Wedding invitations

Sourcing photographs and ideas for this blog took a gigantic amount of time! There are so many different designs and ideas for your 'Save the date' and wedding invitations, you may well feel a little bit lost. On the other hand, the more imaginative and creative brides and grooms will feel like a kid in a candy shop; with so many colours, patterns, fonts, shapes, words and finishes.

It's not just the aesthetics of your wedding invitations that need careful planning, you must brush up on your wedding invite etiquette. Head onto http://bridalguide.com/blogs/bridal-buzz/wedding-invitation-mistakes for the top six wedding mistakes that are commonly made or check out http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-invitations/articles/wedding-invitations-etiquette.aspx for the most frequently asked wedding invite etiquette questions.

Simple

We thought we'd start of with the simple stuff. Simple wedding invitations can still be beautiful and unique. A lot of brides and grooms opt for elegance and simplicity over patterned, illustrated designs. The invitation above is such a lovely idea, although it's extremely simple, it's unique; with the bride and groom's fingerprints.

Another example of elegant simplicity is this design from CMSStationary on Etsy.

Following the theme of having a small centre design, this wedding invite from Sillhouetteblue on Etsy features a venn diagram with the bride and grooms initials and a heart in the centre. It's such a lovely statement invitation, we love!

Romantic and elegant. 'Peonies' by Artcadia  features embossed text and one simple peony flower at the top of the invitation. This design would be perfect for a romantic, traditional wedding with a dusky pink or grey colour scheme.

ElloThere on Etsy has such a beautiful online shop. Her designs are so fresh and unique with such a variety. Now, you might not think that bold and subtle could be describing the same thing, but in this case they really are. The boldness of the clean cut, capital typography contrasts so well with the simple and subtle pale body text and delicate birds.

Illustration

Illustrated wedding invitations feature much more fancy typography, softer flowing lines and shapes, and images or patterns around the design. We love the curves and general flow of this wedding invite. The simple red image of the couple aren't too harsh against the black background as they're broken up by the calligraphy style text.

The illustration bordering this wedding invitation is so delicate and stunning.

Here's another design from Artcadia called 'Peaches'. Unlike the one above, where the border is more prominent that the thin and simple text, this design has a bold text banner, and a simple border. We love the beautiful subtle powder blue colour.

'Summer garden' by Artcadia; A bold, simple, statement wedding invitation. The illustration is much more funky and bold, but is just successful.

Rustic and vintage

This set of 50 wedding invitations by StunningStationary on Etsy feature a vintage doily wrapping up the wedding invitation, tied up in a jute bow. We love the rustic feel of this wedding invitation, it would be perfect for a vintage themed wedding with a vintage cake table. Lovely!

This unconventionally large text is the predominant design on this wedding invitation. Against the brown paper it looks so rustic and bold.

Themed Wedding Invitations

There are wedding invitations out there which are themed to your wedding. Whether that themed to a certain era, colour or season. Here are a selection of winter themed invitations. Themed invitations kick start the feel of your wedding, so that your guests have an idea of your big day before it happens. This could work hugely to your benefit; if your wedding was to be Art Deco, or Great Gatsby inspired, creating a wedding invitation in the same theme would perhaps make your guests inclined to dress within the theme, meaning perfect wedding photos!

Here's an example of an Art Deco themed wedding invitation from Not on the Highstreet. We love the corner borders and typography, and the peacock is such an icon of the era.

All of these wedding invitations are themed for a winter wedding, or could be interpreted to theme a rustic woodland wedding at Wasing Woodlands. The first is a design by EverAfterPapery on Etsy. It's such a magical and charming invitation, great for a traditional Christmas themed wedding with seasonal flowers and fir tree decorations.

The second design by RockPaperDove on Etsy is a more modern and less rustic invitation. On viewing the invitation, your guests will assume an autumn, wood and winter themed wedding.

The third wedding invitation is a very simple and subtle invitation. 'Frosty' by Arcadia, is another design which will immediately get your guests pondering tall firs and winter themes.

The Weird and Wonderful

This is such a fantastically unique idea by Ambient Studios. Their whole wedding invitation is inside a camera film. The bride and groom were both photographers, and their wedding was themed around cameras and photography. 

Another interesting idea; ElloThere on Etsy has created a wedding invitation that looks like an old record in a lovely bird covered slip. This would be a great invitation for a vintage wedding, you could use vinyl records throughout the wedding in different ways to link everything together.

We found this wedding invitation on Pinterest but unfortunately couldn't find the original source! It's such a shame because this is a really unique and clever idea. The invitation is folded up into a circular box and each individual circle features a photo of the bride and groom, and information about the event.

Another whacky idea for a wedding invitation is to have it as a puzzle, so that your guests have to piece it together to find out the details of the event. This invitation would be good for a summer wedding where you could set up outdoor games like giant puzzles and jenga.

The Little Heart Workshop

The Little Heart Workshop is a small online shop that sells beautiful hand decorated wooden shapes and gifts. Louise has a whole section for Weddings; whether you need a seating plan, place names or table names. She also makes beautiful wooden hearts for saving the date, that you can send out to your guests.

Such a unique and lovely idea; rather than a piece of paper that can get crumpled or ripped, you can hang these wooden hearts and keep them forever to remember the day.

Another big craze this year has been Chalkboard wedding invitations. Click the link to see more beautiful chalkboard wedding invitations https://creativemarket.com/blog/2013/07/16/design-your-perfect-wedding-invitations-chalkboard.

A lot of popular highstreet brands also supply really lovely invitations to you to hand write your wedding details on. Here are some beautiful designs from Paperchase;

This fun, charming design features a woodland theme with flowers and owls.

These wedding invitations are simple and romantic, with flowers, roses and ribbons.