So many of my clients find me online and I never get to meet them in real life. There’s something extra special about creating custom wedding invitations for someone I actually know, and maybe a little extra pressure too! However, I’m up for the challenge of making something unique for the bride who can’t quite find exactly what she’s looking for.
Dana is someone I’ve known for as long as I can remember and she grew up on the same street as I did. Although we went our separate ways after high school, we always somewhat kept in touch thanks to Facebook. I was super excited when she reached out and asked me to design custom wedding invitations! Dana had a strong Pinterest board and I could see her wedding theme immediately – first and foremost, lots of greenery, which I loved! She also pinned some wedding décor with rustic elements and a lot of neutral colors, including the “kraft” look. Most of Dana’s wedding pins were florals and dresses – I like to see what a bride is pinning a lot of, this is what is most important to her!
Taking elements from her Pinterest inspiration, we nailed down an initial concept – white paper with greenery elements. Dana chose to use the kraft envelopes to bring in the rustic and natural elements. We reviewed several different font options, with a fun script being the final result.
When creating custom wedding invitaitons, I love to be inspired by a bride’s Pinterest board! Without looking at other invitation designs, it’s great to get a feel for the overall theme by seeing images of florals, décor, and other non-stationery details. I’m super happy with the way Dana’s wedding invitations turned out and think this will be a very popular design that other couple’s can use for their weddings.
It’s been all weddings around here lately and I was excited for something new! My friends are having babies (yay!) and I wanted to give a unique baby shower gift. I’m anti-registry, because I like surprising people. Because I’m not a parent, I definitely don’t know what the right things are to buy for baby, other than the adorable clothes. Naturally, I felt like creating framed artwork for the nursery was the perfect gift. It’s unique and special, inspiring, and was a hit at the baby showers!
The quotes I wanted for the nursery prints were happy, uplifting words that would work for girl or boy. The colors were based on the theme of the nursery, mint and lavender for baby girl and grey and navy for baby boy.
The response, or RSVP, card is a very important little piece of paper included with your wedding invitation. Simply, your RSVP card is how your guests let you know if they will be attending your wedding or not. However, it can also be used to communicate some important information about whom is actually invited. Also, the RSVP card can be used to gather details on meal choices or even what songs guest would like to hear at your reception.
Guest Names
The RSVP card should have a space for guests to write their names. Traditionally, there is a line preceded by the letter “M”. This is for guests to sign their names including their title (Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss). As we modernize everything wedding, the RSVP card updates simply with “Names” to avoid any confusion.
Attending?
Options for guests to select whether or not they’ll attend your wedding are next. Essentially, the choices are “attending” or “not attending” but endless versions include:
Accepts with pleasure/Declines with regret
Can’t wait to celebrate/Will be there in spirit
Wouldn’t miss it for the world/Celebrating from afar
Get creative with your wording, just make sure it is clear to guests what each option means!
It is common to include a space for guests to write in the number who will be attending. This is helpful if a few people from a family were invited, but not everyone will make it.
Crystal Clear
Although guests should know exactly who is invited by the way the envelope is addressed, couples have opted to explicitly state this on the RSVP card. This helps keep any extras from being added on when there is a specific guest count in mind. The below phrase can be included on the RSVP card, with the bride and groom filling in the first blank before mailing.
“We have reserved ______ seat(s) in your honor. Number attending ________.”
Get Creative
If you have some extra room on the RSVP card and want to add an element of fun, add a line for guests to leave advice or a song request for the reception. Post wedding, it would be really neat to keep the RSVP cards with advice in a memory book. Check out the examples below for inspiration!
Please Respond By
Lastly, include a reply by date on your RSVP card. This date is typically determined by your wedding venue as to when they will need the final guest count. I recommend asking for your guests to return their responses before you actually need to confirm your headcount, just in case anyone forgets to respond!
Want to see RSVP cards in action?
Click to open for inspiration and customize to make your own!
I’ve attended one bridal show and with the experience I had, I promised myself that being a vendor at one wouldn’t be a goal for my business. To be honest, the bridal show gave me major anxiety and I wasn’t even the bride! It was very crowded, hugely impersonal, and full of stark white everything. Vendors were a little forceful in pushing brides to sign up for this contest, that email list, etc. It was more overwhelming than helpful and the bride I attended with didn’t leave with great impressions, surely not enough to book any of the vendors there.
The Big Fake Wedding is like the anti-bridal show. As the name implies, vendors come together to plan and throw a fake wedding. Guests attend a vow renewal ceremony of an actual couple, meet the vendors who put the wedding together, and party at the big fake reception!
When I was asked to participate as a featured vendor in The Big Fake Wedding, I accepted the offer almost immediately! I had a pretty good idea of what this event was about – I know a few people who have participated in previous events, followed The Big Fake Wedding on social media, and had seen their website. I also knew this genius concept was started in Atlanta and was super excited to be a part of the fun!
Prepping for the event was great. Expectations were set, but each vendor is able to truly make/plan/show off their creative vision! A mood board was provided with a theme and color palette. The theme for the Big Fake Wedding Atlanta was “jewel tones”. For the invitation suite, I choose some words I wanted the designs to evoke and created with those words in mind. Magic, playful, and rich were my mood words.
Keeping with the jewel tone color scheme, I created an invitation with a playful design and mounted on a gold leaf pocket with a topaz accent mat. I did two options for the envelope, because I’m obsessed with envelope liners and couldn’t pick just one! The first was made with handmade paper and had the most beautiful (magical!) gold accents, applied to a white envelope to really stand out. The other option was a simple, gold leaf envelope liner in the matching topaz envelope. I definitely think the final product encompassed The Big Fake wedding theme and my inspiration words.
These invitations can be customized! Ready to get started on your Big Day invites? Contact me now!
Vendors at the Big Fake Wedding were able to set up small tables in the Tunnel of Love. To set up my table, I made a canvas displaying some of my favorite wedding invitation suites and save the dates. I gave away wedding stationery timelines magnets and had a contest for free save the dates. Guests browsed the Tunnel of Love prior to the ceremony and during the reception. I was able to meet so many bride-to-bes and potential clients in person, it was wonderful! Typically, many of my clients find me online and I never get to see their face or hear their voice. It was really nice to see so many faces and get to speak with people. Getting to hear immediate feedback from the reactions of seeing the invitations was truly priceless. One bride-to-be commented that she had seen one of my invitation suites on Pinterest and pinned it to her inspiration board. Hearing that seriously made my day!
Being the invitation designer, I’m never present at the actual weddings. My work is done way before the event begins. The Big Fake Wedding provided me with the experience to connect with other vendors that I typically wouldn’t. It was inspiring to be surrounded by fellow creative and business owners. I loved hearing everyone’s story and visions for their businesses!
Overall, I would highly recommend participating in The Big Fake Wedding to any vendor and attending The Big Fake Wedding to anyone planning (or helping plan) a wedding. As a bride-to-be, being able to see a venue decorated makes a huge difference. It is also really nice to be able to hear the band, taste the food, and smell the flowers. The Big Fake wedding does a fabulous job of creating a truly inspiring environment!
You’re engaged and you’ve started the wedding planning process (YAY!) So how far in advance are save the dates sent out and when should wedding invitations be ordered? I’ve complied a basic wedding stationery timeline to answer these questions!
Keep in mind, every event is different! If you are planning a destination wedding, getting married over a holiday, or inviting a lot of out of town guests, it’s advised to send out your pretty paper even earlier than this timeline recommends!
Have questions? Want to share some advice? Leave a comment below or get in touch!
This year I had the opportunity to make wedding invitations for so many wonderful couples. Four of these couples were extra special to me as they were close friends who allowed me to be an even bigger part of their day than just their pretty paper gal. As a token of my appreciation and to celebrate, I created wedding invitation ornaments for their first married Christmas!
I absolutely love the way the ornaments turned out! The wedding invitation ornaments are not only adorable and clever, but give a gift of a lasting memory. These make great client gifts from a wedding planner, photographer, etc. They are super easy to make, the most difficult part is remembering to keep an extra so far ahead of Christmas!
Materials Needed: a clear glass ornament (I purchased mine from Target), an invitation, colored envelope or accent paper (you can purchase scrapbook paper in almost any color from Hobby Lobby), paper trimmer or scissors
Using the paper trimmer or scissors, cut the invitation into thin strips. It might feel weird cutting up such an important piece of paper, but it’s ok! You’re just reconstructing it to a new form. I like to cut so that the specific details remain in tact – the names, date, venue, etc. Repeat with envelope or colored accent paper.
It’s good to have a variety of pieces to make the ornament stand out. Next, take a pencil and curl the paper around it tightly. This reminds me of wrapping my hair around a curling wand. Hold in place for about 20-30 seconds.
Put the curled paper in the ornament. Repeat with the variety pieces. You can use the pencil to somewhat manipulate how the pieces fall.
That’s it! You can add a coordinating ribbon to use for hanging on the Christmas tree.
I think the wedding invitation ornament could be modified as a keepsake for any special event. If you make your own, please share a photo of the result!
The venue has been chosen, the dress has been found, the flowers have been picked, and now it’s time to start designing your wedding invitations! Piece of cake, right? Cue finding the perfect stationer to assist you in creating the pretty paper for your big day! A stationer can guide you in formulating the wording so that no etiquette rule is broken – so choose wisely. In the moment of typing up your wording for your wedding paper pro, you realize you have a tricky situation and although you want to advise your guests, you feel a little awkward adding this to the invitation. Although explicitly mentioning an uncommon situation might seem complicated, it will save your guests from surprises and from an even more awkward conversation later.
Grownups only
One of the most common of these situations is the “no kids” request. The debate on including or excluding children is a different discussion, but this decision is ultimately up to the bride and groom. Giving the request with the invitation is imperative so that guests with kids can make preparations. Listing “adult only reception” on the actual invitation piece is the simplest way to get this message across. Adding a blurb to the RSVP card reminds guests again and makes this request extremely clear: “Although we love your children, this is an adult only event.”
Dinner-less Reception
If you don’t plan on serving dinner at the reception, you should be upfront and let guests know this beforehand. Concluding the invitation with “cocktail reception to follow” should allude to the fact that guests shouldn’t expect to receive a full meal. Use one of the following statements on your reception cards to be explicit in making sure guests are prepared to not eat dinner.
“Hors d’oeuvres and cocktail celebration to follow the ceremony”
“Please join us for cake and dancing after the ceremony”
Unwelcome Extras
Addressing your envelope should be clear on who exactly is invited, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes a guest might bring a plus one, even if you haven’t allocated space for an additional person. To be explicit, state on the RSVP card: “We have reserved X seats in your honor; number attending X.” You fill in the first blank, which makes it very clear on if the guest is allowed to bring a date.
Being upfront about this seemingly “awkward” information will be beneficial and less awkward in the long run.In addition to making the statement on your invitation pieces, it’s also a good idea to add it to your wedding website as well. Overall, being clear and explicit about these tricky situations is your best bet to a wonderful wedding day!
