Invitations: Pick the Perfect One

By Patricia Canole

The good news: There’s a wealth of invitation options out there. The bad news: There’s a wealth of invitation options out there! With all of this variety, finding your perfect invite can be overwhelming. To help, I’ve narrowed down the style types to three basic categories—ready-made, DIY and custom/couture. Here’s the scoop to decide what’s best for you.

WHAT’S YOUR STYLE?

Ceci New York

Ready-made: Because ready-made invitations take the legwork out of trying to come up with a design from scratch, they’re great for busy brides who don’t have time to DIY and don’t have room in their budget to order couture customized invites.

DIY:  Do-it-yourself invitations are for the bride who has a specific invitation theme in mind and wants to create them herself. Most likely, she’ll use an online service to help in designing and printing.

Custom/Couture: Truly customized invitations are for the style-minded bride who is seeking fine craftsmanship and design, flawless execution and one-of-a-kind creativity—the bride who doesn’t want what anyone else has.

PROS & CONS

Paperless Post

Ready-made: A ready-made invitation means less work for a bride—all she has to do is simply apply her wording to an already created design. These invitations can also benefit budget-conscious couples. The disadvantage is that most designs are copyrighted by the manufacturer, so the customer usually can’t tweak the design or change its color.

DIY: The advantage of ordering DIY invitations is that you get exactly what you’re looking for without having to pay for the pieces you don’t need. Using an online service also saves you from having to print them yourself: this may increase the cost but is a big time saver.

Custom/Couture: The advantage is that couples don’t have to spend time deciding. Instead, they turn the process over to a designer who’s equipped to create a work of art that completely suits them. On the downside, couture invitations take longer than the other types and will cost more.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Ready-made: These invites are created with sample text on a preset design with preset colors and embellishments. A bride can borrow each collection and personalize her chosen invitation with wording in the ink colors of her choice.

Lilah Paper

DIY: The couple uses a website to choose all of the elements they want to include. The next step is picking the paper color, imprint color, wording, font, printing process and design. The company will print the invites and deliver them to the bride to address and send out on her own.

Custom/Couture: The process usually starts with a creative consultation where the bride defines her style, desires and needs. A designer will know exactly what makes his or her clients excited and present possibilities that make them say “yes.”