Tips for Designing Custom Wedding Invitations
By Perfect Wedding Guide National Wedding Expert Susan Southerland
all images by Liga Photography
I am so honored to be posting as a guest blogger on The 2u Collection’s blog. Amy is such a talented designer and had delighted me on many occasions with her drawings for The Susan Southerland Secret, but recently we were able to collaborate on a much more personal level. Amy designed my wedding invitations.
I think the design really set the tone for our Colorado wedding. Thanks to Jeffrey Stoner we added a fun insertion, a DVD narrated by my fiancé and me with photos of us from past Colorado trips. We enjoyed sharing those memories with our invitees and for those who have never been to Colorado, it got them excited for the trip!
As a wedding planner, I am used to working with couples in creating their look for their wedding; I don’t want to say that I am detached, like a doctor, but helping them actualize their vision is far easier than creating one for myself. So, today’s tips come directly from lessons I recently learned as a bride, for those of you who will be creating your own invitation, or working with a designer like Amy to come up with your signature look.
1. Decide on a color scheme for the wedding. It is much easier to design if you already know the overall look for the wedding.
2. Create an inspiration board for your wedding. Look for photos of flowers, fonts and other images that convey the look and feel of your wedding.
3. Share that inspiration board with your designer (and keep it by your side if you are the one doing the design work). It will help her get a better understanding of your vision and it will help you stay focused.
4. Don’t micromanage your designer (and don’t be too hard on yourself). If you are working with a designer allow her to be creative and share her ideas with you. Those ideas can be tweaked and molded until they are perfect. If you are designing, remember, creativity can come in spurts, so give yourself plenty of time and then relax and let the ideas flow.
5. Keep pen and paper by your bedside. You never know when an amazing idea will hit you and you don’t want to lose any gems.
6. PROOFREAD. You don’t want any errors on your invitations. Make sure to check and re-check your work. Give a proof to a friend and have her check it as well.
Remember, the invitation sets the tone for the wedding… so give them the attention that they deserve.
For more wedding planning tips, be sure to visit my blog at www.perfectweddingguide.com/wedding-blog. You can also become a fan on Facebookand follow me on Twitter.
Your partner in perfect planning,
Susan