You're Invited
Meghan Rabbitt
When Elizabeth, a recent bride-to-be, first went shopping for wedding invitations, she left the invitation store after just 20 minutes – without choosing anything. “I had no idea that picking an invitation was going to be more time-consuming and overwhelming than dress shopping,” says the 28-year-old bride-to-be. “There were so many options. I just felt like opening that big stationary book to a random page and choosing the first invitation my finger landed on.”
With countless paper, color, and typeface choices – among others – it’s no wonder picking a wedding invitation you’ll love can be a bit daunting. After all, it’s the first impression you get to make on your guests, so the pressure’s on. The good news? There are ways to make the process easier, says Ellen Black of Lehr & Black, a Los Angeles invitation designer with a long list of celebrity clients. Black recommends asking two important questions before you get started:
• What kind of wedding are you having? (Traditional? Casual? Destination?)
• What’s your personal style? (Are you a sweater-set-and-pearls kind of girl – or trendsetting urbanite?)
“The goal is to create an invitation that reflects your wedding venue and theme, and also your personality,” says Black. “You want your guests to get a sense of what your wedding will be like when they open the invitation. And you also want them to say, ‘Oh, that’s so them’.”
Here, we’ve presented the traditions and trends to help you choose an invitation that’ll best reflect your wedding – and the both of you:
First things first: The Paper
The tradition: Your choices were ecru or white. This still works well for a very formal wedding, and it’s your best choice if you haven’t decided on details like your wedding colors and flowers. (The last thing you want is to choose a purple paper and decide later that your main color will be green.) It’s also a safe bet if you consider yourself a “classic bride” and would categorize your wedding as elegant, formal, and traditional.
The trend: You can add a unique twist by layering traditional white paper over a bright color or patterned paper. In the last couple of years, the most important thing for brides was having something completely different from what their friends had, says Black. “That’s why we saw lots of stripes, bright designs, and much more casual, playful invites,” she says. But now, basic white and ivory is back, and brides are adding a twist with a touch of color in accents like a ribbon edge, iridescent overlay, or layering over gold paper.
What’s your type?
The tradition: Black or charcoal ink was engraved on ecru or white paper. Engraved printing appears raised on the page because of the way it’s printed: The wording for your invitation is etched onto metal plates, which are then imprinted onto paper. Engraving is still the most formal type style, and also works best if you’ve chosen a colored paper with lightcolored wording.
The trend: Letterpress is as popular as engraving, now. It offers a similar look, but leaves an indented type. Letterpress is more versatile than engraving in that it can work well on a range of invites, from formal to casual, and it works best on heavy stock paper. Looking for options? Ask about another popular style called thermography, a process where wet ink is applied to the surface of the invite and covered with a fine powder, creating raised lettering.
Think outside the envelope.
The tradition: Invitations are stuffed in two envelopes; the outer envelope protects the invitation, which is stuffed in another, slightly smaller envelope. Inside the invitation is also another envelope with a card for guests to RSVP.
The trend: Forget the envelopes – invitations are now being placed in boxes of all different sizes and with all kinds of beautiful adornments. According to Black, these can be as creative and elaborate – even more so – than the invitation itself, with embroidered fabric or suede covering the box and rhinestone buckles and monograms on top.
It’s all in the wording.
The tradition: Since the bride’s parents typically hosted the wedding, their names appeared first on the invitation, and there wasn’t much variation in what followed.
The trend: With couples marrying later and many of their parents’ remarrying, a number of variations on the traditional invite wording have appeared. As more brides and grooms are getting help from both of their parents, as well as contributing their own money to cover wedding costs, a popular opening line is now “Together with their parents.” This way, the bride and groom’s names are the only ones to appear on the invitation. Whatever you decide, Black recommends keeping the wording formal and simple. “Lately, I’ve seen couples who want to get cute and say things like, ‘Dress for a Saturday night out’ instead of ‘Formal attire,’ but this just makes it more confusing for guests,” she says.
Now that you’ve set the tone of your wedding with your great invitations, the rest of the planning can be easy and fun.