Invitations.

Your invites really set the stage for the overall feel of your event. From the moment your guests receive them in the mail, they will get a sense of whether your wedding will be fun & carefree, formal, relaxed or a fancy cocktail party.

One easy way to tie everything together is by using your color palette for the font or a graphic element. Take it a step further and add in an image that has importance to the two of you. Examples would be your love of animals-add a deer or rabbit for a rustic touch or how about the skyline of the city you live in-push it up a notch by using a well-known building such as "big pink" in downtown Portland.



Then there is the wording. A typical layout for the text includes: the host line, request line, bride & groom line, date and time lines, location line and reception and RSVP line.

Here's an example:

Mr. & Mrs. Smith request the honor of your presence

to celebrate the union of Lisa Smith to Joe Loomis

                                       at their wedding on Saturday,

           the eighth of March, two thousand and eight.

                                       four o'clock in the afternoon.

                    Grand Ballroom at the Governor Hotel

                                614 Southwest Eleventh Avenue

                                                                  Portland, OR

                                      Dinner and dancing to follow.

You certainly don't have to stick to this format, but remember to get all of the key info onto the cards somewhere-nothing worse than receiving an invite and not having the address to the ceremony site on it! Ask your designer for some other layout options for wording. 

The lovely samples shown here are all letterpress by Lark Press. Click the title above for a link to her website. Letterpress invites are like little pieces of art.