Designing Wedding Invitations
Earlier, people did not fuss over the invitation card – the trend now is to be original and get a unique wedding invitation. There are specialists in the trade of invitation cards, but some couples like to do it themselves. There is really no standard format for a designer invitation. You can have however, three ways to make it stand out.
- make it look elegant.
- use existing concepts
- work on something abstract
Making it look elegant means that every aspect of the invitation has to be very attractive. The modernity of the printing press will have to be taken into account to reproduce the kind of work required. Flowing vine patterns are very Victorian in style, monograms can be embossed for best effects. This creates a rather rich feel. Some of the other processes that can be used are hot stamping, engraving, embossing or dye-cutting. But just keep in mind, the more the processes used, the higher will be the final cost of the invitation. However, each process will add its own charm to the invitation card.
To make an invitation a grandiose one, the couple has to look at various parameters – monograms, calligraphy, color combinations, the size, the borders, all these will matter when planning the invitation card. There are many books you can use for reference, but the best thing about it is they are free to use without any charges for royalty. Image processing software has advanced and sitting at home one can create a design and have it printed. It is fun to work on variations, till the couple decides on what they think is the best. This could be very time consuming if one does not come to a mutual agreement.
Ready made concepts sounds like something off the counter but this is not quite true – these could also be unusual. This term comes from picking up ideas or items which are usually used and changed to adapt it to the wedding invitation. A novel idea of an invitation in Hong Kong was that it was designed like a passport. The passport is common but the novel idea of adapting it to use it for an invitation card is ingenious. The ‘passport’ could have the photographs of the couple with a short story about them. The wedding invitation is not only an invite but you get to know some details about their background.
The air ticket has been also transformed into an invitation – it is a great idea, a free ticket to attend the function – however it is not as versatile as the passport invitation. The air ticket may not have the space for the introduction of the couple with photographs, even though it is a brilliant idea all the same. An invitation in the form of a sculpture, or a 3-dimensional piece of cake as an invitation sounds terrific too. Glass bottles are also sent out as invitations. The cost factor has to be taken into consideration not only when it goes into making it but also the added weight which will cost quite a packet on mailing. Your imagination can create almost anything from what you see of a commonly placed object – here comes in the novelty and challenge to work with ready made concepts. These invitations can be so rare that people could be discussing about it for a long time to come. The invitees will want to know who designed the masterpiece, and the talk and discussion about the marriage will start from the day the invitation has been received by the guests. In fact it can be quite the talk of the town drawing much attention to the forthcoming wedding. This serves the greatest purpose – one will never forget to attend the function, and instead look forward to what else is in store at the wedding.
Abstract projects for the invitation are the most challenging. This design concept has to be worked on with a lot of depth so you can get the essence of it. A for Anita and P for Peter – the monograms can be embossed on the invitation card as well as on the accessories, giving a oneness to the whole subject of marriage. Two invitations could be sent out with the different initials and the combination of the two to read as one could be the symbol of marriage.
Different ways, different ideas – it all depends on what the couple wants to make that special day really unique.