Once upon a time, all wedding invitations were created equal. Or if they were split into camps at all, you went with either an engraved printed invitation or a simple printed invitation. If you were hosting a formal, elegant wedding, engraved invitations were de rigueur. And if you were hosting a less formal wedding, perhaps a garden ceremony, printed invitations were far less expensive and appropriately casual. But as the quality of printed invitations has improved, it’s become perfectly acceptable to send a printed invitation for any wedding celebration, from hoedown casual to black-tie formal. And because Mixbook’s standards are as high as they come with archival paper and FSC-certified paper across the board, plus the option to choose a luxurious matte finish, premium envelopes, and designs that make the one-size-fits-all typographic compositions of the past seem completely out of date.
Let your modern wedding invitation hint at the specific nature of the celebration to come. After all, the staid calligraphic columns of black engraved text on an ivory background might be announcing the details of a traditional High-Church wedding with a full communion followed by a black tie reception and a ten-course meal. Or they could just as easily be announcing a DIY backyard ceremony with a bluegrass trio and a pig on a spit. When your wedding invitation acts as a harbinger of the style and level of formality of the event, guests have the opportunity to get excited, to start thinking about the fun ahead…how they can be there to support you, what they’ll wear, how to add meaning to the gift they bring, and what your venue and theme of choice says about you as a couple.
So once you choose your venue and set a date, pick an invitation that will get friends and family near and far into the mood for a big celebration! In my next post in a few days, I’ll write about a few fun wedding ideas where the theme takes the lead, but for today I’ve chosen 2013’s top-three wedding trends where style takes the lead…and how to choose coordinating invites to match.
Vintage Rustic Wedding If a beautiful barn or a rustic small-town chapel is the backdrop to your idyllic country-chic wedding, go with an invitation that evokes a rustic setting. The Rustic Heart wedding invitation has a printed faux bois that conjures up the strength and character of an old-growth barn beam. It’s a simple reference, but you’d be surprised at how powerful an impression it makes! Or go country-western with an old-timey broadside featuring a wild west–style font. Friends and family with instinctively know to wear their cowboy boots – or at least to skip the stilettos.
Midcentury Modern Wedding If your wedding location is sleek and simple, make it pop with a Midcentury modern style. For your wedding design, simply keep the overall palette quiet and add pops of bold color. The Formal Chevron, Photo Strip Collage or Neon Chevron wedding invitations are all in perfect keeping with your modern leanings with a bit of a retro twist. Choose a wedding invitation that features your wedding colors by using the color wheel tool to customize the exact hue you use.
"Formal Chevron, Photo Strip Collage or Neon Chevron"
Hollywood Regency Wedding Inspired by the high Hollywood style of the Golden Age of Cinema, regency style is all about taking the modern lines popular midcentury and adding overtones of glitz and glamour. It’s the perfect way to take your preppy style and amp it up for the big day. If your venue is in the Regency style, choose an invitation that features a monogram that’s anything but prim (though your grandmother will approve). The Sophisticated Monogram wedding invitation features a single initial set off with a bold spot of color, and the Gold Monogram wedding invitation showcases a monogram within a flourish of gilded scrollwork.
"Sophisticated Monogram"
"Gold Monogram"
Arts & Crafts Wedding If you’re venue is craftsman in style – or you simply love the style of the early 20th century in America – choose a wedding invitation that celebrates that style, then carry the motif through all your correspondence. The saffron-yellow woodcut floral design that borders the Vintage Modern Floral invitation is stunning. And the wine-colored blooms that frame the Romantic Roses wedding invitation evoke the imperfect symmetry that defines so much of the Arts & Crafts era design.
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