These days couples tend to search for really unique wedding invitations. There are also a number of wedding invitation designers who provide this service. Yet a couple may want to have their own idea and concept for designing the wedding invitation. The question will usually be “Is there any formula to generate these ideas?” The answer is yes and no.
There is no such formula available for the design. However, there are some methodologies that we can follow to help end up with a beautiful and unique wedding invitations. These methodologies can be grouped into three categories namely “Make it Grand”, “Ready made Concepts” and “Do it abstract”.
Make it Grand
This is the most common way to design a wedding invitation. Every detail has to be very nice looking. And it mainly connects with the elements and printing processes adopted in the wedding invitation card.
Some common elements that will be used are vine patterns in Victorian style, Monograms or even the word double happiness in the context of Chinese wedding invitation. These elements are used to create a sense of nobleness. To facilitate this sense of nobleness, process such as hot stamping, embossing, engraving and die-cutting will be adopted. The material used will be paper with sparkling effect.
The key of making this wedding invitation look nice will be the way of composing the patterns and the combination of different printing process described. Indeed this kind of design is material and process oriented. One may even feel that the more processes / material is involved, the better the design. Of course the cost of the card will be higher in this case.
To make a wedding invitation under the concept of “Make it Grand”, a couple has to research on different monograms and patterns to fit their needs. There are plenty of books about this patterns and one good thing is that most patterns in these books are royalty free. Couples can apply these patterns directly to their wedding invitation card design. If they have knowledge in image processing software, they can even make the design themselves and have a print shop to print them out.
Ready made Concepts
The notion of Ready made Concepts does not necessarily mean it is not unique. The true meaning of “Ready made Concepts” here is “picking some ideas / items we see everyday and transform them to wedding invitations”.
In Hong Kong, there has been wedding invitation design trying to imitate a passport. This is an interesting and creative concept indeed. The couple can put their photos in this “passport”. They can even put their story, such as how they met, when they became boy and girl friends in this passport. The wedding invitation is not only an invitation, but also a story book which tells the story of the couple.
Another idea is an air ticket, an air ticket may not be as romantic as the passport since there may not be enough space for telling the stories. However, it is very interesting in sense that a guest gets a “ticket”, and with this ticket he/she can attend the wedding ceremony.
At this point, it will not be surprising to think of a wedding invitation in the form of a sculpture, or to be more exact, a 3-dimensional piece of wedding invitation. Some wedding invitation providers provide glass bottles as wedding invitations. The only concern for this kind of wedding invitation may cost a couple a lot when they try to mail them out. There are tremendous amount of “Ready made Concepts”. Couples can just observe and make their own unique wedding invitation.
Do it Abstract
This is the most difficult concept for wedding invitation design. The concept of the wedding invitation is more abstract but there will be much more meaning in this kind of wedding invitation. A couple, say, Angela and Peter, can make two wedding invitations, one with the initial A and one with P on the covers. Angela’s friend will receive invitations with a P and Peter’s friend will receive that with an A. In the wedding banquet, the couple will be pulled together. Every item will be printed with both A and P.
This design is based on the following concept. Conceptually Angela and Peter are two different units before marriage, and this is the reason for two wedding invitations. However, starting from the day of marriage, they become one unit and everything is united together as “ONE”. All the items such as table cards, Order of Services and Thank You Cards will be printed with both A and P. This kind of wedding invitation may be the most interesting among the three. However, it requires more thought in order to generate the design concept.
Authored by Jerry Leung
Jerry Leung is a wedding invitation designer based in Hong Kong. Leung has a great interest in Chinese Style Wedding Invitations. His works can be found at http://www.983wedding.com/ | 
