Your Wedding Invitations ~ Why They're Actually Uber-Important!
by Linda Enders on 03/11/16
“I don’t want to spend
a lot on our invitations. They’re just
going to get thrown away anyway.”
As a planner, I hear this from brides…A LOT! They’d rather spend their budget on flowers,
or the dress, or the food, or…the list goes on and on. But the invitation is an UBER-IMPORTANT piece
of the wedding puzzle; it provides much more than just the address…
Your invitation provides all the logistics.
It provides the who, what, where, and when. Without this little card, your event would be
attended by only crickets…and perhaps your grandmother who hitched a ride from
your dad.
It gives your guests a way to let you know how many will be
attending. The RSVP delivery method may
have changed over the years, but this is an element that’s oh, so important…you
need to know how many guests will be eating, right?
Will there be a full dinner or just refreshments? Your guests should be informed if they’ll
need to nosh prior to you strutting down the aisle. Remember, a hungry guest is not a happy one!
Is it a flowing reception or should your guests plan to have
the babysitter until the wee hours of the morning?
Your invitation sets the tone & formality for your event.
In a way, the invitation gives your guests a glimpse into
what they can expect. It can offer a nod
to your color scheme and theme. And it should reveal a bit of both of your
personalities and your lifestyle.
A few years ago, my husband and I received an invitation to a
wedding of a former coworker. The invite
was simple and most definitely carried a casual, country feel with it. It was similar to this:
Adorable, right? (I found this pic online and would highly recommend you visit their site at: www.thenaturalweddingcompany.co.uk) Awesome source for eco-friendly invitations and accessories for your wedding :)
I
was excited to see all the décor centered around the country theme; burlap or
denim with lace, lots of old wood and crates, and maybe a super-cute pair of
boots peeking from under the bride’s dress.
It was late summer, and I was eager to see sunflowers against quirky rusted
iron décor. Thinking about it got me
excited to drink punch from a mason jar and eat picnic-type food while
bluegrass piped softly throughout the space.
I was ready to run out and buy a pair of boots just for the occasion…I’m
so glad I didn’t.
When we arrived, I was surprised to see the bridesmaids
wearing very contemporary black dresses carrying bouquets of calla lilies! Was I at the right wedding? My husband and I double-checked the address
just to be sure…yup, right place! All
the men in the bridal party were in black tuxes and the bride looked like she’d
stepped right out of fairytale, tiara and all.
Unless you were outside, there was no sign of late summer
anywhere; no rust red or burlap tan, but instead, bright fuchsia and neon green. No sunflowers. No mason jars. No quirky iron décor or bluegrass.
It was pretty, but not what everyone expected. There were several people who, like myself,
interpreted the invitation as casual attire, and were markedly uncomfortable
without their jacket and tie.
If the couple had chosen to include their wedding invitation
as a part of their wedding, instead of treating it as a disposable sheet of
unimportant paper, their guests would have shown up excited to experience the
event instead of searching for the darkest corner in the room to stay out of
sight. Remember, your goal is to extend
warmth and gratitude to your guests. You
want them to be comfortable, because comfy guests naturally feel good, and
people who feel good will boogie it out on the dance floor!
Your invitation can
bridge together different elements of your event.
A well-designed event ‘flows’ better, and it almost always
begins with the invitation and other printed items within the event. It’s easy, once you have a general idea of
theme and style, to incorporate a few elements that will be found at your
event. Here are a few examples of how to
do that…
Country or rustic: Wrap
a strip of lace, burlap, or twine around the inner envelope
Vintage: Add
an antique button to the front of your invitation
Gatsby or Glam: Add a
rhinestone brooch or gild an edge with silver or gold
Homespun: Pull
out your sewing machine and add a simple seam in a colored thread
Literary/Books: Include
a paper flower made from the pages of a favorite book
Think about your own upcoming wedding…How can you
incorporate some fun details from your design?
Is there a color you could add or a fun, quirky charm you could
include?
Look at your wedding as though you were seeing it for the
first time. What is the most important
element you want to keep ‘NO MATTER WHAT?’
Once you find it, look at everything else and determine if those pieces
work with your must-have element. In no
time, you’ll begin to see a flow emerging, and that, my lovelies, is the making
of your wedding design! Celebrate YOUR
Story and stay true to who you are!
