The Art of Marriage

When Stephanie Krantz and Clayton Kissel say “I do” this Saturday on the grounds of Fonthill, the spirit of Henry Mercer may very well be smiling down in approval at the creativity they've put into planning their matrimonial ceremony.

The invitations, the wedding favors, the guest book – all have a tile theme.

And – how’s this for the crowning topper? – the Doylestown couple will be saying their vows during the Tile Festival, which is held nearby at

The path leading to the wedding gathers together a handful of artists with ties to Bucks County.

The couple booked as their wedding venue about a year and a half ago.

“The minute we walked the grounds and saw the castle and the tree-lined driveway, we were just like, ‘This has to be it.’ And I love the history of the property,” recalled Krantz, who grew up in the Pennridge area along with her fiancé.

She admitted she was “a little stressed” when she found out her wedding would be on one of the days of the two-day festival. But once she was convinced that plenty of parking would be available for her wedding guests, she looked at the festival as a definite plus.

Since many of the guests are out-of-towners, she added it to the weekend itinerary she plans to give them.

“We thought it was great, and it would give them extra things to do – to see part of the county and really enjoy all the local artisans,” said Krantz.

Once the wedding site was decided, the couple met with graphic designer Kim Bensing to talk about invitations. Bensing of Doylestown owns Heirloom Occasions, providing stationery art for weddings and other events.

Bensing took elements of how the couple’s relationship developed and incorporated it into a six-page book titled “The Art of Marriage.”

The wedding’s location prompted the tile theme.

“If you’ve been in Fonthill, it’s filled with tiles of all of Henry Mercer’s travels,” said Bensing. “It takes you on journeys of all the places he’s been, and Stephanie and Clayton love to travel, so that’s sort of what we did here.”

On the cover is an illustration of a watercolor and gouache painting created by artist Jane Ramsey, formerly of Bucks County. The illustration, resembling a clay tile, is a collage of icons of special places where the couple has traveled, including Niagara Falls, where they got engaged. 

The couple has the original painting, which they plan to have framed.

Bensing said the book, which holds the wedding invitation, tells the story of the couple.

“It’s easy to pick a pretty invitation, but it’s more important to get people involved in the sentiment of your day and explain your relationship and what the wedding day means to you,” she said.

It’s also a keepsake for the invited guests, who may not know all the elements leading up to the couple’s marriage.

The book is dedicated to the bridegroom’s mother, who passed away last year.

Keeping with the tile theme, each page announces an appropriate subtitle that relates to art but also to marriage, said Bensing: “choosing a good clay,” “molding shapes character,” “glazing adds color and shine” and “firing solidifies and strengthens.”

While not artists themselves (she’s an account executive with Clinique and he’s a jeweler with Kay Jewelers), ironically, the couple met in a high school ceramics class.

The last page of the book is where the invitation card pulls out of a chartreuse green envelope and says, “admiring shows love.”

The book was printed and assembled by Doylestown’s Paravano Printing.

Doylestown ceramicist Katia McGuirk, , was recruited to help the couple create small, handmade clay tile favors for guests. The designs, more than a dozen of them, denote favorite places where the couple have traveled.

From those designs, custom rubber stamps were made, which will be stamped on placecards with calligraphy by Pipersville calligrapher Linda Gray of Linda Carol Arts.

McGuirk also plans to bring a wet slab of clay for guests to sign their names or sentiments on the wedding day. Once they’re collected, she’ll fire it and the couple will be able to keep it as a permanent memento of their special day.