How to Find a Wedding Invitation that Fits Your Style

As weddings evolve, it has become more and more important for Brides to find their own unique style. Once you have decided what the style of your wedding is going to be, you will no doubt start looking for the perfect invitation to match. The Invitation that you choose will reflect the mood and style of the wedding event, cluing guests in as to whether your wedding will be formal, traditional, or casual and fun. Here are some simple guidelines and ideas to consider as you start looking for the perfect invitation for your wedding.

Formal wedding invitations are for the elegant, formal wedding. If you are having an evening event where people are expected to wear their finest clothing (White Tie and maybe even Black Tie), this is the type of wedding invitation you should be looking at. You wouldn't want to send out a formal invitation for a wedding taking place in your parent's barn, and likewise you wouldn't want to send out a silly, bright invitation for a party at the Four Seasons.

Formal invitations are characterized by heavy card stock, subtle colors, and classic fonts. Often you will see formal invitations with a Script style font, but be careful when choosing your font, because Script that is too frilly can be hard to read. Make sure that you see a full size sample of the proposed invitation before you place your full order. Try a font like Vivaldi or Doric. Formal invitations will usually be seen on basic ivory or white card stock with black or gold print.

Formal does not mean that you cannot have any design at all on your invitation, but you certainly do not want to use bright colors or big graphics, as these things will take away from the elegance of the invitation. Also consider using heavier envelopes with a colored lining in gold, silver, or pastel to match the invitation.

If you are are steeped in tradition, but you are not planning to have a super fancy wedding, you should look for a Semi-formal or Traditional style of invitation. These invitations are still elegant and classy, but are just a little bit less formal.

Look for invitations that are classic and simple, but feel free to look for brighter colors and an interesting and beautiful graphic element. With this style of invitation, you are also more free to try a unique font and colored envelopes. Most wedding invitations will fall into this category, and truly, your options are endless!

The Passion Flower invitation set seen above is a perfect example of a Semiformal invitation with its bright colors and graphic elements. Notice how the color combinations are soft and blended, rather than too bold and experimental.

If your wedding is built around a specific theme, location, or activity, a thematic invitation is a wonderful accent to the distinct feeling you are trying to portray. Some examples might be:

♥ A garden wedding, where the cake, dresses, and decor is all flower themed.

♥ A Vegas Style wedding with a casino theme.

♥ A Beach Destination wedding.

♥ A Western themed wedding taking place in Texas or a Peach Themed wedding in Georgia.

Those are just a small list of ideas that exemplify a themed wedding. The wedding invitation that you choose can add to the style and feel of your wedding theme.

The important thing to remember when choosing a themed wedding invitation is to be careful that you don't get too cheesy. Instead of a giant peach-shaped invitation, go for a rectangular card that has a beautiful picture of a peach tree. The invitation shown here is an example of a cowboy style invitation. It is still a beautiful invitation, it just has accents that add to the overall cowboy theme, like the spurs and the western font. If you are having a hard time deciding what will work best for your wedding, ask to see samples of other themed invitations and take ideas from that. The internet is also a great source for example pictures!

Be absolutely sure that you see a final full-size sample before having your invitations printed! This is especially important with themed invitations, because it would be terrible to have the horse on your invitation looking more like a dog when its full-size!

Is your wedding everything but traditional? Do you and your fiance stray from convention? Then you might want to design your own whimsical and fun wedding invitation that reflects your personal style and attitude. Think of adding quirky, unexpected elements, unique materials, bright, bold color combinations or choosing an unexpected shape. Just beware that different shapes and weight might add to the cost of mailing each invitation, so be prepared! Take a completed sample to your local post office and double check the price to send it out and ask for advice.

Your invitation can be as creative and clever as you are! Put your own personality to work, the sky is the limit! One idea is to purchase a traditional invitation with a special graphic element, and then apply beads or extra fabric details. Just be aware that these kinds of additions can really add up both in price and in time cost.

The couple that goes green will be looking for some eco-friendly options when it comes to thir wedding invitations. Look for soy based inks and recycled papers. These days you can find invitations in 100% recycled materials, partially recycled, or completely tree free papers. The invitations shown here can be ordered in your choice of 100% post-consumer paper or FSC certified cotton paper from Earthly Affair Invitations.

Another idea if you want to go as paper-less as possible are to collect email addresses instead of mailing addresses for your wedding guests. Use digital images to create the perfect wedding invitation and send them out completely paper-free (and cost free!). Using a photo editing software like Photoshop or a freeware program like Gimp, you can create virtually any type of wedding invitation that your heart desires.

One other way to save on paper costs is to only mail invitations to out-of-town guests. You can have a simple wedding announcement put in the local paper or in your church bulletin rather than sending out local invitations.

Thank you for taking the time to read these suggestions on wedding invitation styles. I hope you found some useful information. Feel free to share any ideas that have worked for your invitations!