I start every wedding day by sitting down with a big box of my bride’s details and accessories, and y’all, it is so much fun! From my couple’s wedding bands to the bride’s bouquet, to her shoes, gown, jewelry, family heirlooms and, of course, the invitation suite, I love taking a little bit of time to style each detail together! I’ll have my bride prepare a box of her details before her wedding day, so when I arrive, I can get right to work! (Read more about how to prepare for my arrival here!)
This time is so vital because it allows me to get in a little warmup for the day, it introduces me to what is most important to my couple, and it challenges me to stretch my creativity! One of the things that I really do look forward to the most during this time is seeing the invitation suite for the first time! To me, an invitation suite speaks volumes about a couple, it lets me know what is important to them, gives me a feel for their wedding day, and let’s be honest–they’re always gorgeous and so much fun to style! Today, I wanted to give you a few tips to help get you started if you’re stuck on picking out your invitation suite, while introducing you to my new favorite paper goods company–Basic Invite!
Basic Invite is an online design and printing platform that has a card for almost every major life moment – specifically, weddings! They do SUCH a great job with paper goods that I just had to introduce you to them today!!
I was fortunate enough to design my own suite on their website, and y’all, it is SO easy! I selected one of their floral wedding invitations (featured is the Melodious Melanie!!) and I was so impressed! They truly do such an outstanding job with making the design of your paper goods both easy and stunning… and when all is said and done, you can create a website for your wedding that matches your invitation suite! Um what?! How cool is that!!
I am SO excited to introduce you to their brand today while letting you know a little bit about how I think they can help you make your wedding vision a simple reality, especially if you are having a hard time discovering what you truly want in a suite!
A quick disclosure before we get started: this post was sponsored by Basic Invite, though opinions are my own–Basic Invite really is that good!
Set your mood and attire.
Your stationery suite is truly your guests’ first impression of your wedding day! Right away, they get a feel for the mood of your wedding day and also learn the most important things about your wedding day–like your venue and attire, menu and event timing. The feel of a white tie wedding is vastly different than a semiformal wedding, right? A swanky hotel in the middle of the city feels vastly different from an outdoor barn wedding in the country–yes? Your stationery suite should reflect this! I so recommend setting the feel of your wedding before you start planning almost anything else. From there, you can have fun going crazy with experience design while customizing your invitation suite to fit the feel of your day! Fun fact: the Basic Invite has over 800 wedding invitation sets for you to choose from. They have SO many different styles and truly have something for every bride. (I had the toughest time deciding what I wanted to photograph for this post–they’re all gorgeous!) You can find everything from save the dates to wedding invitations and enclosure cards, wedding menus, wedding programs and even matching thank you cards! Once you pick your look, Basic Invite makes it SO easy to design cohesive pieces to use throughout your wedding–they really lay out everything for you!
Consider your colors first.
Your entire wedding should tell a story, from start to finish. A huge part of your wedding story is your color palette. From your invitation suite to your florals, reception linens, bridesmaids dresses and everything in between, your color palette should be the basis of your wedding story! Set your color palette, just after setting the mood for your wedding! Use these two pieces as a guide in your planning. Luckily, Basic Invite is one of the very few websites that allows you to select color options with instant previews, right on your screen! (Praise be, y’all!!) Once you select a design you can change the color of each element on the card to over 180 different color options. So, you can make sure your suite looks exactly how you want it – down to the littlest detail. Ok total random side note– Basic Invite also has over 4o different colors of peel and seal envelopes for you to choose from, so you can make a gorgeous first impression before your invitation is even opened!
Don’t be shy about ordering samples.
I am one of those people that love to have a physical sample of almost anything in my hand before I commit to purchasing! If you are torn between suites or colors or designs, aren’t sure if the colors are what you want, order a sample! Play with wording, play with colors and get exactly what you want! Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows you to order a printed sample of your actual invitation so you can see the print and paper quality before placing your final order! The samples are so incredibly affordable and arrive right to your mailbox, quickly!
Get a feel for the details that you must include before deciding on a suite.
I highly recommend laying out your “must have” details BEFORE committing to a suite. Do you need to include a ceremony card? Hotel accommodation details? What information will you need on your reply card? You can play with language as you go, but it is so important to have an understanding of the details that must be included in your suite before starting the design process–that way, you can be sure that you are getting exactly what you need!
Side note: Basic Invite also just recently launched a clear collection, added rose gold to their foil collection and introduced foil place cards… my heart!! ROSE GOLD?! Any brides want to slide that into your suite this year?! If you are looking for a quick and easy one-stop-shop for all of your wedding paper goods, Basic Invite is the place to go!
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