THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO WEDDING INVITATIONS

24^th March 2020

Connecting to my previous article, I remind you of the importance of choosing the theme and style of your wedding since the design of invitations and participations will depend on them to complete the whole wedding stationery (mass booklets, tableau de mariage, place cards, menus , custom tags ...).

Your graphic elements must be faithful to the wedding set-up: tell to your graphic designer which theme, style and palette you have already chosen. At this point you will have the chance to view papers and colors samples to select what best matches with your wedding. Before projecting the design, consider different paper textures: smooth, pearly, hammered, striped, recycled, kraft... each of them makes the printing result different from each other.

In case the palette of your wedding is full of bright colors, the smooth paper as well as the pearly one, will highlight them and you can opt for a modern design and dare with laser engravings.
Question is different for the hammered paper and the striped one: textures of both make colors less vivid and almost recall a drawing pad, therefore they are often chosen to print pastel or watercolor images and handmade calligraphic texts. Finally we have the recycled paper, often combined with the kraft one, for green invitations and participations: in this case printed colors are dull and images are poorly defined, to those who choose this texture, I recommend opting for simple graphics with few colors.

Each texture and design has to be combined with a specific wedding style: from the romantic and elegant, to the natural-chic or bohemian till to the rustic eco-friendly, it's up to you choosing the righ one with your graphic designer.

One of the latest trends is the use of plexiglass highly appreciated by not traditional couples who want originality. This material has the peculiarity of looking like glass but it is lighter and more resistant, it can be easily worked and personalized with silk-screen printing, UV printing or laser engraving. Plexiglass, whose thickness for rigid invitations and participations varies from 3 to 10 millimeters, has a thinner variant called PETG for those who want the same transparency of plexiglass but the flexibility of a sheet of paper.

Then we have the translucent paper, the semi-transparent one called GSK and the precious Amalfi paper. This latter, strongly revalued today, has its origins in the thirteenth century in the italian city: with its characteristic borders, this paper is the result of a processing technique probably imported by Arabs and its cellulose derives from fibers of wood, cotton, linen and hemp. Transparent or semitransparent invitations and participations can be defined as the must for elegant and modern weddings, on the contrary a refined card like Amalfi is the perfect solution for romantic or natural-chic weddings. 

Finally, whatever paper and design chosen, combine everything with envelopes of the same texture. One of the latest trend is the lined envelope: inside of it images or motifs used for invitations and participations are recalled.

FACTS: Getting back to eco-friendly weddings, one of the new arrivals are invitations and participations in plantable paper got by mixing cotton fibers or recycled paper with seeds that will sprout once your guests have planted them.

According to etiquette parents should announce the wedding, however the modern society has broken with traditions and future spouses are the ones who announce their wedding and decide who to invite.
Prepare participations for those you would come to the ceremony and attach invitations for those with whom you would like to celebrate during the reception: if you decided to invite everyone to ceremony and reception, you can opt for a unique format on which to write all the information related to your big day.

But what to write? Indicate your names with an opening phrase such as "Announce their wedding" followed by the place, time and address of the ceremony, then together or apart, write something like "The bride and groom will attend you at" with the name and address of the reception venue.

Remember to ask for "R.S.V.P." confirmation on your invitations and indicate your both telephone numbers; in case of a nonconformist wedding, the dress code should also be communicated. Put everything in a matched envelope and write by hand names and surnames of your guests always preceded by "Mr or Miss" for single persons, "Mr or Mrs" for a married couple or "To (Surname) Family" for families; avoid academic qualifications except for nobles or military because you are not inviting your guests to an institutional event!

WP TIPS: Personalize invitations and participations with appropriate details for your paper and style: calligraphic fonts and sealing wax with your initials for a romantic and formal wedding in a historic location or modern fonts and fabric ribbons for an informal wedding surrounded by nature.