I don’t think this North Georgia mountain, dusty blue themed wedding styled shoot could have turned out more beautifully! Brianna of Brianna Joseph Photography had such a gorgeous vision and executed it perfectly – I was so excited to be involved by creating the invitation suite.
Lewallan Farms, a wedding venue in Waleska, Georgia, was the backdrop for the shoot. The farm is 400 acres and boasts multiple ceremony sites. The land is complete with a lake and stunning mountain view!
Brianna used the vintage blue canoe as a starting point for the overall concept and brought together an incredible team of local vendors to create a picture-perfect day! Every detail was so well thought out and the special touches really shine. See full vendor list with links at the bottom of this post.
The mountain themed stationery suite included rolling hills and elegant fonts. This design is a personal favorite and is simple, classic but versatile enough to fit a more modern outdoor wedding style. Dusty blue weddings are right on trend for 2018 and these envelopes are a great way to incorporate color in your wedding invitations.
In a wedding, the invitation suite is the first impression yours guests get of your big day. It should really encompass the overall feel of your wedding and I really think this suite accomplished that in this styled shoot!
I know, I know – it’s entirely too early to start thinking about the holidays.
Truthfully, October is quickly wrapping up meaning the time to think about the end of the year is upon us! If you want your holiday cards to go out in early December, it’s not too early to order.
You paid a lot of money for those gorgeous wedding photos and it’s time to show them off again! Celebrate the season and your wonderful year with a newlywed card – I’m even offering an early bird discount, good ’til November 5. Use code “ohmy10off” at checkout to take 10% off your order.*
I’m excited to offer newlywed cards for the couples I worked with this year. Designs include all things to celebrate your First Married Christmas. (cue the “awww”s!)
So hop over to the holiday section of my Etsy shop or select a design by clicking “order now” below. All wording is customizable, just include your details during checkout. After purchase, email your high-quality photo and I’ll provide a proof so that you can review and make changes before printing. Your order will ship 5-7 business days after proof approval.
Have something different in mind? I would love to use your photo (or wedding invitation!) as inspiration to create a fun design. Get in touch with me soon and let me know what you’re thinking – I’ll take a limited number of custom designs this season.
The big day has come and gone, but there’s still one wedding to-do left on the list! It’s time to write thank you notes to all the people who contributed to your wedding – either by helping, attending, or contributing in some way.
In a world of text messages and emails, the lost art of writing a letter has been forgotten by many. However, I really think that the value of receiving a handwritten thank you note really shows the thought of a genuine appreciation.
WHO TO THANK
The biggest list of people to thank are those who gave a gift before, on, or after your wedding day. You should also include anyone who helped make your big day possible – your bridal party, family who helped contribute financially, and vendors that rocked your socks off.
Keep a list of everyone you intend to thank and exactly what you will thank them for – use an Excel spreadsheet or Google doc to keep everything super organized.
WHEN TO THANK
Per Emily Post etiquette, wedding thank you cards should be sent within three months of the recipient of the gift. Often, things can be pretty busy right after a wedding – honeymoons, moving, adjusting to newlywed life, so schedule a time each week to sit down and write a few thank you notes at a time. It can seem daunting to do them all at once (and hello, hand cramp!) but breaking them into chunks will help tremendously!
HOW TO THANK
As a former second grade teacher, I’m happy to break down the how to of writing your wedding thank you cards.
Make sure the notes are personalized to each recipient and include their names. Thank them specifically for being a part of your wedding and how they helped make your big day special. Make reference to the actual gift that they gave and include how it might be used. Feel free to get as funny and creative as you like, but generally 3-4 sentences should get the job done.
Sign the card as a couple and include both names. The goal is to show your appreciation, so personalizing and being specific will ensure your thankfulness is received! Here’s an example:
Dear John and Susie Smith,
We are so glad that you were able to be a part of our big day – it wouldn’t have been the same without you there! Your gift was very generous and we are putting the money toward new living room furniture in our home. You’ll have to come check it out next time you’re in town!
Thank you so much,
Bobby and Molly Williams
WHAT TO USE FOR THANK YOUS
The idea of incorporating one of your wedding photos with the thank you card is always fun! I offer wedding thank you postcards here in my Etsy shop. I can also create a custom design to match your oh my! designs invitations. These are perfect because you can show off a picture on the front and include some text (typically “thank you”, the wedding date, and your names). On the back, you’ll be able to handwrite a short note in the blank space and drop in the mail!
Want to keep it a little more traditional? Opt for thank you cards, flat or folded, with envelopes. Include your new monogram or last name with a simple design. The great thing about this option is that you can use these cards for years to come since they won’t be wedding specific!
August is quickly coming to a close, which means fall will be here before we know it. Planning a New Year’s Eve wedding? Now is the time to order your invitations, if you can believe it!
I’ve been meaning to share this “pretty and witty” suite for a while (like almost nine months now) and I’m finally getting around to it. Courtney and Mike met at a New Year’s Eve party and got engaged on New Year’s Eve a few years later. It only seemed appropriate that they planned their wedding for this day!
Courtney has great style, so I was honored that she chose to work with me for their wedding invitations. She had a super clear vision and we customized one of my existing suites to fit her theme – glam, glitter, and sass.
The wedding color palette was romantic – gold, blush, and navy. Since this was planned to be an epic celebration on December 31, using glitter in the invitation suite was totally fitting. (In my opinion, glitter is always a “yes!”)
Navy was incorporated with the printing and the invitation was mounted on a gold glitter mat with a metallic soft blush backing. The gold glitter bellyband completed the suite and held everything together nicely, finished off with an outer square of the soon-to-be couple’s new last name and (very fabulous) wedding date.
At first glance, you’ll notice how beautifully the suited turned out to be – I think this one knocked it out of the park. I only wish I could see the expressions on guests’ faces as they opened this gorgeous little package.
Once you get a chance to read the insert cards, you realize the sassiness that the couple incorporated using hilarious wording. I mean, check out this RSVP card! When a couple doesn’t take their selves, or their wedding, too seriously it makes it a little more fun for everyone.
These wedding invitations truly set the tone for Courtney and Mike’s glamorous, fun big day and were a great representation of them expressing their creativity.
Interested in using these invitations for your own wedding or want to work together to create something a little different? Fill out my questionnaire here to get started!
What do you do with your wedding invitations after the big day is over?
Your wedding invitation is one of the only things you actually get to keep from your wedding day. If you’ve been hanging around the site, or me, long at all, you’ve likely heard this from me before. After the flowers have wilted, the music has played, and the cake has been eaten, you’re left with your dress, photographs, and a piece of paper reminding you of all the memories of one of your most special days.
As a true keepsake, find a way to display the invitation in your home rather than just throwing it in a drawer. There are so many fun and unique ways to use your wedding invitation once the big day has passed!
Frame or Shadowbox
The easiest way to display your wedding invitation after the big day is by framing it or creating a shadow box. I love the simplicity of putting the paper in a pretty frame that matches your home decor and putting it somewhere you’ll see it daily. Hang it in your bedroom so it’s one of the first things you see when you wake up and before you go to sleep or in a common area as a conversation starter.
If you want to pair some other wedding day details with the invitation, consider creating a shadow box. You can include things like dried flowers from the wedding bouquet, the garter, and the cork from the champagne bottle you drank as newlyweds. There’s no shortage of ideas on Pinterest for wedding shadow boxes!
Engraved Plate
Recently a former bride told me that her mother had their wedding invitation made into an engraved plate. I thought this was so neat! A local boutique handled this project, but there are also sources online who will recreate the design and have it engraved on sterling silver or pewter. Along with plates, you can have the invitation engraved on a tray or glass – beautiful to display in your home!
Coffee Table Tray
I absolutely adore these custom trays by Copper & Torch. Made of glass and metal, it’s a perfect way to save your wedding invitation. Both decorative and functional, this might be my favorite way to create a keepsake from the big day!
Decorative Pillow
Until I began researching for this post, I had no idea people were turning their wedding invitation designs into pillows! When I stumbled across this Etsy shop, I thought it was the cutest idea and a really unique way to preserve your invitation. Having your invitation on a handmade pillow is both a great way to decorate and keep your design alive!
Christmas Ornament
One of my favorite ways to turn your wedding invitation into a fun keepsake is to create an ornament for the Christmas tree. It’s super easy to do and you can read my full step-by-step tutorial here.
This is something you can do yourself, but I also love this idea to give as a gift to a newlywed couple for their first married Christmas.
There are so many options of ways to display your wedding invitation, which is your favorite? When ordering, remember to include a few extra to use as keepsakes for yourself and your family members!
These blush and greenery wedding invitations turned out beautifully! This custom design was created for a couple that had an overall neutral wedding color palette, with lots of greenery and rose gold accents. I knew we would be a great match as soon as the bride mentioned using floral artwork when discussing the overall concept.
I fell in love with these florals and luckily the bride-to-be felt the same way! The mailing envelope was chosen in a neutral pink, while the RSVP envelope was done in a green to make the overall feel a little more Earthy.
The bride requested a fun script font with a handwritten feel and this one turned out to be perfect. Truth be told, it’s one of my very favorites!
This is truly the result of a bride with a vision, who trusted my style and design. The result of these wedding invitations is so true to my aesthetic and what I love to create!
I look forward to working with more couples who have similar visions for their own weddings. You can read more about my custom design process here or get a quote for these invitations here.
When it comes to ordering wedding invitations, there is no shortage of options. Some couples choose to buy their invites online, from large websites. Others decide to design and print themselves. Then there are those who find designers who specialize in working one-on-one with couples to create their wedding invitations.
Different folks have different reasons for choosing where to buy, which is wonderful because that is what makes the world go round! Most couples purchasing wedding invitations have never done so before and hiring a professional is a great way to ensure you get a top of the line experience and product.
EXPERIENCE
Hiring a designer ensures that someone with experience can handle the job, while you sit back and relax. No need to worry about printing methods, CMYK, bleeds, crop marks, or paper types. Not to mention figuring out where to source printing or envelopes! Sure, you can spend (a lot of) time researching to figure all this out but who has time for that during wedding planning?!
Finding someone with wedding invitation experience will ensure you have a great experience! Working one-on-one allows me to develop somewhat of a friendship with every couple that hires me. You get an entirely different experience than if you were to input your information into a large website and click a button to purchase.
ETIQUETTE/SUGGESTIONS
Speaking of clicking a button to purchase, do you think the people behind the screen are available to help you with your questions about wedding invitation wording? My guess is no. They’re there to print your information into an existing design, which is totally fine if you’re wanting to skip the proofing process and email exchange that goes into working with a designer.
If you haven’t ever ordered wedding invitations before (likely), it’s so wonderful to be able to work with a designer so you can ask specific questions regarding wording and etiquette. I provide a wording guide on my website with specific examples and offer suggestions throughout the entire process. My couples love that they can be a little “hands off” knowing I will reword and format their information in the best way possible.
QUALITY
I don’t want to talk trash here, because I’ve seen some beautiful invitations that were DIY’ed or ordered from large wedding websites. To be honest, a majority of the big online invitation retailers do have a great product! However there are a few websites out there that give the others a bad name. With constant sales, coupon codes, and pricing that even my wholesaler can’t beat, I caution you to order a sample before placing your full order with them. In many cases, you get what you pay for and since these are your wedding invitations I wouldn’t risk it!
Because I work with a limited number of clients and focus on wedding invitations, I’m able to really control the quality of my products. I go through each order after it is done at the printer and make sure everything is perfect. If there’s an issue, I go back to the printer to fix it and my clients never even know! Sneaky? Nah, I’m just doing my job!
Don’t just take my word for it! These are wonderful reviews left by some of my sweet past brides…
Our wedding invitations turned out just as we had imagined them. Steph was incredibly responsive and quickly sent new proofs when I had an update. She was also willing to offer advice when I wasn’t sure how to phrase something. I honestly couldn’t stop smiling when I saw the finished product, and I’m so glad we chose oh my! designs for our invitations!
-Rachel, Georgia Bride, June 2017 Wedding
Working with oh my! designs by steph was such a great experience! Steph was very quick to respond and helped walk me through every step to design the perfect wedding invitations. She made this stressful time of wedding planning a breeze! The finish product arrived beautifully packaged and perfect! You would be so lucky to have her help make part of your wedding dreams come true!
-Brittany, Arizona Bride, August 2016 Wedding
I don’t think I can say enough about how great Steph is to work with! I initially found her on Instagram and loved her designs but thought custom invitations were way out of my price range. Boy, was I wrong! Steph’s pricing is fair and reasonable in my opinion. I was completely overwhelmed with all of the options available through the “big box” companies you see online and I just wanted a simple and classic invitation that matched my aesthetic. Steph made the process so incredibly easy and we worked entirely through email together. She asked about our colors, any fonts we liked, and had us type out our invitation wording so we got exactly what we wanted. I even asked if we could use a dark blue shimmer paper with white writing and she tested it with her printing company to make sure it would come out right at no cost to us. The finished product came in last week and they look so amazing! It’s everything we wanted, it didn’t break the bank, and best of all Steph made the process stress free. I can’t thank her enough! You won’t regret having Steph create your invitations, I promise!
-Page, Virginia Bride, May 2017 Wedding
In the end, your wedding invitation is the very first impression guests get of your big day. It’s also one of the only things you get to keep after the wedding has ended. Choose wisely when deciding where to order your invites and consider working with a professional!
