Vintage Elegance in Custom Wedding Invitations

I have just LOVED working on these invitations for Maria & Matthew.  They are marrying in one of my favorite Virginia get-a-ways, The Homestead and wanted an elegant, vintage feel to their invites.  We used shimmery ivory paper and envelopes and dressed them up with a lovely brocade-type pattern and a satin ribbon with a symbolic "love knot" and layered them onto black card stock.  Of course, all the papers and envelopes are made of recycled fibers.

Truly Custom Wedding Invitations.

Eva and Carl liked our Opal Opulence collection, but wanted to bring in their red color and make a few other changes. This invitation is designed with a limited edition sheer ivory chiffon paper that creates a gate-fold for the text.  Guests feel like they are opening a gift.  Eva and Carl wanted to provide a little more thickness behind the recycled metallic paper, so we layered the invitation and all inserts onto recycled red vellum card stock.  We also changed the thin, delicate ivory ribbon to a red 5/8" satin so that it ties into a very thick bow, and upgraded the invitation printing to thermography (by Printing Ideas, Inc. in Fairfax). The results are truly spectacular!

Love Birds

Can't you just hear them singing  a soft and sweet "tweet tweet"?  These cuties are the perfect way to announce your special day in a very popular purple and green color scheme.  The "Love Birds" invitation is part of our Simply Affordable collection of eco- and budget-conscious stationery.  All paper and envelopes are FSC certified, and 100% recycled with a minimum of 30% PCW.

I'm happy to send my best wishes to Margo & Joseph who'll be sending these to invite guests to their May, 2010 wedding in Michigan.

Designing for Family...

My twin brother is getting married in June and let me tell you...the pressure is ON for the most exquisite invitations I've ever designed.  Their Save-the-Dates were a stunning take on our "Andante" invitation.
Printed on ivory shimmer paper and knotted with a brown grosgrain ribbon:

Because it will be a destination wedding, we also enclosed a travel booklet so guests could begin to make their arrangements.  This staggered page-size booklet allows the headings to peak out like tabs in a file cabinet.  Printed on a shimmery blue paper and bound with a brown satin ribbon.

Then, we changed the style a bit for Kristy's bridal shower.  Her love of all things pink and all things polka dot (seriously -- they registered for Denby's Jet Dots and Kate Spade's Larabee Dots) inspired this 3 - Layer invitation using shimmery white, pale pink, and chocolate brown.

Stay tuned for pictures of their wedding invitations, but here's a sneak preview: letterpress, boxed, satin ribbon, rhinestones...and no...it's not "too much"!

Baby Showers

Are you planning a special celebration for someone who is expecting?  Why not splurge a little and invite your guests with something a little more personal than an e-vite?

 

This invitation was for a spa party I hosted in honor of a friend's second pregnancy.  A few girls gathering for massages, manis, pedis, and facials.  It was a fun day, but the invitation really set the tone -- a luxurious 2.5" satin ribbon made the three-layer card feel like a gift.

 

This is a lovely little hand-made treasure!  A blue (or pink, or green, or yellow!) folded card features a window through which an animal cracker shape pokes through!  All tied up with a soft satin ribbon -- truly unique, and very special!

Bring on the BLING

Diamonds are a girl's best friend, but we can't mail them to our friends and family.  Instead, how about rhinestone buckles and Swarovski crystal accents on your invitations?  These two newest designs from Staccato's Signature Collection are awe inspiring.  While they're pictured here in a very classy black and ivory color scheme, there are many other color options.

To Match? or To Coordinate?

Color, glorious color!  I love it!  I love that invitations to formal events no longer need to be on ecru paper.  Wedding invitation designers are doing beautiful things with colors, patterns, and textures.  Here's a little advice for the custom bride, though.

Remember that your guests will not be carrying the wedding invitation in to the ceremony and comparing them to your maids' dresses.  You want the invitation to foreshadow the "feel" of your wedding, but an exact match is not a must.  In fact, an exact match might be boring!

I have had several couples fall in love with a particular invitation of mine and ask if it can be done in their colors.  YES!!  We can convert almost all of our designs to coordinate with your theme.  Note - I said coordinate, not match.  Don't get me wrong, sometimes we can match!  But other times, the materials are simply not available in the exact color.  And here's a big disappointing factor: when you do try to match and and need to substitute a different material in order to do so, the invitation almost always "loses" something.  For instance, if you fell in love with a design that used linen paper, but in order match we had to use matte.  Or the envelopes were metallic, but now we're using crest in order to match - it's not the same look with which you initially fell in love.  So -- here's some tips when planning out your stationery:

DON'T be afraid to ask your invitation designer to coordinate with your colors.
DO make your invitations uniquely yours and have them speak to your special event.
DON'T get hung up on the Pantone number.
DO let your designer work with you to create a piece that compliments your wedding.
DON'T settle for something less pretty in order to "match" your colors.
DO use the design you love, even if the colors aren't a perfect match.