Our new ribbon gate-fold invitations will be launched soon but we are so excited about the range that we couldn’t wait to give you a sneak preview.  I quickly snapped these shots outside our studio before the professional photos are taken next week.  It will probably take a couple of weeks to get this range online because it will be available in a total of 37 different colours and, as with all our designs, we do our best to coordinate the whole range of products.  This means that with so many colours and so many coordinating items there will be a lot of photography to process.

The gentle floral pattern is another feature that coordinates on all the items in this range; its delicate emboss and pealescent reflection catches the light beautifully with understated sophistication.  The texture of the emboss is best seen in the flesh and you can do this by requesting a free sample when the range is online but this is one important element that we hope to capture with the photography.

I have a list of available colours to share with you and these will all be available to view online soon.

• Black
• Silver Grey
• Navy
• Dusky Blue
• Cornflower
• New Tuquoise
• Aqua
• Petrol
• Peacock
• Orchid
• Helio
• Dusky Pink
• Shocking Pink
• Pink Azalea
• Pale Pink
• Red
• Scarlet Berry
• Burgundy
• Plum
• Blackberry
• Purple
• Moss
• Khaki
• Hunter Green
• Jade
• Cuban
• Dark Brown
• Marigold
• Gold
• Yellow
• Lemon
• Orange Delight
• Rust
• Sable
• Honey Gold
• Cream
• White

I am not sure where this is going and I am hardly one to preach about community spirit.  My wife went on to remind me that I hardly even talk to the neighbours when mowing the lawn so I am not likely to be getting my ladder out to hang bunting from the lampposts.  Anyway on to those St George’s Cross wedding invitations…..

Only joking.  I am not ensure even the most fervent England supporter who is getting married on World Cup final day this year would sanction a red cross on the front of their wedding invites but they may be interested in restoring a little national pride with the Emblems range of wedding stationery from CCA.  It was by coincidence that I was adding the Emblems range to our site on St George’s day without realising what day it was.  The Emblems range does not exclude our fellow islanders and the designs feature a national symbol for England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland by way of rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock respectively.  You can find the Emblems range of stationery on our site in the Name the Day collection.  Personalised wording is printed on a white insert and invitations come with white envelopes as standard.

PS.  If anyone is interested in arranging their own street party for the World Cup, Queen’s jubilee, their wedding, their cat’s birthday or any other excuse for a good knees up then these websites are a good place to start.  The Big Lunch website (a heroic attempt to revive street party atmosphere was organised by the Eden Project last year) and Street Party (a charitable organisation who promote small scale community street parties)

Love2print

There are some wedding stationery designs that you just don’t quite get the full effect of until you see them ‘in the flesh’, and this is one such design.  Whilst the photography is very good on the website for Love2print, you don’t quite get the full impact of this card unless you can see it in front of you.  I have the said design in front of me and it really is a strikingly simple and beautiful card.  The peacock feather printed onto cream card is available in dark green and burnt orange and the text is printed in the same colour which is carried through into the backing card as well to give just a hint of colour.  The gold ribbon that separates the image from the text really brings the colour to life and complements the earthy tones perfectly.  The cost of the individual invitations varies depending on the quantity ordered and have a higher discount on larger quantities, but to give you an idea the cost for 50 invitations is £133.00 which is £2.66 each.

Damask Invitation

This classic looking pocket wedding invitation from CKK Wedding Stationery is beautifully understated in sage green damask but is bought upto date with the addition of three mini gems for the tiniest amount of bling.  The colour is perfect for a country garden wedding but works well for any season.  The pocket invitations cost £2.50 each and are available in many colours with a fully coordinating range of stationery available, the table plans look particularly stunning.

I have mentioned my passion for Letterpress time and time again on this site and have been keeping a close eye on San Francisco based design outfit Hello Lucky since my article on the Letterpress movement in the States back in May.

Well, Hello Lucky caught my eye again in the lastest copy of Cosmo Bride (aug/sep) with a beautiful range of calla lily letterpress wedding invitations.  I have grabbed these images from their blog post about the Cosmo Bride commission.  This was a bespoke design which commands a fairly big price tag at £722 for 100.  If this is out of your budget do not be disheartened and take a moment to view their standard letterpress designs, many of which are a lot cheaper.   Also, the site is shared with their US operation so with pricing in dollars and the current exchange rates as they are right now it favours UK shoppers.  As a rough guide pricing tends to increase with the number of colours used in the design because unlike a modern printing machine individual colours need to be done separately when letterpressed. 

Ah,  my Letterpress dream has reignited again.  I am now off to persuade the wife to let me convert the shed into a vintage print shop.  Maybe I should just do it in away ….  I mean she never goes in there.  I wonder if there are any bargain Heidlebergs machines on Ebay… I’ll be lucky !

When I first saw this Floral Script design from Christian Graffiti is reminded me of the Jasper invitation that we featured earlier this month.  Both designs feature a translucent wrap that opens at the centre with the wording printed on a card inside held together by a ribbon bow.  What I particularly like about the Christian Graffiti design is the swirling pattern on the cover which has taken its influence from Turkish fabric patterns.  It has a more contemporary feel than the Jasper design and the choice of ribbon colours means that brides are not restricted to any particular colour theme.

The card insert is flat ink printed as standard and the only pricing on their website starts at quantities of 100.  I am hoping that they are able to offer lesser quantities because there are not many couples who require this number of invitations for their wedding.  I have asked Christian Graffiti for clarification and hopefully they will post their comments on here shortly.  A raised print (thermography) or engraved text is also available for an additional cost.  You can request a free sample of this design from the Christian Graffiti website

The flower motif detail in this invitation is cleverly cut out of the cream top layer to reveal the chocolate brown card beneath.  It is this layered approach that defines many of the invitations in the ‘Papercut designs” collection from Sasson Invitations.  Browns and Greens are very popular at the moment and the combination of a moss green background with chocolate brown layered card and ink creates a very appealing ensemble.

What is not immediately obvious on the Sasson website is the option to have a different motif with this design.  Whilst the flower motif pictured above does suit the natural and earthy colours of this style very well many couples will wish to choose a different motif to personalise the card further.  I particularly like the two letter monogram motifs in the selection to the left which lets your guests know that your invitations are truly unique and have been created only for you.

Pricing for all Sasson invitations is very simple.  There are only three price bands of which this design is mid range and then pricing depends on the quantity required.  For 25 to 75 invitations the price is a very reasonable £3.85 each.  I am curious to discover that there is also a price band for under 25 invitations with no obvious restriction on minimum order quantity.  Something tells me that they are unlikely to personalise just one or two invitations for £4.20 each.

This pink and green floral wedding invitation from Paper Pleasures is called Summertime, and how perfect it would be for a summer garden wedding.  It has a beautiful Victorian garden feel with the pastel pink and green set against off white card and the offset opening reveals more of the pretty pattern on the insert sheet where the wording is also coordinated in pink and green.  Invitations cost £2.10 each including envelope and there are no minimum order quantities.  Also available are Evening Invitations which are postcard style, Order of Service, Menus, Placecards and Reply Cards.  

Looking at the XOXO website I had real difficulty deciding which design to write about.  It’s a great site with loads of different designs to choose from, normally I would pick a theme, this time I chose winter, but even then I still had to choose between 3 designs.  Mistletoe is the chosen design as I haven’t seen anything with it before and I love the simplicity of the green design against the  pure white background and the white ribbon gives it a lovely soft edge.  There is a huge choice of invitation styles available with costs ranging from £2.75 for a postcard which is mounted and embellished to £3.90 for a pocketfold style which has mounted printed invitation text.  If you’re after a winter theme then have a look at the Holly design or the beautifully simple Snowflake design.