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

Pure Lily White Wedding Invitation

If you have a particular colour theme in mind then when we provide a custom service whereby they will try to colour match the lily to a bridal fabric or colour swatch that you send them. We will send you a sample wedding invitation with the customised lily. The best thing about this service is that there is no extra cost.

Dusk Pink Calla Lily Tray ready for baking

Each lily is carefully made by hand and has a hole directly through the middle to hold the silver wire stem of the flower. Rather than the brash yellow stamen of a real calla lily Chapter One have chosen a contemporary approach that works perfectly. The silver wire is twisted at the top to create a beautiful flourish and the sharp bends beneath are shaped to form the leaves. The silver wire works perfectly against the crisp 300gsm white Accent board of the card.

There are many items in the Pure Lily range and no attention to detail has been spared. This is especially the case with the invitations that have a silk paper mount on which the wire lily is attached. The silk paper has 4 white pearl beads hand sewed into the 4 corners to frame the lily in a simple border that is delicate but not too flouncy or ostentatious.

The invitations in this range are individually boxed which are perfect for two reasons. There is a protective cover in the lid  which protects the delicate lily in the post. The box is also a treat for your guests making it more like opening a gift than an invitation and providing them with a box to keep the invitation for years to come.

Calla Lily Place Cards from Olivia Samuel

As well as the beautiful wedding and evening invitations there are a further 11 items in the range so that you can create a truly coordinated look throughout the whole wedding.

The full range includes :-
Wedding Invitation, Evening Invitation, Order of Service, Order of the Day,
Menu, Table Plan, Table Name Cards, Place Cards, Napkin Rings, Favour Boxes, Guest Book, Thank You Cards, and Save the Date Cards.
You can pick and choose which items you require depending on the level of coordination you wish to achieve.

Origami Wedding Invitations from Paperbird

We like to uncover wedding stationery that is a little out of the ordinary and these Origami wedding invitations from Paperbird Design are our latest find.  We don’t usually start with the price but I think it is only fair in this instance because it may put some readers off.  Each invitation and envelope costs between £7.00 to £11.00 each depending on the complexity of the design.  This sounds expensive but I guess if you break it down into cost per fold you soon realise that is the labour that you are paying for here and not the materials (not to forget the rather exclusive design).

These origami designs are part of the Paperbird Signature range which includes paper fold creations featuring either a Heart, Lily, Lotus Flower or Butterfly.  I imagine, the butterfly design will be very popular because the delicate folds lend themselves well to this popular wedding theme.  My favourite is the Lotus Flower which I believe is the most expensive but it certainly looks the most complex and I have blogged about the symbolism of the Lotus flower before as a symbol of sexual purity in marriage.   The design comes with a clever protective folding envelope but I would question how vibrant those petals would look after they have been through the postal machines at Royal Mail.  Unlike most wedding stationery companies Paperbird do not appear to have a minimum order quantity so perhaps this design may be best suited to give to close family and friends where the invitations can be hand delivered.

Lotus Flower Origami Wedding Invite

Finally, if price is the only put off here, you could order the DIY option.  You get a ream of paper, a ream of card, and a reel of ribbon, a set of false finger nails, and a waste paper bin…… only joking.

Since last writing about laser cut wedding invitations on this site I was disappointed to learn that Cartalia have moved their gorgeous range of laser cut wedding invitations away from the UK market as the company chooses to focus more on their home markets in Poland.  I also feel that the 10 year old designs from one of the early pioneers in the laser cut card field, ISIS, are starting to look a little dated.

So where is this article headed.  Well, this site received a tip off today about a stunning range of laser cut wedding stationery from the Hummingbird Card Company that has rekindled my love of the style.  The company started in 2007 so I am surprised that I have not come across them before.  Well, hopefully this site will help share the love around.

Humming Bird Card Company

The Hummingbird Company is run by two friends, Sally-Ann & Suzi, who both have a background in fashion design.  All their designs show off the gorgeous intricate effects that can be achieved with laser cutting.  As with any laser cut card the detail is not readily defineable unless there is some contrasting colour behind the laser cut edge.  The Hummingbird style in this respect is primarily to use white or cream card and create the contrast using soft pastel shade inserts.  This subtle contrast works perfectly to create classic designs of timeless appeal that do not draw any attention to the fact that they have been made using 21st century production techniques.  Cards can be finished off with coordinating ribbons and diamontes to add a handfinised touch.   I will pick out a few particular designs that grab my attention and write about them in more detail over the coming months when I have them in my possession.  In the meantime you will probably wish to take advantage of the Hummingbird Card Company’s sample service to get your hands on some of their cards yourself.  Please share your own thoughts on their designs in the comments below.

Letters design from Hummingbird Cards

The vintage trend is here to stay and this design from Picture Palace allows you to incorporate that ambience whilst keeping everything fresh.  The design features a white square card with  Austrian lace and a block bow, also in white which means you are not restricted to a colour theme.  The cost for 50 invitations including envelope is £288.50 
 

If you need to provide your guests with information cards and reply cards, you can opt for the Compendium Wallet which includes the invitation, envelope, and the reply card and envelope in the cost and will accommodate any other information such as directions or hotel details.  The cost for 50 compendium wallets is £444.50.  

This design from Little Angel Weddings immediately reminded me of the Pure Collection from Chapter One.  Not because the designs are similar but the style and mood they convey …  one of timeless romance.

A true romantic myself (although my wife will probably disagree) I do fall in love easily with this style of wedding invitation.  No garish embellishment and no overpowering colours just an English wedding elegance that is pure, pretty and innocent.  This design is from the Ribbons and Bows range and is dissapointedly called Design R4 (I was looking for something a little more Jane Austen).  The name is all I have to quibble about because I do love the way the designer has used texture and the right balance of frill and simplicity to create the white wedding look.  The component materials are pearlescent card, chiffon ribbon, and satin ribbon so I am sure when the light catches this card it looks even better than this image does justice.  It is just as well therefore that Little Angels Weddings offers samples of this card which are priced at the cost of the card £2.85 + 75p Post and Packing.  There is a full compliment of matching items in this range but unfortunately these are not shown on the website and I would suggest getting samples of all the items you require from this set at the same time.

If you are having roses on your wedding day then you can’t help but fall in love with this stunning range of rose wedding stationery from the Chapter One Pure Collection.  Each clay rose is individually made by hand and gently baked before the twisted silver wire stem is added to complete the flower.  The rest of the invite is equally jaw dropping and features a beaded silk paper (again by hand) which is mounted on a heavyweight textured board.This range on the Chapter One website shows a white rose on all the items in the set, but if you request their free brochure (or download it ) you will see that the rose can be produced in different colours or even colour matched to a particular shade of your choosing.  I personally like the white rose featured which will coordinate with pretty much any other colour scheme and looks crisp and clean.  I almost added ‘simple’ among my list of adjectives in the previous sentence but if you receive a sample you will see that this intricate design is anything but simple and the work that has gone into each piece is quite remarkable.  Invitations, Thank You Cards, and Save the Date cards are also individually boxed to protect the flower when you send it to your guests.Chapter One have a fantastic offer on at the moment that gets you a free rose napkin holders with every place card ordered.  You do need to order 4 items from the range to qualify but with 13 items in the collection that is very easily achieved and you end up with a wonderfully beautiful coordinated display.  The hard part is choosing what items not to include from the range.

I have come across the name Ruth Kaye in the world of wedding stationery a number of times.  But who is she ?

• If you leaf through the latest Confetti catalogue you will find several designs stamped with “Ruth Kaye at Confetti“.
• If you have a look at the new Classic album from CCA occasions then you will find they have a design in their new ‘designer collection’ called ‘Capri’, exclusively designed by Ruth Kaye Designs.
• Ruth Kaye made the South Region finalists of the prestigious Wrapit awards for 2008
• A bit of further digging and you will find that Ruth Kaye has their own concession in Selfridges, London

I was hoping to find a bit more about Ruth Kaye to see what all the fuss is about but I could’nt find out much more information.  The If anybody can help with some comments to this post then please type away.

Simple and sophisticated is the theme for this new design from TrulyMadlyDeeply which they have called Sophistication.  The white hammered card has a simple embellishment made up of different materials including three different types of ribbon and a pearl bead heart all in white to give a beautifully subtle effect.  The wonderful thing about a pure and simple stationery range like this is that you are not tied into a certain colour scheme where you are trying to endlessly match fabric swatches, flowers and reception items.  The stationery will simply compliment your venue, rather than taking over.  The wedding and evening invitations cost £2.00 each with the most expensive item in the range being the order of service at £2.80 each.    

Simple designs are often among the most effective and this die cut butterfly wedding invitation is a refreshingly simple example.  Butterfly wedding invitations seem to have sprung from nowhere in the last year but now virtually every wedding stationery supplier has a butterfly design in their portfolio.  Unfortunately, the style police were not around to oversee this 2 winged design explosion and the results are often disastrous.  Many of the designs I come across consist of nothing more than a selection of cheap silk butterflies stuck to a card.   These over zealous and unimaginative designs look like a sickening display page from an over-enthusiastic butterfly collector.

This butterfly design from Twenty-Seven is certainly one of the better butterfly designs I have come across.  It would have been so easy for them to use a different colour insert paper to be revealed through the die cut on the cover but I think sticking with a white board throughout adds an air of sophistication.  The only indulgence on this card is the silver thread that zig zags across the spine of the card.  Again, a simple touch that is not over the top.

Pricing is equally simple.  No quantity based prices here.  You pay £3.00 per card for either a Wedding Invite, Evening Invite, Order of Service or Menu.