10 Clues You Might Want Custom Wedding Invitations

Right after the proposal, it seems like everyone has 2 questions for you: when are you getting married and where?!? Next comes deciding on a budget , hiring a slew of vendors, mailing out save the dates, and somehow a year has passed and it’s time to mail your invitations and get married.

I’m a firm believer in enjoying the process of planning a wedding as much as you can. It’s a singular experience. While marriage is indeed the most important part, the more thought and care you invest, the more rewarding the experience and end product.

When deciding whether or not you want to invest time & money into custom invitations,
here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Do you have absolutely no vision for your wedding invitations? No idea where to start?
  Working with a professional designer is the easiest way to overcome this obstacle.
  We know what questions to ask to help guide you toward something you’ll love.

• Do you have a really specific vision for your wedding invitations?
  If so, the generic invitations you’ll find at Paper Source or the mass-produced invitations on Minted just aren’t going to make you happy. A designer is there to help you decide which colors + papers are best, and will work with you on every tweak.
  

• Are you detail-oriented?
  If so, you’ll be happier working with someone to create something specific and unique, rather than choosing a semi-custom or non-custom option that you don’t have much control over.
  

• This might seem obvious, but if you love keepsakes, you want to design your own invitation. Framing an invitation whose paper you chose, with a calligraphy style that was tweaked to suit you, and colors that spoke to you + your fiancé will be so meaningful.
  

• Do you love cute stationery?
  (And possibly have 10 Rifle Paper Co. notebooks stashed around your house?)
  If you’re drawn to paper and beautifully designed stationery, then custom design is for you! Take all of your favorite elements about your favorite paper goods and combine them into something fabulous and unique.
  

• Similarly, if you love books, I think you’ll love working on custom invitations.
  Browsing the aisles of my local bookstore (Kramer’s in DuPont!) is one of my favorite ways to feel inspired. If you love soft paper and old letters, you’ll appreciate the quality that a designer can give you.
  

• Is your wedding color palette really unique?
  If so, you might not be able to find a pre-designed invitation suite that matches.
  

• Do you have an opinionated fiancé, who wants to be an equal partner in the wedding planning process? The nitty gritty of design can be a really fun way to connect with your future spouse, and to learn more about each other. My fiancé (as of June 2019) and I had been dating for 9 years when we designed our wedding invitations together and still learned new aspects of each other’s tastes!
  

• This one is definitely me… Do you like to shop for things that not everyone else has?
  To have unique bits + baubles around your house, or a pair of shoes that always get compliments because they’re so unique and gorgeous? You won’t want generic invitations.
  

• Last, but not least. If you’re working with a budget that allows to you spent $1,000+ on invitations without putting pressure on other items that you really care about (ie: venue, photographer, etc.), then why not! I’m a big believer in the inherent fun of the design process and lifelong keepsake value of a beautiful invitation. But, if you have a more conservative budget, you don’t need to put any pressure on yourself or the process by feeling like you “should” choose custom design. Semi-custom invitations are a great cost-saving way to have something beautiful, without opening the purse strings too widely!

If you’re interested in seeing the start of pricing for custom wedding invitations,
head on over to the pricing page to see a basic breakdown of costs.

A custom cost proposal takes less than 24 hours,
and I can even give you a basic quote over the phone!

The photos above are from a beautiful editorial photo shoot to celebrate American Grown Flower Month.

Venue - Chesapeake Bay Beach Club
Host & Floral Design - Petals by the Shore
Photography -Manda Weaver
HMUA - Infinity Artistry, Sara E Artistry
Gown - My Wony Bridal
Calligraphy - Calligraphette & Co.
Farms - Scenic Place Peonies , Rose Story Farm, Life On The Ridge , Petal Patch Flower Farm , Grateful Gardeners , Bloomia Flowers , MandM Plants , Ronald's Pampas Grass

Should I Order Wedding Invitations If I'm Not Sure About My Wedding Date?

Good question.

I had my wedding invitations gold foil printed THE week that the US started to move into “Stay At Home,” and boy did I wish I hadn’t! A week later, it became clear that all weddings in 2020 were in jeopardy.

My 2020 couples were all scrambling to change their summer wedding plans, and my fall couples were crossing their fingers that everything would go back to normal soon. Our destination wedding, planned for September, seems like it has a 95% change of being postponed to June 2021.

Do I still regret having our invitations printed? Not as much as when I got them in the mail in the middle of the second week of quarantine. I opened the box of paper that my mom and I had made, and saw how beautiful they were and was so excited. But I didn’t want to mail them out. It felt too sad, given that we had no idea if our wedding was even possible.

Eventually, we did mail them out, and getting texts and calls and photos from our family and friends made the sting go away. Even though the date printed on our invitations is no longer our wedding date, I think in the future it will be a fond reminder of a time that made us closer.

So, should you order wedding invitations amidst the uncertainty of Covid-19, a second wave, or just the craziness that 2021 will entail?

Yes, if you want a keepsake. Plain and simple. If you want something to be able to touch and hold, for your dad to open and shed a tear over, an aunt to send you a text that she wants to just look at the envelope for a day before opening the invitation, to share with your children one day as they decide what to do about their invitations, you’ll want to mail out an invitation.

Yes, if you’re willing to send them out at the last minute (I wouldn’t send them out with less than 6 weeks to go) to avoid possible re-prints. I think that an electronic Save the Date + physical invitation are the pair de résistance of 2020. If there are date changes, the PDF Save the Date can be amended and emailed easily. And, you’ll still have a lovely invitation to work on and send to your loved ones.

Yes, but maybe don’t splurge. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of handmade paper, a nice envelope liner, and letterpress. Will you feel heartbroken if your date changes after you print, and you spent a lot on extras? You might. I know I had a hard time paying for the printing invoice knowing the date was likely going to change! Now might be a time to keep everything simpler. Not less beautiful or thoughtfully created, but simpler.

No, if you don’t think that you or your closest friends + family will mind not having a keepsake. If the idea of sending out physical wedding invitations during a global pandemic feels overwhelming or just plain useless… then don’t do it! We all need to take care of ourselves, and traditions shouldn’t stand in the way of that. Paperless Post is a great option for beautiful e-vites.

No, if your wedding date is really far out (like, the end of 2021 or even 2022). Don’t make a decision yet. As hard as it is to tell people to wait for a Save the Date or invitation (one of the questions I was most asked: “when am I getting your invitation?!?”), now is the time to pause and lean into procrastination. I’ve seen a lot of people recommending that you hop to and book your designer before they’ve filled up for 2021. Although I’m hoping that next year is busy, I also don’t think that we 2020 brides (& grooms) need to add anything wedding-related to our plates that we don’t absolutely need to.

Now is a time for rest, for enjoying time together, and for keeping our fingers crossed.

For couples who have had to change their plans, I’m offering 50% design for my semi-custom invitation suites, special discounts on re-prints, as well as 4 free PDF postponement announcements.
If you have any questions, or want to chat with someone who knows how to postpone a wedding in a week flat, send me a message!

The photos above are from a springtime wedding inspiration photoshoot at Woodend Sanctuary.
Based around the vibrant colors of the flowers, I designed a floral wreath to pair with a simple font in a classic centered format. Pink handmade paper + a vellum envelope liner + scroll place cards pulled the look together for a subtly spring vibe.

Photography | Rebecca Wilcher Photography | Venue | Woodend Sanctuary | Planning | Cherry Blossom Weddings and Events | Florals | Edge Floral Event Designers | Stationery | Calligraphette & Co. | Catering and Desserts | Purple Onion Catering | Rentals | Select Event Group | Hair | The Stylist Abroad | Makeup | Valerie Hammer Makeup Artistry | Dress | Modern Trousseau | Groom’s Attire | Tuxedo by Sarno | Jewelry | Quest Fine Jewelers | Submitted via Matchology

See the feature here!