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I was going through some files one day and found a stack of wedding invitations that I’d saved. Sometimes I see people write on the Weddingbee Boards that guests throw invitations away, but I never have. Does anyone else save their invitations?
Anyway, looking at the stack, they were almost uniform. Two were printed on the exact same paper with the same border, and those weddings weren’t near each other in time or location. They were all lovely invitations. They were just very similar.
Photo by Miss Mink
There was a time when I judged an invitation by running my finger across the text. I cringe at how petty that is, but I thought the best invitations didn’t look different—they felt different. I’m glad my horizons have broadened. When we started looking at invitation designs, the overall look, not the feel, was important to me.
We looked at four websites during our initial search for a wedding-invitation design. The first site was The Wedding Chicks blog, because I was really hoping to DIY our invitations. The Wedding Chicks have a great collection of templates that can be customized and printed at home or by a printer. The second site was Etsy, and that would obviously mean we would be working with the creator of the design on the card. Interestingly, I unknowingly found a bee during that search—only recently did I realize she was Mrs. Gloss! The third and fourth sites were Minted and Wedding Paper Divas. Using those would mean we would be one step removed from the designer of our invitations, but the artists that contribute to those sites seem happy with the arrangement.
Almost none of the designs we liked had white or ivory backgrounds. We tended to like modern fonts and a good amount of color. We didn’t seek out traditional wording. Comparing the designs we both liked with the invitations I had gotten in the past, I worried that some people would open our wedding invitations and think they were strange.
I’m wondering if my crowd is just more traditional that most. If you looked at the wedding invitations you’ve gotten in the past, would they look like my stack above? Have you gotten some less traditional invitations? Are you looking for traditional or nontraditional designs for your wedding?
Oh goodness! That photo is a great illustration of your point! I had a similar experience when meeting with my wedding coordinator. She had a whole drawer of program that were almost identical (I found myself thinking, “have none of these people heard of a corner rounder?” and that was immediately followed by, “Sheesh self, do you need an extension ladder to get off that high horse?”) Needless to say we are also going with something atypical for our paper goods I am super stoked to see what you come up with!
@Miss Aardvark: Hee hee! I don’t mean to sound critical…I’m more worried that our very colorful invites will get the “side eye” from our more traditional friends and family because their choices were more conservative.
We are going with a classic look, similar to the ones you posted up there. Ha! Invitations just aren’t that important to me and I’d rather spend money elsewhere so I’m going budget and simple with the invitations!
@Amber: I totally understand. I think that my love of crafting and being very visual makes me throw a lot more energy into the invitation search than many would.
I’m going to surprise you with our budge soon, though. 
People loved our invitations so much that one of our guest had it put in a shadow box and gave it to us as a wedding gift. The invitation was only a taste of what was in store for them. 
Ours are rather non-traditional. The text is from “All I Ask of You” (”The Phantom of the Opera”), and the colors are maroon and orange. But I think they’re unique and perfect.
@Kelly: I would love to see them! Did you post them on the message boards?
Hi, this is Kelly. I have not yet but I’ll work on posting it now. I’d love to share all the details that went into what most of our guests have said is ” the best wedding of the ever.” Of course this happens when you have two artists getting married. We both work in the animation industry so we incorporated a lot of those themes.
Here is our wedding page: http://www.facebook.com/seanandkellyswedding
I just posted the pics of the invitations on the board.
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/a-wedding-invitation-for-a-fairytale-wedding?replies=1#post-2927397
Having attended our fair share of weddings (and the share of others as well), I can say that different is appreciated! It might not be what they would pick, but if it’s a reflection of you and Mr. Mink, they’ll love it!
Oh, and I have kept, from each wedding, every save the date, invitation and place card (at minimum…sometimes more!!).
I have all of my place cards from every wedding I have attended. If it was a close friend or family member I also saved the invite or program. I loved looking over them while we were planning our wedding. Everyone did something different.
I keep everything from weddings I’ve attended — I have invitations, programs, menu cards, place cards, etc. I knew I would want to look at them for ideas!
@Miss Turkey: Ah ha! Proof that some people keep their invitations. Thank you.
@piglover: Yay! Another person who loves to collect wedding papers!
@penguin_girl_0413: Yet another! I’m sending the next person who says “they only get thrown away” to these comments.
I got mine from My Gatsby they have tons of colors and fonts and designs to pick from. and I too am an invite saver. I don’t know why but I save greeting cards and Christmas cards too.
my opinion on wedding invites and why I got super fancy ones, I told my FI that the invite sets the ton for the event it is the first thing people see and it gives them a glimpse of the style and the formalitly of the event. like when you get a country chic invite you can tell it will be a casual wedding or if you get something elaborate and over the top you know to come dressed to impress… sounds odd but I read into things too much…
We had non-traditional invitations also, although we didn’t design them ourselves (uhhmmm… attorney + CPA… does not equal great design sense).
Maybe it’s a Pacific Northwest thing but I can honestly think of no one who had the traditional scroll font white or ivory with same color embossing.
Ours had a “woodland” Motif and a slightly modern font (at least not a scroll font) in two colors of printing. We also splurged to have the addresses printed on the envelopes… best $75 I’ve spent in the past year.
I think there are definite pros and cons to classy, traditional invites versus colorful, unique ones. That being said, I say go for it
I save mine too! Yours are definitely way more traditional than mine–I actually can’t think of any I have that look like that. My friends are all getting married right out of college. They tend to have traditional wording, but on invites with a fair amount of color.
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Miss Mink, Charlottesville, Virginia Age and Occupation: 34, College Administrator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Craft Beer Consultant Engagement Date: November 26, 2010 Wedding Date: June 2012 Venue: Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards About Me: I left a pre-war brownstone in Boston six years ago to live in a funky, Southern city where Thomas Jefferson, Dave Matthews, and urban chicken keepers enjoy equal social standing. I still love my Patriots and Red Sox, but have fallen in love with Virginia. I work in education and specialize in integrating technology into my work to improve the student experience. I’m a diehard blogger, animal lover, jamband follower, and DIYer. I paint to relax and have transferred by energy from home projects to wedding projects in recent months. When Mr. Mink and I started talking about marriage, we knew our wedding would be outdoors, that my golden retriever would be part of the day, and that the music would be fantastic. We’ve taken a few risks during our planning process and we’ve been enjoying the process immensely!
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