Wedding Invitation Style: How to Choose What's Right for You

When it comes to wedding invitation style, there are literally thousands of designs to choose from.

When selecting yours, consider the formality of your wedding.

What you choose for your wedding invitation style will clue your guests in to what to expect at your wedding and also what they should wear to your wedding.

You should also consider your own personal style. If you're not the hoity-toity type, no one will probably expect an ultra formal invite from you, so you can certainly get a little creative with your wedding invitation style.

Conversely, if you are all class, you'll want to go the whole nine yards with tissue, lined envelopes, embossed seals, etc.

You also have to look at how many inserts you are going to have. These include maps, reply cards, and anything else you will need to inform your guests and make things easier for them (and you!).

The more inserts you have, the more you'll want to keep your wedding invitation style simpler so that your invitations don't weigh a ton (and cost you a bundle to mail).

If you are inviting fewer than fifty guests, it might be fine to handwrite your invitations on pretty paper, which is a great time saver (you don't have to wait for a printer) and money saver.

However, if you have more than fifty guests, it will probably not be feasible for you to do it all yourself.

There are a few things you should know about wedding invitation styles:

• Paper
• Ink
• Type Style
• Print Style
• Folds

Paper

There are many types of paper in use for wedding invitations. The type of paper you use is as important as your actual design in terms of establishing the mood of your wedding. Here are some of the terms you may hear as you go shopping for your invitations:

• 100% Cotton - Understated but elegant, pure
• Corrugated - Thick, folded stock, "urban chic"
• Deckle Edge - irregular, feathered, "torn" edge of handmade paper
• Die-Cutting - Used particularly with envelopes, the process of cutting various paper shapes.
• Glassine - This is a very think, waxy paper, its surface is slick and shiny. Best suited for envelope use.
• Handmade Papers - Made from natural organic materials including cotton, rag, hemp, other plant fibers. Can be rough or uneven in texture. Good choice for "green" weddings
• Industrial Papers - Made from chipboard or newsprint, recycled fibers, brown kraft paper. They have a rugged but hip look about them.
• Jacquard - Screen-printed paper that creates an illusion of layering.
• Laid - Somewhat like vellum but with a rougher, bumpy finish
• Linen - Very classic choice. This paper is grainier that pure cotton stock.
• Marbled - Decorative paper marked by swirling, abstract patterns that resemble the surface of marble.
• Matte - Paper with an opaque, non-reflective finish.
• Moire - this paper bears subtle watermarks, named after the fabric.
• Mylar - Shiny mirror-like paper, very modern
• Parchment - paper that is cloudy and translucent; creates an airy, dreamy effect.
• Rice Paper - a thin, soft paper, beautiful and elegant, usually cream or ivory in colour.
• Vellum - a cotton blend, less expensive, but with a smooth finish.

Ink

Black and dark gray are the most popular ink colors, though gold and silver are also favorites. For semi-formal or informal wedding invitation style, many couples opt for ink in the same shade or tone as their wedding colors.

There is usually no additional charge for black ink, but there is an additional charge for the other colors.

Some companies offer foil-stamped ink, but I don't suggest ordering these as they are quite a bit more expensive and because it is usually harder to read due to its shininess.

Type Styles

Choose lettering styles or fonts that are complementary to the theme or mood you are portraying through your wedding invitation style.

It is much better to go through an album looking at the lettering styles rather than just looking at the individual letters on a sample page.

If the font you choose looks very bold when done in black ink, you could choose a grey ink to tone it down a bit.

Print Style

This is probably the most important factor in an invitation's character (and also the price tag!). There are actually four main printing techniques you can choose from and an extra special, although pricey, one as well.

Which you choose to use is going to depend on the formality of your wedding style and your budget.

• Engraving: This is usually the most expensive of the print methods. It is used for all the ultra-formal wedding invites.

  The printer will use a metal plate engraved with the text you've provided to stamp the words on the paper from behind. The final product is textured, with raised letters in the front and "cavities" in the back.

  You should choose this if you have a budget that can afford this style, if you can find a retailer that does this and if you have the time (this type of printing can take up to eight weeks to do).

  This type of printing will tip off your guests that the affair will be very formal and if you have a huge guest list, with a large order this type of printing becomes more cost-effective.

• Thermography: This is the most popular method used by most large stationery printers and mail-order companies. It is a heat-based process that fuses ink and resinous powder to create raised lettering.

  It is virtually indistinguishable from engraving work unless you feel the back of the invitation, which you will find it still smooth.

  You should choose this method of printing if you have a less than gigantic budget, but still want the look of formal invitations.

  While it won't be the crème de la crème, you will usually have more choices in color, and you won't have to wait two months, as you would with an engraved order.

• Offset Printing: this is the flat kind of printing that's used on most fliers or birthday cards, etc. that you usually see.

  With this type of printing, a rubber cylinder is used to press ink onto the paper. There are many ready-made invitations thank you notes and RSVP cards that are made using this technique, but not all retailers offer this option for wedding stationery as thermography is all the rage.

  You should choose this method of printing your wedding invitations if you have a very small budget, you want to play with different colors of ink, you want to use a highly textured paper that won't work with raised lettering, you want to put a photograph on your mail outs, or you're having a theme wedding and want invitation art that will reflect it.

• Letterpress: This is a beautiful, albeit more expensive, alternative to engraving. This is a labor intensive method that dates back to the fifteenth century which involves inking an image to produce an impression.

  This impression is then transferred by placing paper against the image and manually applying pressure. See why it would be so expensive? The images and typeface appear precise and very rich in color.

  You should choose this method if you are using unusual paper, motifs, typeface or if you want to play around with different pigments which both engraving and thermography are restrictive.

• Embossing: This is a raise printing methods usually used for large initials or borders. It comes with a very high price tag and so hardly anyone has an entire invitation embossed.

  You should choose this method if you would like to have fantastic looking initials on your thank-you notes or formal stationery, your wedding is formal and you want a border or other raised details on your wedding invitations.

• Caligraphy: This is the art of creating beautiful or elegant handwriting (or penmanship) using calligraphy markers or special pens with nibs dipped in ink.

  You should be able to locate calligraphers through the phone book or internet, but make sure you get references and check out samples before you hire them. The look is beautiful and so can be the price!

  You should choose this method if you are having a small wedding or have a big budget, it matches your Victorian themed wedding, or the look is important enough to you that you're willing to pay for it.





Folds:

Most invitations are single-fold, double-fold, or single card.

The single-fold wedding invitation style is probably the most common. It resembles a greeting card with a single fold on the left hand-side with the printing or engraving on the front and the inside left blank.

The double-fold wedding invitation style consists of a single-fold invitation that is folded in half again from top to bottom.

The single card is just that - a single card, equal in size to the front page of the single-fold invitation. The invitation is printed on the front of the card.

I hope that I have made the choices available to you concerning wedding invitation style a little more clearer to you now!




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