Invitation: Inspiration

Invitation: Inspiration

March 23rd, 2011 @ 2:26 pm by Mrs. Pain au Chocolat
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Whimsical. Bold. Hand lettered. Vivid. Cut paper. Preppy patterns. Negative space. Unusual. The invitations I like are no shrinking violets.

In preparation for designing our invitation suite, I gathered all the images I’d pooled during our long engagement in search of similarities in style and color. Anything to help synthesize what felt like disjointed ideas into something coherent!

Here’s a collection of inspiring invitations that speak to my artistic soul:

Invitation: Inspiration : wedding invitations stationery wilmington 1 Invit 1-invit

Invitation: Inspiration : wedding invitations stationery wilmington 1 Bold 1-bold

Invitation: Inspiration : wedding invitations stationery wilmington 1 Bold02 1-bold02

Invitation: Inspiration : wedding invitations stationery wilmington 1 Bold01 1-bold01

Bold, summery invites from Oh So Beautiful Paper

I could eat up the pattern on the save the date. I’m digging the trio of colors for the invitation suite. Hand-stamped program covers and table numbers are a more affordable way to achieve the letterpress look. And yellow!!

Rifle Paper Co.

I heart Rifle Paper Co. big time. Everything I swoon over is encompassed in their designs. Did you see Miss Ostrich’s awesome invites? I’m totally jealy, Miss O!

Howard Photography via Style Me Pretty

More of the same: Whimsical, hand-lettered programs and napkins in yellow. Simple and bold. Love the white-inked napkins.

Love Jenna

Green, green, green! OK, maybe I’m not over green just yet. This suite actually has a clear overlay with the white-ink flourishes and hand-lettered script. So yummy!

Fracas via Minted

I’m leaning more toward the preppy side with a bold chevron. Straightforward and clean. Maybe a little too crisp…

Summer Sun via Minted

Still preppy but more playful. Like the first invite, I like how the designer mixed up the suite with different colors for each piece.

Source

This was one of the very early favorites, but it no longer matches our aesthetic. I love how the paper elements are different but still related to each other. My favorite piece is the RSVP card with the yellow zigzags and simple typography!

Now that I’ve set the bar so unreachably high, it’s time to tackle the DIY design of our invitations. Which has turned out to be a more daunting task than I imagined. Apparently perfectionism doesn’t mix well with paralysis. (Mrs. EB, you are totally speaking my language!) I thought I kicked my “procrastinistic perfectionist” habit in college, but it returned with a vengeance this weekend.

What style of invitations are you drawn to?

Tags: invitations, stationery, wilmington |

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12 Responses to “Invitation: Inspiration”

Bee

Miss Elephant (message) 6,182 posts, Bee Keeper

I really like the swirly fonts of the green invites, and yellow programs/napkins!

3/23/11 @ 3:13 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Lox (message) 1,128 posts, Bumble bee

You know, I think I may never get tired of looking at invitations. Heart!

3/23/11 @ 4:36 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Eggs Benedict (message) 339 posts, Helper bee

Love all the inspiration! And the only advice for getting over the perfection paralysis that I can give you is what I gave myself - just get started. You can always change anything/scrap it/start over, but you just have to start somewhere! Can’t wait to see yours!

3/23/11 @ 4:40 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Earrings (message) 2,481 posts, Buzzing bee

Love all those inspiration pics! The whimsical swirly font is gorgeous.

3/23/11 @ 4:59 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Tartlet (message) 3,207 posts, Sugar bee

All of these invite inspirations are just fab. I also adore Rifle Paper Co.! Their typography (if that’s the right term) is to die for.

3/23/11 @ 5:07 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Waffle (message) 1,123 posts, Bumble bee

Love them all! Picking and designing invites was, by far, the most difficult wedding task I have encountered yet.

3/23/11 @ 6:16 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Ostrich (message) 1,948 posts, Buzzing bee

i super puffy heart invite porn….and your picks are exquisite, Miss PC.

3/23/11 @ 7:55 pm (reply)

Member

Crown (message) 548 posts, Busy bee

I’m suffering from invitation design overload. Tomorrow night I’m going to a first meeting with my graphic designer (an extremely talented woman who also happens to be my ex-husband’s most recent ex-wife…but that’s another story). I’ll bring all of the snippets and ideas I’ve been collecting and hopefully she can make some sense out of it. I mean, I know what I like, but I hope she can articulate that with paper and ink.

3/23/11 @ 8:24 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Carousel (message) 590 posts, Busy bee

Great inspiration! Love the green one the most, great font!

3/24/11 @ 9:11 am (reply)

10.

Bee

Mrs. Meerkat (message) 3,216 posts, Sugar bee

I hear ya on the daunting task of invitation design! I think I spent like 3 months redesigning our wedding invitations!!

3/24/11 @ 1:13 pm (reply)

11.

Member

Crabbabs (message) 725 posts, Busy bee

What an awesome inspiration spread! Can’t wait to see what you came up with. The green one is my favorite!

3/24/11 @ 10:24 pm (reply)

12.

Bee

Miss Pain au Chocolat (message) 1,698 posts, Bumble bee

@Mrs. Eggs Benedict: Getting started is so tough. I found that creating outlines or jotting loose ideas helped with research papers in college.
@Miss Tartlet: Rifle rocks! One of those items I’d have gladly splurged on.
@Miss Waffle: I hear you. Surprisingly hard!
@Miss Ostrich: Now my DIY invites have to live up to all these beautiful inspiration images. If our invites weren’t done, I’d be freaking out all over again.
@Crown: How did your meeting go with the graphic designer??
@Crabbabs: How did I know you’d like the green one? The shades of green are so yummy with the crisp white lettering.