In case you missed our little Facebook blurb earlier this month – our wedding invitations were featured on the lovely ‘Invitation Crush’ blog earlier this month! You can read the feature HERE.

As an event designer, I have little spaces in my heart for all things wedding: the flowers, the dress, the vows, the party – but as a realist I told myself that other than the photographs, the invitations were going to be all that was left after the day was over (and the first thing people see!), so I obsessed over them. Just a little.

Letterpress, letterpress, letterpress. Say it with me ladies: If you love paper, love letterpress! At HCS, our business cards are letterpress, our correspondence cards are letterpress – even our client portfolios are letterpress. It’s a disease of the texture kind, and I have it bad. I want everything to feel amazing in people’s hands, and that is why invitees to our celebration were treated to 220lb paper, triple color press, lace belly band and soft cotton yarn tie closure.

Much love to Steel Petal Press & Serendipity Beyond Design, whose work is always stellar!

And now, some food for thought on invites:

– Do you need a Save The Date? Short answer: If you want people to come from afar, yes – you do.
– If you’ve spent the time to make a wedding website, DO NOT FORGET TO INCLUDE IT SOMEWHERE IN THE INVITE!
– If you’re not making a wedding website (why?), include an info card with hotel, directions and other info.
– All the pieces do not have to match exactly, or come form the same place. They do however, need to complement each other. I used four vendors for my invites – yes, four.
– Take a mock-up of your invitation to the post office to find out the exact postage – and do a little research. My invitations, if mailed as a ‘letter’, would have cost close to $2 each to mail, due to the thickness and the fact that I turned the envelope vertically, which made it a ‘large letter’. However, I found out that I could mail them as a ‘package’ – for $1.08 each.
– Don’t pick a design that’s ‘ok’, or ‘close’- Etsy has oodles of artists waiting to come up with a custom design for you. Spend the $10 or so to get samples if they offer them, esp. for letterpress. There is a wide disparity of quality out there.
– Some of the best wedding invites I’ve seen have been designed by Grooms – paper is something your guy can get into, if you let him. Especially true for modern themes or destination weddings.

Remember, invitations set the mood for what your guests should expect from your wedding. Having a throw-down party for a reception? Maybe skip the classic black-and-white script and head straight for something fun and playful. Conversely, sending out tongue-in-cheek invites send a message that it will be a more casual affair. Just sayin’