These Online Wedding Invitation Ideas Will Make You Forget Paper
In this high-tech era, more and more couples are choosing to send online invitations instead of paper wedding stationery. The benefits are numerous. First and foremost, the average cost of physical wedding invitations is between $5,000 and $8,000.
Digital invitations can clear a massive portion of your budget. Greenvelope’s customizable designs, for example, start at $39 and include tracking. This convenience factor saves both time and hassle. No licking envelopes, no writing addresses in your best cursive (and tossing them when you make a mistake), and no depending on the unreliable USPS. Rather than filling out an RSVP card to send back, guests can easily respond online and your invitation service will keep track for you.
There’s the eco-friendly aspect, as well. (No trees were killed in the making of these invitations.) And like traditional print invitations, online invitations can reflect your wedding theme and color palette. These unique wedding invitation ideas feature digital designs that jump off the screen — and are so realistic you can practically feel the cardstock.
1. Opt for Deckled Edges
Design: National Park Foundation
Deckled edges and textured cardstock give digital invitations real-life appeal. The rough edging offers a hand-hewn, vintage aesthetic perfect for casual weddings. Opt for a design with a complementary invitation suite, like this North Cascades invitation. Matching save the dates and thank you notes feature a monochromatic color palette, ombre watercolor wash, and watercolor florals for romantic appeal.
2. Use Your Engagement Photos
Design: Owl and Toad
Proposal photos, engagement shoots, and your favorite pictures as a couple never get enough use. A beautiful photo wedding invitation is a great way to get more life out of your favorite shots. Opt for a full-bleed design, like this Elegant Overlay invitation, or browse collage styles and geometric layouts. If you can’t pick just one snapshot, go for a full suite and choose one for your save the dates and thank you notes, as well.
3. Send a Boarding Pass
Design: Clementine Creative
Be on-theme for a destination wedding with a cheeky boarding pass design, like this First Class invitation. Customize your ticket in hues to match your wedding theme. For a tropical escape, this punchy teal or a coral pink are right on cue. Round out the theme with luggage tag save the dates and thank you notes.
4. Go for the Gild
Design: Signature Greenvelope
Opt for a design that feels luxurious with rich gold foil. This French Filigree invitation invokes baroque elegance and modern luxury with a hand-drawn vintage filigree pattern. The result is perfect for an elegant wedding or black tie affair. The best part is, with online invitations, it only looks expensive.
5. Add a Wax Seal
Design: Signature Greenvelope
Wax seals are having a moment in wedding invitation design. This Mediterrenean Elegance invitation creates a three-dimensional wax seal without the DIY work of using sticky glue or wax. Together with delicate twine, hand-torn edges and hand-painted olive branches, the result is a textural masterpiece. This classic choice is all about the details, with a romantic aesthetic perfect for a vineyard wedding.
6. Ditch Your Calligrapher
Design: Jessica Williams
Opt for a design that puts the couples’ names front and center in effortless calligraphy. With designs like the Swanky Stripes invitation, there’s no calligraphy pens or prices-per-letter involved. Customize your names and details in your wedding color palette. We love the preppy stripes on this bold design, elevated by gold foil accents.
7. Send a Postcard
Design: National Park Foundation
For destination weddings, a vintage-style postcard will have guests dreaming of an escape. This Death Valley National Park design is brimming with vintage charm, while a custom envelope liner ups the ante. Like a printed postcard, this design has double-sided features, so there’s plenty of room for your wedding details on the back.
8. “Splurge” on Letterpress
Design: Anya Felch
Letterpress is one of the most expensive printing methods, due to the supplies and labor required to create custom presses for each design and color. Letterpress printed invitations can run $1,600 on the low end. A digital letterpress design offers the timeless style and hand-hewn effect without the price tag. We love this Man And Wife invitation, with its polished style and understated aesthetic.
9. Set Your Date in Stone
Design: Jula Paper Co.
Digital invitations aren’t limited to traditional paper. Instead, try an on-trend, utterly sleek material like marble. This Faint Marble invitation is completely timeless with a modern edge. Decadent marble is paired with color-blocked edging, and your monogram appears in contemporary stylized text.
10. Until Die Cut Do You Part
Design: Diasty Hardhikaputri
Intricate die cuts cost a pretty penny on traditional paper. A digital alternative offers the same effect for less. We love this Cattleya Orchids invitation, featuring an intricate scroll silhouette. Combined with exotic botanical artwork, the result has vintage charm. Finish with a custom envelope liner and complementary save the dates and thank you notes.
11. Preview Your Bouquet
Design: Jessica Williams
Give guests a taste of your wedding style with a floral design that includes specimen from your bouquet. This Soft Floral Bouquet invitation, for example, features tulips and anemones perfect for a garden-inspired wedding. Classic and elegant type overlays the artwork, which reveals just enough of the textured cardstock.
12. Embrace Bold Colors
Design: Mansi Verma Design
Don’t feel limited to neutral hues. If you aren’t a minimalist, look for wedding invitation ideas that let loose with color for an attention-grabbing invite that will stand out to your guests. Choose a design that really pops, like this Painterly Strokes invitation. Bold brush strokes frame clean black and white text in a modern typeface.
13. Commission a Work of Art
Design: Mansi Verma Design
A beautiful hand painted design is not limited to one medium when it comes to digital display. Take this Ethereal invitation, for example. Watercolor layers are topped with soft speckled metallics for a dramatic overlay. Opt for a color scheme that sets the tone for your big day.
14. Show Laser Focus
Design: Inspired by Luly Yang
You can practically run your fingers over this Embossed Diamond Cut Announcement. Trend-forward laser cut features contemporary style with an Art Deco vibe. A chic and subtle geometric patterned frame features tone-on-tone white hues reminiscent of a lace overlay dress.
15. Amp Up the Texture
Design: Signature Greenvelope
An embossed design offers style you can put your finger on, like this Touch of Adventure invitation. The perfect wedding invite for any locale, the artwork features a nod to topographic maps.
Wedding Invitation Ideas to Streamline Your Big Day
You have a lot of planning to do leading up to your wedding day. Thankfully, digital invitations can help streamline a lot of the legwork. Trending wedding invitation ideas feature all of the latest printing techniques, artwork styles, and cutting-edge typography to compete with any printed invitation.
Choose a look that complements your own wedding style to set the tone for your celebration. Guests can RSVP directly within your invitation service, which will handle all of the tracking and heavy lifting. You can also direct guests right to your wedding website so all of your details are found in one place.
