Your wedding invitations are the very first glimpse for your guests into your big day. They set the tone, create anticipation, and relay necessary details. If your goal is to really wow your friends and family right off the bat, beautiful invitations are non-negotiable! After all, you never get a second chance to make a first impression! In this post, we will dive deeper into why you may (or may not!) opt for custom design over pre-made or online options.

Originality

If your wedding vision does not fit in a box, you’re a perfect candidate for custom designed invitations. Whether you have a funky theme, you want to include an illustration of your venue, or you can’t live without an exact match of the florals you’re using in your bouquet, you are unique and online retailers are, for better or worse, the very opposite of that.   

With custom invitations, you can blow your guests away with high end materials like handmade or double-thick paper, advanced printing techniques like letterpress or foil stamping, and elevated embellishments like vintage stamps or silk ribbons. You also aren’t limited to the standard 4 piece suite (invite and rsvp card with envelopes for each). So you need a weekend timeline card? You bet. Rehearsal dinner invitation? Duh. Goodbye brunch? Sign us up!

Ease

The struggle and exhaustion of wedding planning is REAL. If you had rather not add googling “when to send wedding invitations” to your plate, custom might be for you! We will guide you through the entire process as well as offer valuable advice and suggestions to ensure that your stationery is everything you envisioned for your big day! We can take care of all timelines and coach you through proper etiquette, create a beautiful design with intentional and beautiful details, and produce everything from start to finish.

Additionally, we can address your envelopes (or coordinate with your calligrapher) and even take them to the post office for you when they’re done, giving you back valuable time that allows you to focus on other wedding planning tasks. The process of creating custom wedding invitations can be streamlined and efficient, instead of just another daunting task to complete for your big day.

Expertise

Overwhelmed with timelines, etiquette, and wording? We can take that stress right off of you! We work with you one-on-one to refine your ideas as well as select design elements, colors, and fonts to help you express your style and stay seamlessly on brand all the way from save the dates to invitations to wedding day items like programs, menus, place cards, and signage. AHD clients get one-on-one access to a designer to hold your hand through every step of the process as well as unlimited proofs until every single detail is perfect!

Reasons You May Not Want Custom Invitations

Timeline – Custom invitations require additional time for design, revisions, and production. In a perfect world, we would start the invitation process 6 months from your wedding date to ensure that there’s plenty of time to get save the dates out in time for your guests to make appropriate accommodations. If you’re working with an abbreviated timeline, custom design might not be the best route for you. 

Budget – Due to the nature of the high end materials, expertise, and elevated experience, custom invitations are naturally more expensive than what you might find online. If you don’t have at least $1,500 budgeted for stationery, custom design probably isn’t the right choice for you.

Priorities – We may be biased, but we think that stationery is an important part of the big day. We do understand, though, that not everybody agrees (and that’s okay!). If you had rather spend your money on fine china, Prada pumps or 12 elaborate photo ops, GO FOR IT. We love that for you and fully support it.

Experience the Anna Howe Design difference

If you feel overwhelmed by the task of wedding invitations, we have good news: we’re here to help! With so much already on your plate in the wedding planning process, we exist to take the stress of design, timeline, etiquette, and production of your save the dates, invitations, and day-of paper goods off the table. AHD clients get one-on-one access to a designer to hold your hand through every step of the process as well as unlimited proofs until every single detail is perfect! If this sounds like something you’d be into, we’d love to hear from you! Fill out the form here to get started today!