Weddingbee Blog

Waaaaaay back when, I mentioned that I got a preview of our wedding invitations when I was home for my Providence bridal shower. I also mentioned that they scared me a bit. I guess that’s the thing about ordering invitations from a tiny sample color swatch: it’s just a tiny sample.

Don’t they look lovely all together?

Well, below is the actual “majestic” purple in the mock-up I received. Compare it to the samples above. Ugh.

When I saw it my reaction was lukewarm at best. I tried to smile. Mama Seashell said she had the same reaction when the invitation designer handed them to her. I’ve shared this with you before - the best I could muster up at first glance was, “I’m thinking they’re a little LOUD, and kind of ’Barney the Dinosaur’ 4 year old’s birthday party invitation colored, you know?” And they were. Even now, looking back at the sample, they are a far cry from the deep, rich, “majestic” purple I originally envisioned and selected. And then I said, “oh well, I guess that’s that.” Mama Seashell knew my disappointment and called the invitation designer the next day regardless of my resignation with the process.

I got a call from our designer the next day, and she shared that she was disappointed in the color too. (Communication people!) She offered that the best alternative we had was to ship the pocketfolds back and switch to “ruby”. I was hesitant because the undertone of the original “majestic” paper was gold (like our accents) and the “ruby” had a silver shimmer. She advised that the metallic undertone wouldn’t be an issue, especially if my main concern was getting the overall look of the invitations to be darker and richer.

One rush order later, here is our invitation (left) with the original mock up (right):

Definitely richer, definitely darker, definitely looks less like construction paper.

Moral of the story - the wee little cute square sample thingies don’t always look the same in reality. Now, granted, my photographs aren’t perfect either. Our final product invites (the ones of the left) really aren’t as cranberry as they appear. But what I’m ultimately trying to communicate is that you don’t always know what you’re getting in the world of samples, email proofs, and itty bitty square paper swatches.

So here’s the thing about our invitations. Do I love them? In the end, yes. They’re really beautiful. They are actually SO MUCH better looking in person. In fact, I’m kind of frustrated sharing the photos that I have because they really don’t do them justice. At all. The thermography is totally lost and they look dull, flat, and the final invites appear cranberry. Which they aren’t. But as many times over as I try to photograph them, it just isn’t happening.

Maybe just one more for the road…

Did you have any invitation-induced headaches? Was it worth it in the end?