When I stumble upon a pretty little set of wedding stationery, it makes me want to get married all over again! Lately, I have found several that just speak to me, so I thought I'd share them with you all. For your consideration...

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Remember - Your wedding invitation is the first glimpse of your envisioned day that your guests will see, so give them a treat by having your invitations speak to your theme whether it's vintage, romantic, whimsical, modern, or silly!

Most couples will think ahead a time about how they are going to have their invitations designed and printed, but when the wedding date looms closer, couples often realize that they need to whip together additional stationery elements such as a program, menu, table numbers, etc.  Once panic has set in, couples will head to their trusty word-processor program and look through their standard offerings of fonts.  This is why you see an overabundance of wedding stationery elements that all look the SAME.  If you are looking to create something a little more unique and you, why not check out what the web has to offer for fonts?  There are GAZILLIONS of them.  Okay, maybe not that many, but more than you'd think.  There are many sites where you can purchase fonts and others where you can even download them for free.

My all-time favorite free font website is Dafont.com where you will find hundreds and hundreds of fonts that are easy to download and use right in your word processor program.  The fonts on this site are all free unless you plan to use what you create to sell to someone else.  (If that's the case, you can contact the author of the font and request permission or ask them if you could give them a donation in exchange for permission to use.)

When looking at wedding stationery, by far the most common type of font would be the curly swirly elegant fonts.  For your consideration today, I've whipped together some of my favorite fancy fonts that were downloaded (again for FREE) from Dafont.com.  Check them out, and if you fall in love with one, head over to the site to download it today!

 

Note - See the line that just says "tttttt"?  LOL Not sure why, but my file won't save it correctly...  The script is called "Old Script", and it is very elegant, so check it out along with all of these others and more!  Remember, these are just a few of my favorite script fonts.  There are tons and tons of fonts to fit every occasion and personality, so have fun and embrase your inner font-nerd!

Wedding Papery does NOT have to stop at the invitation alone.  Think of all the information that you have to relay to your guests...where to go, what to do, who to ask?  It can surmount in a multitude of signage and pamphets, so you might as well make them pretty.  Consider creating a cohesive look with a design element that repeats throughout your entire wedding from save the date to thank you card. 

Here is one example of how a bride worked with her stationery designer to implement her peacock idea throughout her wedding paper...

 

Each piece is individually beautiful, but together, these elements work to tell the story of this couple's magical day!  Whether you go with a certain theme or color, imagine how you could tell your story!  An invitation designer worth their salt will be able to work with you to create any sort of element that you need to fit your vision!

Last but not least in our series on invitation choices comes invitation packaging.  You've got a gorgeous invitation sitting in front of you, and you can't wait to get it out to your guests.  Your invitation suite probably has multiple pieces: the invitation card, rsvp card, maybe a reception card, accommodation card, etc, etc, etc.  How do you organize all the schtuff and get it ready to go? 

You have a few last decisions to make though before sending them out into the world.  Invitation packaging and design opens a whole new world of final finales for your wedding stationery.  Here are some ideas to inspire you to get those invitations out the door...

A fun way to organize all your wedding information is shown with this bradded invite.  A grommet, button, brad, or other gathering device can be used to pinch the corners of your cards and allow guests to thumb their way through the information.

 

Maybe you'd like to have your invitation layed out in the accordion style pictured below.  The cool thing about this is that there are no loose pieces for your guests to lose, and the invitation can sit up by itself on someone's mantle or shelf or what not. 

 

Big brother of the accordion style is the book style of invitation where your information is nicely assembled into an actual book!  These can be done as simply as a staple down the spine of your invitation fold or as detailed as this hand stitched book with imported papers such as this fancy-schmancy example below.

 

Maybe you'd just rather have all those loose invitation pieces bundled up in something beautiful such as fabric, a belly band, or a beautiful doily like this one.

 

Next comes the pochette which is cool first because it is fun to open and two because it is fun to say.  Try it with me now: Po-Chette.  :)

 

Big brother to the pochette is the pocket folder which can come in all kinds of shapes and can nicely hold all your information. 

 

Now let's think outside of the box.  Your invitation doesn't even have to be on paper.  In this case, we have an invitation screen printed on fabric and assembled into a scroll! 

 

And last but not least, let's think back inside that box.  Literally.  How much fun is it to receive a package in the mail?  Answer - lots.  So you know your guest would be delighted to receive your invitation nestled in a lovely box coordinated to your color palette.

 

These are just a few of the different ways that you can package up your very special wedding invitation which will delight your very special wedding guests.

This installment wraps up our invitation design post series.  We hope that you have been inspired to get your noggin' spinning on what you'd like to have for your own invites!  Remember that your invitation designer and your own creativity can work together to create exactly what you want!

 

For the hypothetical duration of this blog post, let's all pretend that we all know exactly what we want on our idea wedding invitations.  You chose birds, and you, you over there chose a bold funky modern design, and someone just left this page who is going with a custom monogram.  The styles have been chosen.

Now that you've given thought to WHAT you want on your invitation suite, now you need to decide exactly HOW it will get there.  Applying your words and graphics to the invitation parts seems easy enough, but there are choices to be made here as well.  Various printing methods have been around for just about as long as marriage itself.  When you go to your stationer or printer, they should be able to give you a selection of print techniques based on what kind of look and product you are going for.  Some techniques are much more labor intensive and may require specialized skills, and thus cost more than others.  The five printing methods that I'm featuring today are readily available in the wedding invitation world, and vary in price, process, and product.

As always, you can click on the pictures to take you to where you can buy these fabulous invitations!

First up we have digital and offset printing.  While these two methods use different methods and materials, I'm going to schlub them together because they are probably two of the most commonly offered mass printing methods.  They are both very cost effective methods, and both can produce items that have multiple colors, fine detailing, and can be printed on many different types of paper as well as other items.  The low cost and endless possibilities make digital and offset printing very popular choices in printing. 

The next printing method for your consideration is foil printing or stamping in which metalic pigments are added to the ink to give the printing a sheen that can range from a slight glow to a shiny surface.  The pricing for a foil stamped invite is going to be slightly more expensive than digital or offset printing, but it is a really popular look while still being pretty cost efficient!

 

Another really popular method of having a wedding invtation printed is with thermography which is a technique that results in a raised layer of ink on the invitation that you can literally run your fingers over and feel.  One drawback to thermography is that generally, you are limited in number of colors because the paper has to be passed back through the machine for each color added, and with this printing process, it can basically melt the previously applied color.  While a little more pricey than a standard digital print, thermography still remains a very popular choice amongst brides and printers alike.

 

One of the most beautiful and sought after printing methods for wedding invites is letterpress where actual letter and art plates are rolled with ink and then pressed into luxuriously soft and thick paper.  This printing method is not readily available, and the price that picky brides and grooms pay for this lovely printing method is much higher than almost any other.  Costs can increase even further if multiple colors are needed for the finished invitation.  The artwork and lettering cannot be superfine as the plate-making method isn't suited to superfine detail.  Even with the drawbacks of pricing and limitaitons, many brides drool over the thought of letterpressed wedding invitations.

 

And finally, I'd like to submit for your printing approval the silk screened method of printing.  Essentially, the image or text is inked onto the paper through a fine silk screen which can be done in a machine for larger quantities or can even be done by hand by a silk screen artist. Often an aged look is achieved by a hand-pulled silk screening which some brides really love. 

So when you go to speak with your stationer or printing company, impress them with some of your new printing insider's lingo.  Investigate what you want as far as design, color, and budget to find the printing method that works best for you!