Iraq, more than 400 hours to go from Istanbul to Jerusalem.” Nomads at the beginning, Ottomans conquered and ruled quite big territory, right?? Moreover, they managed to rule for 600 hundred years (the empire lived from 1281 till 1923)!

Also, the second part of the book was dedicated for the beauty of Turkish art. Ahhhh… Arabic script calligraphy, tughras (Tughra – sultan’s monogram, which spelled out his titles, names and the name of his father), ornamental designs, Turkish ceramics, carpets and, of course, architecture… Have you ever seen tiled walls in Sultan Ahmed Mosque (by tourists also known as the Blue Mosque, for the color of its ornamented titles)? Such an amazing view!

So… That is what it is. I’m in love with Turkish art. You can’t blame me. Don’t dare! Ha ha

Oh, right. The invitation. As you can obviously see, there are some Ottoman ornamental patterns with mini golden fringe in the center. Also I decided to use charming font that reminds Arabic script calligraphy. And the last but not least – the envelope reminding Turkish architectural forms.

I wish you good luck in finding your (soap operal, ha ha) inspiration!