Today, our oh-so-adorable Bride Blogger Catherine is back to tell us all about her beautiful invites! I am someone that loves paper and think that Catherine is right on target with her post today!
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Somewhere during the planning process, I realized that you can make your dreams a reality with help from professionals, even if you are on a budget. Once we developed our vision (last week’s post), the next step was setting the tone of the event through the invitation design.
When the process began, I truly believed that it would be the task on the to-do list that I cared about the least. To me, the invitation was just a piece of paper that our guests would read and toss after they responded. I was so wrong.
Receiving an invitation in the mail should feel like receiving a present. You want it to be special, you want it to be read, and you want it to set the tone for the event. After all, it’s one of the first chances you have to show the guests your vision.
When you visit a stationary store, you have the opportunity to comb through never-ending samples of every invitation type imaginable. Who knew there were so many fonts, papers, and techniques to produce a simple invitation? I was overwhelmed! I flipped through every page, but nothing really wowed me.
I hadn’t considered a custom designed invitation because I was intimidated by the process and cost. But, starting with a clean slate was just what I needed to think through the look and the wording of the invitation.
Custom designers are wonderful because you can provide them with key words, and they do the hard work of filtering out the thousands of options that don’t fit. And contrary to my fear, custom designers are usually willing to work within your budget. They can help you find the most cost-effective paper, printing technique, and artwork to suit your vision.
We hired a designer who works closely with Arzberger Engraving in North Carolina. When we told her “elegant” and “DC”, she hired an artist to draw an image to use as a motif for the design. We also told her that we wanted a font that was elegant and flowing, so she recommended Bickham Swash. Finally, we told her we wanted very heavy paper. Our invitations are printed on the thickest card we’ve ever seen. The best part of working with her was the cost; we received engraved invitations for the price of flat printing.
When we finally received the invitations from the designer, it was like receiving a present that we could share with our guests. So many people have commented on how stunning they are, and so many people have asked to keep one as a sample. Completing this challenge was the most rewarding yet, and I am so happy to have a newfound love for fonts, papers, and printing techniques.
What gorgeous invitations! Would you share the name of the designer?
those are gorgeous! we also worked with a custom designer and i don’t think i would have done it any other way :) i will say the whole “i can do anything and everything!” approach is a bit overwhelming at first but once i saw the finished result, i know i would have never been this happy if i had chosen our invites and paper products from a book at a stationery store.
Thanks! We worked with Debbie Combs. You can reach her via email at ddcdesign1{at}yahoo.com.
Simply amazing! I can also speak to the benefits of working with a designer. She was able to translate my exact vision into reality, which set the entire tone for my wedding. This is a decision I know you will be glad you made :O)