Lisa & Rostislav- Wedding Invitations

As a wedding gift for Lisa & Rostislav (aka Slava, a business associate of mine), I offered to design their wedding invitations for them.

Lisa & Slava had already purchased their wedding stationary, so that was a major factor in the design process. They had purchased a white, ink-jet printer friendly set from an office supply chain and got a great deal on it. So the goal for me in designing a package for them is to make something that doesn't look like a typical, home-made Microsoft Word design.

Lisa & Slava's Stock They Purchased

Lisa & Slava are getting married at the Waterfall Banquet and Conference Center in Claymont, Delaware. When starting their design process, the couple wanted to stick with a color scheme that would be easy to print themselves, so we stuck with a black and white/grayscale combo.

The critera they gave me in starting the process was:

1. They wanted a somewhat "modern" design.
   


2. They wanted to use a monogram that Slava had designed (and a great one at that!).
   


3. They wanted the font Monotype Corsiva to be used (which is in the monogram).

Being the couple didn't really have a set "theme" in mind, I decided to play with the idea of "waterfalls" in their design, which I figured was suiting considering the venue they were getting married at.

Below are the 3 designs they had to choose from. In the end they chose design #2.

Design #1

Design #2

Design #2 Response Card

Design #3

Aline & Brian- Wedding Invitations

Aline & Brian are getting married at the Breakers on the Ocean in Spring Lake, NJ. The Breakers on the Ocean is a beautiful hotel on the boardwalk of this historic New Jersey town.

When I first met with Aline to discuss their project, some key words she gave me to describe her wedding day and what she wanted to project in her invitation suite was:

1. Old Fashioned


2. Classic


3. Elegant
   

Another thing that stuck out in my mind while designing was Aline mentioned they had hired a trolly to transport the guests from the church to the reception site. That instantly conjured up images of the golden days of the boardwalk back the turn of the century. What a fantastic idea!

Aline's bridesmaid's are wearing slate color dresses, so slate became an obvious color choice in the design. To contrast the slate a bit, she decided on going with a silver color envelope to dress it up. To finish off the entire package, Aline will be wrapping the invitations with a ribbon belly band and a small sea shell, which will make for a very elegant, classic boardwalk invitation.

Below are the three original designs I made for the couple to choose from, as well as the design we produced for them. In my discussions with Aline some items she wanted to try to include in the designs were either an actual boardwalk, starfish, scrolls/paisley, the ocean and seahorses. So in the three designs I tried to hit each item she mentioned she liked in order to in the end have a fully customized piece the couple would love. Which one did they choose? The Boardwalk one of course!

Invitation Design and Your Event Venue

One of the most difficult tasks in the event planning process is deciding on a color scheme. Where does one start? Most people will start with a favorite color, choose based on the season, or might even choose a scheme they saw in a magazine and just really "liked". Or maybe it's blue to announce a new baby boy.

Something to consider when deciding on your final color scheme is your event venue. What colors are included in the room/tent/hall? For an outdoor wedding at a country club, the greens of the grass would be a potential color element you could tie into your scheme. For an event at catering hall or restaurant, most have some sort of paterned, colorful carpet from which you can also pull color ideas from. Using your venue for color inspiration can really help create a cohesive design that your guest will remember.

Here are some examples of invitations and the event decor they belong to for inspiration.

An Outdoor Wedding in Colorado

An Asian Wedding in San Francisco

A Loft Wedding in Brooklyn, NY

A Wedding at an Arbouretum