Selecting the appropriate wedding invitations is an important part of making your wedding as close to perfect as it can be. As with any other aspect of your wedding planning, careful selection of your invitations will help you express the unique personality of the happy couple to all the special people you invite to attend.
As you begin the process of choosing and personalizing your invitations, you'll want to take numerous factors into consideration. Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself before making your selection:
What kind of stylistic statement do I hope to make through my invitations? Decide whether you prefer classic styling, a light and airy feel, a simple, understated look, or a bold, outspoken style. So many designs are available that you should have no trouble finding one that reflects your own unique personality.
Am I planning a formal or informal wedding? You'll want to match your invitations to the formality or informality you've planned for the ceremony. This will ensure that when your guests arrive they will find that your wedding's atmosphere is a perfect match for the one conveyed by your invitations.
How much time do I have before my wedding date? If time is short, you may prefer to choose from among the readily available, yet just-as-attractive pre-made invitation sets, rather than creating your own custom design. This will prevent any last-minute stress you'd experience while waiting for your special order to be completed.
Do I plan to coordinate my wedding around a single theme? If you do, you'll want to choose or create a design that's consistent with that theme. Be sure the connection is easy for your guests to spot, since that will add to their delight and enjoyment as they share your special day.
How much money do I have to spend on my invitations? Your wedding budget plays as important a role as any other factor in determining the type of invitations you'll choose. Many less elaborate designs are quite attractive and may even express your personality better than a fancier style would.
For a classic look, the Elegant Knot design is sure to command your guests' attention. With its richly colored envelope liner that coordinates perfectly with the accent ribbon and text font that decorate the antique or bright white invitation, this style makes a distinctive statement. Its tastefully rounded corners add to the classiness of the design. For an even more impressive look, a second ribbon, in your choice of coordinating color, may be added to overlap the other and provide an especially pleasing contrast.
Other elegant designs include the Deckle Edge Collection, with its hand-applied fine ornamental edging, in your choice of classic colors, framing a bright white, non-folding card-style invitation, with coordinating envelope lining. A pre-cut satin ribbon can be added for an even more impressive look. All That Glitters offers another formal presentation that will make your invitees feel honored to be on your guest list. This fine gold invitation card comes slipped inside a classy, pin-striped paper band that bears your monogram in fancy block script, adding to its distinctive look.
Garden of Roses provides a highly ornate look and feel with its intricate, pearl-embossed rose design and slim, lined border. This gate-fold, bright white invitation perfectly highlights the decorative floral design that gives it such a stunning, high-society feel. The set appears especially well coordinated with its matching pearl-lined envelope.
Simpler styles include the earthy lookand ecologically friendly compositionof the Meant to Be invitation, which offers recycled materials certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Green-Seal certified colors for the more environmentally conscious among us. Sporting a paper band made of recycled cotton fiber, fresh flowers, and wildflower seeds, the understated design offers an optional raffia ribbon to complete its natural, outdoorsy feel. Designed in coordinating earth tones, Meant to Be also features a tasteful silhouetted hummingbird image. Another ecological plus of this design is that the band can be planted by your invitation's recipient, yielding wildflowers that help protect the endangered honeybee.
In addition to the hundreds of standard invitation designs that can be adapted to fit your individual preferences, a virtually endless variety of do-it-yourself styles can be custom created, giving you total freedom to integrate your design into the wedding of your dreams.
Whichever type of wedding invitation you select, it should express who you and your intended are as a couple. No other wedding in the world will ever be exactly like yours, and neither should your invitations be precisely the same as someone else's. So, set your imagination free and use your natural creativity to choose the combination of colors, designs, styles, and accessories that will make your wedding invitations truly one of a kind.
Jeanne Dininni is a freelance writer who writes about weddings and wedding invitations .
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