How to Match Wedding Invitations to Your Design
A wedding showcases your love story. As such, it should be perfect. The best way to ensure this is by custom designing your wedding invitations.
But the question is, how do you match these invitations to your overall design? Don’t worry! This post shares useful tips on designing wedding invitations.
Customizing your wedding invitations shows off your personality while saving on cost. Even better, it’s easy to do.
You may decide to create a beautiful design from scratch or start with an invitation template. Either way, it’s a fantastic way to brand your wedding day.
Use the following tips to customize and design your wedding invitation.
- Know Your Colors
What’s your choice of wedding colors? Include your colors in your wedding invitation design. Carry these colors on other wedding papers like menus, escort cards, and ceremony programs. It’ll help create a cohesive look on your wedding.
For instance, white, cream, and ivory cards paired with a gold or black font is an ideal option for a formal wedding. Brighten your invites with colorful liners, envelopes, metallic fonts, and paper stock.
As you choose your colors, don’t ignore their readability.
- Select a Style
Every wedding invitation design falls into a specific style category. Alternatively, it may borrow from a couple of other styles.
So, are you having a themed wedding, or do you adore a particular genre or period? These decisionsgive your invitation project a sharp focus.
Some of the design styles for your invitations are as follows:
- Traditional and Elegant
This style is timeless. You can use it for formal and informal weddings.
A traditional and elegant design isn’t likely to anyone. Use script fonts, dainty colors, and floral borders to get the look of a traditional wedding invitation.
- The Art Deco
Art Deco is an evergreen old-schooled design style. It gives your invitation a vintage vibe, making it feel on-trend.
Opting for the art deco style gives asymmetrical quality to your design. You’ll also have an opportunity to use metallic foiling on your Art Deco look.
- Select Timeless Typefaces
Your choice of font can make or break your wedding invitation. Thus, go for typefaces with lasting longevity.
For instance, a formal classic like Caslon proves to be timeless when you open your wedding invitation decades later. Elegant scripts like Allura look appropriate for weddings.
Unless you’re having a themed wedding, don’t start experimenting with novelty fonts. Also, avoid using fonts that appear calm, but make your invitation look too informal. You don’t want your guests mistaking your wedding invitation for a flyer.
- Consider the Practicalities
Before you start the design process, there are several factors to consider. For instance, what’s the appropriate dimension of your invitation? And do you want a landscape or portrait invitation?
Most people design their wedding invitations to fit into an envelope. Professional printers might also use their standard size envelopes for your invitation.
Contact the printer for advice on the correct sizes.
Remember not to match the exact size of the card and that of your envelope. If you do, the card will not fit inside. Allowing for few millimeters around the edges makes sure this doesn’t happen.
Once you’re done with sizing, you can opt for either landscape or portrait orientation.The two options look lovely. But how do you make the decision on which to use?
If you have a lot of text on your invitation, portrait will look better than landscape. With a landscape design and a lot of text, the text will look cramped, with no space to breath.
- Consider Legibility
As you consider patterns and colors, don’t forget about the fonts. The information on the card is the reason why you’re sending it out. Ensuring its legibility should be the first step.
But how do you ensure the legibility of your wedding invitation card? Well, you may seek assistance from your stationery.
You can start by avoiding dark ink on dark backgrounds or light ink on a light background. Remember, pastel and yellow aren’t easy to read. If you’re using them, ensure the background contrasts enough, making it easier for words to pop.
Alternatively, use these colors into the design and not on the text. Also, avoid hard-to-read fonts on a scripted typeface. Never compromise readability for pretty letters and fonts.
- Wisely Select Your Words
Master the art of wording of your wedding invitation.
Start by identifying the couple responsible for this wedding. The cards you send should make it easier for people to attend this event.
As such, be sure to spell everything about this wedding to your guests. The details to share include venue and time when the wedding takes place.
Be careful about your choice of wording. It can make or break your wedding.
- Don’t Crowd the Card
The sole purpose of this card is to invite people to your wedding. As such, include only the critical points on this card.
Include your names, the ceremony time, location, and RSVP information. The dress code is optional on the invitations.
Squeezing too many details on the invitation makes it hard to read. Italso won’t look as elegant and beautiful as you’d want it to be.
Don’t include details about your post-wedding activities on your invitations. Leave them for a different enclosure card.
- Use Photography
Most people under-use photography on their wedding invitation. Many designs tend to use an illustrative or typographic focus.
You don’t have to go with this flow. It’s your wedding!
There are different ways in which you can give your invitation a unique look. One of those ways is introducing photographs in the layout.
A photo makes your invitation look fresh and modern. Even better, use your photo and that of your spouse.
You can set the photo as a border or as a background. Doing this allows you to create a unique and customizable invite. You may also choose different images across a specific batch so that your guests receive exclusive wedding invitations.
- Center Align Your Text
When typesetting your invitation card, it’s best to follow a tried and tested formula. Yes, your invite has a modern and unconventional design, but you should still center align the text.Aligning the text at the center makes the invite seem formal and vital. It distinguishes it as something notable and essential.
The smaller chunks of texts like dates and names appear organized when center aligned.
You can also impose a hierarchy on the text by using various font sizes and weights to different sections. For example, you can use italics in a large format on your and your spouse’s name. The date and time of your event should be in bold, as you don’t want anyone to forget — other items like the dress code in an average weight or smaller size.
Consider using dividers to separate different sections of the text. Such may include a ribbon banner on your vintage style or scripted flourishes on a traditional design. Dividers help make the information more digestible by your visitors.
- Make it Personal
Whatever color or style you choose, it’s essential to customize it to your needs. When people commission designers, they want advice and expertise, but a wedding invitation card is personal. Couples are likely to get disappointed if they want a flashy art deco creation and get a folksy floral design in its place.
Don’t let this clash happen. Ask the designer their opinion, but share your ideas on style, whether elegant, contemporary, or vintage. Also, show them some examples to give them a clear understanding of what you want. Be sure to listen to their advice and they may be able to use what you give them to show you something you had never thought about.
Another important consideration is your budget. Be sure to be up front and clear with your designer regarding your budget. You don’t want them to show you a beautiful design that’s out of your budget.
Conclusion
The wedding season is here. Whether you’re designing your wedding invitation cards or for a client, there are rules to follow.
First, the invitation should evoke an emotional connection to the wedding couple. It should also reflect their tastes and styles.
As such, the couples should know what they want in their invitations before they start the design process. They should also have a set budget to use in this exercise.
As a couple, forward your best photo to the card designer. It’ll make it easier for them to customize your invitations.