When it comes to creating your wedding invitations, there is a lot to consider. Whilst there is a large variety of pre-made templates available both online and in store, for many of us, the personal touch of a bespoke designed invitation allows for that little something extra. In addition to the wording and aesthetic, other factors you should think about include how you will extend the invite, and whether you will be having a separate ceremony location to the reception. Do you plan to have a gift registry, or will you opt for a wishing well, or charity donation? Will your guests need a map, or would you like to share accomodation suggestions? This free guide to creating your wedding invitations is a must-read before you get started, guaranteed to make the process stress free and enjoyable, from start to finish. You’ll also find a selection of additional templates and examples for to help assist you in developing the perfect invitation suite for your special day.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Before you begin the design process, you will need to ensure you and your partner have agreed on a location & date for both the ceremony and reception, with a booking confirmed. This confirmation of detail is imperative so as to ensure you prepared to send out the invitations in good time, and correctly list/and illustrate the event location(s).

SHARE YOUR IDEAS

Along with your wedding and reception location, it’s also helpful to your designer to share a mood board showcasing your thought process and design preferences. You can collate this on Pinterest, Instagram, or even using a document with images to create a collage that help illustrate the look and feel you want to be depicted in your invitations, ultimately reflecting your wedding. When doing this, you should think about:

1. Location: will you be surrounded by tropical beach vibes, lush botanical gardens, the Australian outback, wine country vineyards etc.

2. Symbols & Motifs: these could be things you want reflected throughout the invitation, such as the flowers you plan to have in your bouquet or in your ceremony and reception styling, or culturally significant symbols, like flags, religious symbols, flora and fauna.

3. Colour Palette: an idea of the colours you’d liked featured throughout the invitation designs can save a lot of time when finalising your invitations. Deciding on the colours you like and sharing examples of them will help to contribute to the tone your invitations will set, too.
   

INFORMATION TO INCLUDE IN YOUR WEDDING INVITATIONS

Once you have a good idea of where and when your wedding will be, any adopted themes and how you plan it to look, you will need to make a list of all the information required to be provided to guests. This includes:

1. LOCATION: the name and address of your wedding venue. Will you have the reception and ceremony in separate locations? if so, be sure to include details on both. Perhaps you might like to share a map with guests to make getting there easier, or, if providing transport, a meeting point for the bus.

2. DATE & TIME: you will beed to share this for both the ceremony & reception. If you have a lot of activities for the day, consider adding an information card with a rundown of additional events, such as welcome drinks, recovery brunch or simply a wedding day schedule.

3. DRESS CODE: depending on where you are having the wedding, you may like to specify a dress code, such as cocktail, casual, black tie, or use this opportunity to inform them of expected temperatures to consider when getting ready.

4. RSVP: when it comes to sharing their attendance, you may choose to have your guests respond to your invitations either online via email, using a dedicated website you set up for your wedding, OR you may want to consider a traditional RSVP card, complete with complimentary stamp. When considering the information for these cards, you will want to understand how many people are coming from each household, whether they can they make all the events you have invited them to, and, if not, which ones they do plan to attend. You will also want information on food allergies or dietary requests for caterers, and may like to include something personalised and fun, like a song request to be played at the reception.

CHOOSING AN INVITATION STYLE

Now that you have all your information around your wedding hashed out, you’ll be able to decide how to best communicate it to your guests. With illustration and design, there are endless possibilities when it comes to bringing your ideas and information to life. Some popular examples can be seen below.

DOUBLE SIDED

This style is perfect for couples who are planning on keeping it small and intimate, and want to direct their guests to RSVP online. Make the most of the invitation’s space by printing on the two sides of the card, and bring it to life with bespoke illustration and design!

A THREE (OR MORE) PIECE SUITE

A sophisticated and informative option for couples who want to share key details alongside a postal RSVP card & additional information card(s), like accomodation, a map, wishing well, recovery brunch etc.

DOUBLE GATE FOLD STYLE

This style is a show stopper! It adds about $40 to your overall printing cost to cut and score the file, but it is so worth it! My personal favourite, it allows couples to include larger illustrations of customised maps, wedding portraits, or beautiful location paintings. The design also allows for four different sections to share information in the one piece of paper: the cover (which opens to) the inner left panel, the middle panel, and the right panel. If you require additional space, you can always include a separate information card or RSVP card to the suite, which fits snuggly within the main invite’s folds.

LASTLY, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY

It is SO important to proof read the information you write. Imagine a spelling error printed on over 100 invitations after all your hard work! To avoid that, I always run the copy I’ve been supplied with through google doc’s spell check and Grammerly for accuracy, but strongly suggest you do the same, as many destinations and names are not in the dictionary, so may miss being flagged.

LET’S RECAP

Alright, we’re nearly there! Now, it’s time for you to look back and check off the following:

• The location, date, and additional wedding information for your designer to work with

• Pinterest or mood board that reflects the look and feel you’re after

• The style of invitation layout you think will work best for you

• Any additional ideas or concepts that may have occurred to you. Most illustrators and designers will be more than happy to develop additional concepts and ideas with you, tailoring your content to your needs

With this information, you should be all set to communicate your ideas, wants and needs to your illustrator/designer of your choice! Put it together in an email or document and get ready to bring your ideas to like.

Want to talk through plans?

Drop me a line at lillymperrott@gmail.com