I love looking at wedding invitations — don’t you? Everytime I receive one  I take time to savor the experience of opening it, to read every single word down to the punctuation marks, because having been a bride myself, I know how much thought goes into the production of that little (in some cases, big) piece of card stock.  And since you’re here reading this blog, I’m sure you’re on the lookout for invitation ideas so I’ve compiled a few photos of invites  – some I received, some I just found on the web — that will hopefully inspire you to be imaginative and inventive with your own.

J & Cat Reyes' invitation set

This pretty pomelo pink & brown invitation suite was designed by my friend J Lucas Reyes for his & his wife Cat Magsaysay’s wedding in January of this year. When closed, their names are visible through a tulip-shaped die-cut window on the cover. They also painstakingly folded hundreds of origami cranes that served as table decor and favors for the guests. The tulip and crane images were predominant in all their wedding paraphernalia, from the misalettes to place cards and gift tags.

Carlo & Niña Herman's Invitation

Graphic designers Carlo Herman & Niña Villa (whose beautiful wedding was featured in the January-June 2009 issue of WE) invited guests to their celebration in style via an elegant loose-leaf invitation set in white & silvery-gray that they designed themselves. Each card has a different bird motif design at the back in the same color scheme. The invite set came in the post nicely packaged in a taupe felt paper inner envelope that was enclosed in a translucent glassine outer wrapper.

Calvin & Evangeline Bauzon's Christmas wedding invite

My brother Calvin and his bride Evangeline Lazam’s Christmas-themed wedding was in December last year. Evangeline walked down the aisle carrying a bouquet of white poinsettias so I designed their burgundy, chartreuse & cream wedding invite with the flower as the main focal point. Everything is contained neatly in a 2-fold folder and a wraparound “belt” (special thanks to Ghia of The Write Impression for the suggestion) that has the same poinsettia image printed in a repeating pattern along with verses from a poem the bride, a writer, wrote for my brother.

Wedding invitation for Sarah Meier & Banjo Albano by Inksurge

This jaw-dropping wedding invitation by my friends Rex & Joyce who make up the cutting-edge design duo Inksurge caught my eye as I was surfing the net one time. The design is an original  graphic insignia that was inspired by the architecture of Caleruega church and was custom-made for the Bohemian-themed wedding of model Sarah Meier and Banjo Albano. You can see more photos of the invite on their website, under “shots >> print >> Banjo & Sarah wedding invite“. (Inksurge also designed a fictional wedding invite for Johnny Depp & Vanessa Paradis in WE’s Jan-June 2008 issue).

Wedding invitation for Ian & Pat Magbanua by Electrolychee

Here is an unconventional and very original wedding invitation in the form of illustrated postcards created by Marcus & Bru, aka designer couple Electrolychee, for their friends Ian & Pat Magbanua. According to Bru, Ian is with the electronica band Drip and is a volkswagen beetle aficionado while Pat loves to scuba and enjoys their out-of-town drives so these character traits are reflected in the colorful, whimsical illustrations on the cards. You can see more photos of the set on their website. (Electrolychee designed a fictional wedding invite for Gavin Rossdale & Gwen Stefani in WE’s Jan-June 2008 issue).

Karl & Mimi de Leon's "Sun & Sand" wedding invitation

And last but not the least, a wedding invitation for the wedding photo industry’s Brangelina, Mimi and Karl’s beach wedding in October of last year and I had the honor (and pleasure) of designing it for this couple I admire. The simple, no-frills design consisted of their names in a large, legible but wedding-y typeface and a repeating pattern made up of images of little sea creatures, all in yellow & grey which was their wedding theme. It looked delicious once printed in letterpress (tip – go for letterpress if your budget allows it!). The motif was carried out throughout all the elements in the wedding, as you will see in these photos on their blog.

That’s all for now. Happy inviting!

~ Cynthia

Related posts:

1. A wedding made of paper (and then some)
3. Using typography to personalize your wedding (Design Tip #1 of an infinite series)
4. James Reyes: The Drama of Wedding Gowns
5. Wedding Essentials Beautiful Weddings 2009