Heartfelt Personalisations for Mother’s Day with Harbour Town Gold Coast

This Mother’s Day season, I had the immense pleasure of partnering with Harbour Town Gold Coast to create an unforgettable experience for their valued customers. Our collaboration centred around live hand engraving, and it was truly a delightful and heartwarming activation for me and customers alike in celebration of this special day.

My journey with Harbour Town began in late 2023 when I was introduced to their marketing team by a fellow artist that had collaborated with them on a previous activation. As their marketing team plan well in advance, we pencilled in a date to touch base in early 2024 to discuss potential Mother’s Day activations.

With Mother’s Day being a peak period for brand activations and live artistry bookings, Harbour Town and I started conversations about their event in January to ensure that they could clinch their preferred dates. We tossed around a few product ideas such as mirrors, fragrances and lipsticks, and their team eventually landed on Dusk candles as the gift with purchase for their customers. They selected a pink candle to match the themed decor of the event.

A Sincere Thank You with Hand Engraving

Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate and appreciate the incredible women in our lives who have given us so much love and support through the good and the tough times. It is an opportunity to pause and reflect on moments big and small when they have built and shaped our lives.

With this in mind, Harbour Town Gold Coast wanted to offer their customers something truly special—a personalised gift with purchase that would stand out as a cherished keepsake - a memento to their love, resilience and dedication to those around them.

Over three days, we offered live hand engraving to customers - an opportunity to personalise beautiful Dusk candles with heartfelt Mother’s Day messages, carved in an elegant calligraphy style. The process of hand engraving allowed us to turn each candle into a unique memento for their special recipients. Customers adored this touch of luxury and personal connection. Many were thrilled to watch the engraving process live. The joy and excitement on their faces as they received their customised candles were truly rewarding. I was pleasantly surprised to see many familiar faces when customers returned across different days to request more personalised candles!

The Impact of Personalised Gifts

Personalised gifts have a unique way of touching hearts, even that of the artist. What I loved best about this activation was the opportunity to hear people’s beautiful stories and being a small part of these special moments. Two stories that stood out to me during this Mother’s Day activation were:

✨ A first-time grandmother requesting matching “Happy First Mother’s Day” and “Happy First Grandmother’s Day” candles for her and her daughter who had just given birth to a gorgeous little girl. This grandmother’s excitement and joy were contagious and I could absolutely feel the depth of her love for her family through our brief 5-minute interaction.

✨ Personalising a candle that was to be lit in memory of a lady’s mother, who had passed away a week before Mother’s Day. A poignant memento of a very special person. Listening to her openly share memories about her mother brought tears to my eyes.

I am so humbled and grateful that clients allow me to share in these human moments and commemorate them through engraving and calligraphy.

This collaboration with Harbour Town Gold Coast was a beautiful reminder of the joy that personalised art can bring. It was an honour to contribute to such a meaningful celebration and to help create lasting memories for so many families.

Interested in exploring live activations for your brand? Reach out to zhao@greylavendercalligraphy.com .