Alternative Ideas for Invitations

The usual paper or card invitations that you send out do their job well enough but are they really as exciting and innovative as you’d like them to be?

The Paper

If you do still want to do for paper or card then think about buying recycled paper or even making your own. Making your own paper requires a lot of patience but the results can be amazing. Full tutorials can be found by doing a simple Google search but essentially you blend a load of old paper, add water, pop it in a mould and leave to dry.

Doing this you can use all sorts of different colours and types of paper, get creative and even try adding texture with pieces of glitter. Once you’ve pressed your paper pulp into your mould you can even add little accents such as diamantes or pearls.

This sort of paper tends to be very thick and might not be very good to use in a printer. Invest in a really nice pen and handwrite all your invitations. Or print on a sheet of normal paper and stick this to your hand made paper.

Technology

For those of you out there who are quite techy then you might like to do something that shows this off. Send your guests a flash drive, embossed with your names, and the date of the wedding. Guests will then have to plug it in to find out the details of the wedding.

On the flash drive could be anything from a simple, brilliantly designed PDF document to a complex flash game that takes the guest through a cute moving cartoon to find their invite. There are so many different things you can do with varying levels of complexity. If you don’t know how to design or code then record a simple video as an invite.

Crafty

Going to craft sites will open up a whole world of crafty types selling things you actually want. They have a wedding section and loads of sellers selling, quirky and brilliant invitations. Handmade invitations are a bit more personal, they aren’t mass-produced and they tend to be very high quality. There is almost always something you will like, something that you connect with that your guests will think is so ‘you.’

If you are the crafty type then make the invitations yourself. Draw inspiration from DIY craft sites, forums and shops. Try weaving card together, drawing or stamping.

Arty

If you have good Photoshop and Illustrator skills then you might be able to design your own invites. Try experimenting with typography, adding in bright colours and doing something that fits in with your theme.

Make sure your printer is up to the job of printing them if you decide to do this your self. And make sure you have enough ink!

Albums

If you had a pre-wedding photoshoot then you could use the pictures from the shoot and put them into an album. The invite details could be printed on the front cover of the album. These don’t have to be big, hand bound albums like your wedding album might be but instead you can use a photo service online. These let you upload your images, put them into a book and then get printed.

Most do discounts for bulk orders but for a small A5 photobook you will pay around £5.