The first wedding invitations, before the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press, were announced orally, by town criers. They would go across the town, spreading the news and the bride and groom would usually end up with all the people who could have heard the town crier as their guests.
The first written wedding invitations appeared in the middle ages, among the nobility. The 1600s brought the newspaper announcements into the world and the first “engraved” wedding invitations. The process of course evolved during the years and brought us the vast diversity of wedding invitations we have today.
However, it is still considered to be polite and more intimate to design your own wedding invitations instead of going with a pre-made design. So, put some thought into it and make the best wedding invitations ever.
1. Put Something that Describes You
It is a great idea to put something that describes the two of you on your wedding invitations. Trust me, those are the invitations people will talk about for years.
You have to have something you both like, maybe a common hobby or interest. Put that on your wedding invitations. If you are nature lovers, hire a good photographer to take photos of the two of you surrounded by a beautiful forest. If you both like cooking, take a picture wearing your wedding clothes and cooking hats. See what I mean? The whole point is to find something that you are known for and put that on your wedding invitation. You want people to smile and say “that’s just how the two of them are”.
On the other hand, if you are the proof of a saying that “opposites attract,” you can still make a great invitation. Put both of your favorite motifs or a completely unmatched photo of the two of you – you know the one where you’re wearing an evening gown and high heels and he’s wearing an old pair of jeans and his college sweat shirt. Make it fun, why not? Check out this example of opposites attract wedding invitation.
2. Compose the Text Yourself
Rather than to download something from the internet, or to write something as simple as: “we invite you to our wedding”, compose a unique and interesting text for your wedding invitations.
Give it some thought and do this together with your husband to be. Two heads are better than one, after all; you are more likely to come up with something cool if you work on it together. Good with rhymes? Throw a couple of them in. Write a short story about how the two of you met and how you’ve made it to your wedding day.
Still, remember not to get overexcited and write something so long that it will bore people the moment they see it. Don’t forget to include the vital information about the place, the time and the theme of the wedding.
3. Incorporate the Theme into the Design
Every wedding has a theme, it doesn’t have to be something like a medieval wedding, but you have to at least decide on the colors. You could incorporate that into your wedding invitations to give an insight to your guests about how your wedding is going to look. Use the same colors or add the centerpiece onto the wedding.
Or, you could do completely the opposite and make the invitations having absolutely nothing to do with your theme. Let your imagination flow and do whatever you like. As long as you make them the way you both like them – they will be the perfect wedding invitations.
4. A little Extra Help
If you can’t really design your wedding invitations from scratch, you could opt for downloading and personalizing your invitations. There are a lot of websites out there that could both help you and save you some money. For instance, Canva offers more than hundreds of free templates you can choose from to make your invitation stand out and have a personal stamp to it.
Try invys.com for a lot of ideas on how to personalize your wedding invitations. The site offers a lot of different designs that might just fit perfectly for you. You can also try freeweddingtemplate.com and check out the video below to see how to personalize the wedding invitations from the website.
5. Hand Sign Each Invitation
It is even better if you can hand write them all, but let’s face it – unless it is going to be a really small wedding, you simply don’t have the time for something like that. But, you do have time to hand sign every invitation.
This is a very special and delicate touch that really shows that you care about your quests and you want them to be on your wedding. Also, it is always better to send the wedding invitations out via snail mail, rather than via internet. Still, if you do decide on sending via internet, make a print of one invitation, hand sign it – both you and your future husband – and then scan that invitation and send it. Your quests will appreciate this gesture.
6. Celeb Style Invitations
Who would opt for custom made wedding invitations if not celebrities? If you can afford this kind of luxury for you (because these invitations could be really pricy), try one of next solutions.
Even though Hugh Hefner’s wedding to Crystal Harris was canceled, the couple sent out beautiful white wedding invitations with fuschia and turquoise Swarovski crystals. Zoey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard had invitations featuring their silhouettes, and Fergie and Josh Duhamel chose their own caricatures to be on the front side of their invitations.
For more examples of celebrities wedding invitations visit celebritybrideguide.com and the site of one of the favorite wedding invitations designers among celebrities – Lehr and Black.
Remember that the whole thing about making your own wedding invitations is to make them interesting and unique. Of course you can surf the internet for some great ideas, but still try to be as original as possible.
WELL DONE