Tips for choosing your Wedding Invitations
Can we talk about Wedding Invites for a second!
If you are getting Married in the near future, take a second out of your day to check out my tips on how choosing your Wedding Invitations and stationary will compliment your vision and the feel of your Wedding!
Do you have massive love for stationary and paper goods?
Can I be the only one out there that is super obsessed with the feel, texture and vibe of Wedding Invitations? I LOVE when my Brides and Grooms send me an invite to their Wedding. Yes, I am going to ask you for two perfectly untouched copies of your full invitation suite for photos but receiving a Wedding Invitation in the mail is seriously so exciting – Its one of the first steps towards really seeing your vision come to life.
If you have been following along with my Wedding Instagram, you most likely saw my behind the scenes stories of me laying out and creating a lay flat for my couples. You have seen how much I absolutely love styling Invitations and maybe a few happy dances after everything was perfectly laid out.
In all my years as a Wedding Photographer here in Calgary and the Rocky Mountains, I have only ever photographed the same Wedding Invitation once. I think because there are so many amazing options now for couples to find a perfect Wedding invitation design to match the vibe and feel of their Wedding.
I also really love when printed Wedding place cards and menus match the Wedding Invites and signage as well.
Over the last few years I have seen a trend to let your guests have a free for all on where they sit when they get to their table – but something about having your name on a card just takes your experience at Wedding to a new level. Also it prevents your guests from being split from their plus one! After all, how awkward would it be to be a plus one and not sit with your date – if you know no one.
Because well, I’m me, I was racking my brain last night at two a.m. about what really makes the feeling of a Reception come together – it’s definitely the way you convey your vibe and theme throughout. The simplest way to carry your colour pallet into your Reception is to have pops of it in the small details – from the Welcome sign greeting your guests as they enter your reception to your menus in front of them when they sit down, maybe your napkins are the colour of your Wedding vibe/theme and then maybe your place cards are the secondary colour from your Wedding pallet.
It shows the attention to detail of a few elements that are small but have a big impact and easily carries your vision throughout.
I have already been noticing people are starting to have a clean pallet (whites, creams, neutrals) with little pops of unexpected colours throughout (Pinks, Forest Greens, Mustard Orange).
I was looking through Basic Invite and I couldn’t believe you can choose from 180+ colours to customize their invite sets. So no matter which one of their 900+ invitation sets you choose, you can customize them fully so it matches your vibe, feel and the colour pallet you have chosen. Its pretty wild to be able to have so many different options with the click of a button – and we all know I LOVE options.
Bonus. Because Basic Invites has generously given me a promo code I thought it would be amazing to share it with you! If you decide to order your Wedding Invites or Place Cards through them you can use this coupon code for 15% off! Their site can also help you with choosing your Wedding Invitations!
Coupon Code for Basicinvites.com: 15FF51
Bonus tips //
Tip #1 Choose 2 primary colours for your Wedding and 2 or 3 secondary colours. Your primary colours will be the ones that punch out the most and secondary will be their sidekicks!
Example:
Primary colours: Bridesmaids dresses, Main colour that stands out in your Bouquet or the main colour on your Invites.
Secondary colour: Bridesmaids shoes, napkins, Place Cards, Welcome sign, Menus, envelopes for your Invites and then save the dates being one of your other 2-3 secondary colours.
Tip #2 Keep two copies of all of your Wedding stationary and have it available as you’re getting ready, for your photographer to photograph. I once had a couple make me a box they labeled “PUKIN BOX” it was perfect so I could easily have everything I needed for the photos they wanted waiting right there for me upon my arrival!
I always ask for:
- Invites x 2
- Envelopes (one with a stamp on and address/return address on it) x 2
- Save the Date Cards and their Envelopes x 2
- Maps (if applicable) x 2
- RSVP and their Envelopes x 2
- I also ask for a small bunch of flowers (Its helpful to also have kitchen scissors for cutting the flowers close by) that match your Wedding theme or colours and any kind of ring dish you might have if you want your rings included in the shots (My favourite ring dishes are Marbella)