Photo by Bottega53 Studio
One wedding-related detail you don’t want to overlook? The design of your big-day invitations. While the primary purpose of these paper products is to inform your invitees about the time and place of your nuptials, they also give your guests a preview of your aesthetic. Since your invites are the very-first element your friends and family will see, thereby setting the tone for your celebration, it’s important to choose an apt design that corresponds to the look and feel of your upcoming affair. Though you can certainly opt for traditional invitations with white cardstock and an elegant black font, there are endless ways to amp up the creativity.
Wondering how? Swap the typical paper background with unexpected materials, from acrylic to vellum. Or forgo the conventional rectangular card with fun shapes, such as circles, arches, and abstract cut-outs. Even if you decide on classic cardstock, elevate your invites with playful font colors, hand-painted artwork, or emblems of your relationship. Whatever you choose, make sure the design coordinates with your theme, whether it’s a natural-toned flatlay with an illustrated depiction of your desert locale or brightly hued stationery with floral accents for your spring garden nuptials.
For more ideas, we’ve pulled together 35 unique wedding invitations that real couples designed for their big day. Keep scrolling to get inspired.
Feature Florals
Photo by Michellia Fine Imagery
If flowers are a focal point of your wedding, especially if you’re hosting your affair in a garden, deck out your invitations in floral illustrations. This bride, for instance, sketched a floral print on her stationery to channel a fairy-tale, ethereal feel for her pastel-colored California soirée. To make the blooms life-like—while grabbing your guests’ attention—consider painting your paper with splashy shades.
Present a Booklet
Photo by Jose Villa
For an upscale introduction to your big day, reveal all of your big-day details via a booklet. Instead of reading a two-dimensional piece of paper, your invitees will have a lot of fun opening up a multi-page invite—and will surely be impressed by the unique design. This couple worked with Lotus & Ash to adorn their book with emblems of their Bridgerton-inspired nuptials in California, like flowers and butterflies.
Play With Texture
Photo by Heather Waraksa
Instead of a plain-paper backdrop, incorporate texture into your unique wedding invitations. For this modern-meets-tropical affair in Florida, Lotus & Ash incorporated a jute-like background into their paper products. With the tan, woven fiber, these invites nodded to the textured elements that would engulf the bride and groom’s big day.
Spotlight Your Venue
Photo by Bottega53 Studio
Will your venue be the focal point of your big day? If so, a unique wedding invitation design idea is showcasing the setting. For example, for this colorful Lake Como wedding, Rachel Zuch Design crafted a stationery suite with the picturesque Italian region on full display. By visualizing your venue, your friends and family will be even more ecstatic about the forthcoming festivities.
Choose a Funky Font
Photo by Konstantyn Zakhariy
Your wedding invitations don’t have to feature standard calligraphy. Instead, try engraving your suite with handwritten-inspired text, which is what this pair did (along with help from Iumi) for their intimate wedding on Lake Como. A squiggly border and botanical illustrations also offered a creative spin, while hinting at the organic aesthetic.
Mix Unexpected Shapes
Photo by Lacie Hansen Photography
While a rectangular-shaped piece of paper is the norm, why not switch things up with other abstract shapes? This duo collaborated with Amber Moon Design to customize neutral-toned invites on oval-shaped sheets, along with save-the-dates and RSVP cards on arched pieces of paper—which foreshadowed the double arch at their California garden ceremony.
Switch Up the Format
Photo by Jenn Emerling
Rather than printing the whereabouts of your affair on left-aligned text, one unique wedding invitation idea is selecting a nontraditional format. Take cues from this couple, who tapped Bourne Paper Co. to rethink the alignment of their wording for their moss-filled woodland wedding, displaying each chunky letter in a random pattern instead of left to right. Chartreuse squiggly lines also enhanced their abstract look.
Prioritize Color
Photo by Gipe Photography
For an eye-catching take on standard stationery, paint your invitations in fun hues. With creative guidance from Swell Press, this bride and groom pulled tones of chartreuse, orange, and baby blue into their invites for their retro event in Palm Springs—a fun, funky way to tell invitees about their nuptials. Sans illustrations, the color palette on these unique wedding invitations assumed the main focus.
Opt for Acrylic
Photo by Erika Delgado Photography
Using an acrylic background is a modern way to reveal the date, time, and place of your special day. Unlike paper, this transparent material adds a regal, elegant look to your invites, especially when paired with gilded touches (like the gold font and border on these unique wedding invitations by Funky Child Creative and Plume and Stone for this speakeasy-inspired fête in Florida).
Add Symbols of Your Celebration
Photo by Catherine Guidry
To tease your wedding celebration, decorate your invitations in symbols that loved ones will see at your affair. For this black-tie ballroom wedding in New Orleans, Ink + Nibs Studio included elements that would appear at their event, such as drums, trumpets, cocktails—plus, details that represent Mardi Gras, including beaded necklaces and eye masks.
Nod to Your Wedding Attire
Photo by Abby Jiu Photography
Looking for inspiration for your unique wedding invitation design? Consider getting ideas from your big-day attire. This bride’s textured Oscar de la Renta gown guided many of the details for her rustic function in Virginia, including the invites that Emily Baird Design created. With a white-and-beige palette, the lace-like print stood out.
Highlight a Custom Crest
Photo by Lucy Munoz Photography
Couples often include custom crests into their wedding décor, especially their stationery suite. To spotlight your personalized logo, opt for an oversized design on the back of your invites. Then, to reinforce the monogrammed illustration, stamp it on the top of your invitations. We love this regal, gold-colored sketch by By Dami Studios for a glamorous affair, such as this couple’s wedding in a French château.
Get Inspired by a Past Decade
Photo by Move Mountains Co
If you’re throwing a retro wedding, be sure to include elements of your chosen decade into your stationery suite. With its electric hues, geometric shapes, and funky fonts, this flatlay by The Paper Perfectionist channeled a mid-century modern feel for the couple’s retro-inspired affair in Palm Springs. They also added ‘50s slang, like “Hey, cool cat.”
Elevate a Black-and-White Palette
Photo by Niki Marie Photography
Black and white is a classic color scheme, but to give it a unique spin, add elegant fonts and beautiful illustrations. For example, this bride and groom referenced their New York City venue for their winter nuptials by including a sketch of the skyline on the bottom of their DIY invitations and on their envelope liner—giving their suite a moody flair.
Distribute Scrolls
Photo by Niven Weddings
For the ultimate luxury wedding invitation idea, replace plain paper with a scroll. For these grooms’ Marie Antoinnette-inspired soirée in Michigan, Erin Braun Design added an intricate border to a roll of opulent paper with gold details—which perfectly communicated their lavish theme.
Complete Your Suite With Leather
Photo by KT Merry
Leather is a chic, unexpected addition to all unique wedding invitations, particularly those with Western settings and aesthetics. For this bash on a Wyoming ranch, TPD Design House conceptualized the couple’s vision and nodded to their locale with leather elements. The Ralph Lauren-inspired print also provided a preppy contrast.
Pull From a Single Hue
Photo by Le Vie Photography
Monochromatic shades can make your wedding invitations one-of-a-kind, especially if the hue is bright and bold. These invites by CMG Events combined hot pink and baby pink, creating a striking vision that captured the fun, romantic vibe of this duo’s Barbie-inspired fête in Malibu.
Go for Minimalism
Photo by Adriana Rivera
Overloading your friends and family with a lot of information right off the bat can be overwhelming. Instead, add a few key details to your invitations and direct guests to your wedding website for the rest. Accenting the simple text with a no-frills background—like the subdued splash of watercolor on these invites by Acqua & Ink for the engaged duo’s elegant event in Guatemala—will aid in creating a minimalist feel.
Recreate a Work of Art
Photo by Olivia Leigh Photographie
Since this bride and groom channeled Vincent Van Gogh's "A Starry Night" throughout their wedding design, naturally, they decided to provide a preview of their theme through their invitation suite. To achieve this, Em Paper Co. recreated the painting on the envelope liner. Plus, star motifs brought the aesthetic together.
Douse It In Glitter
Photo by Lauren Miles
Take your wedding invitations to new heights with glitter. This groovy-inspired suite by Letters & Dust put a regal-and-modern twist on the ‘70s with shiny accents and acrylic invitations. A dusting of sparkles will also work for conventional paper invites, too.
Stick With Neutrals
Photo by Kaylee Chelsea Photography
A neutral-toned invitation suite is a great way to welcome guests to an earthy, bohemian celebration—like the invites by Velvet Fox Designs at this organic bash in Santa Barbara. Rounded edges and a textured envelope also added to the natural feel of the design demonstrated here.
Consider Chinoiserie
Photo by Josh & Dana Fernandez
Chinoiserie is a charming print that makes an appearance at many design-oriented couples’ weddings. If this wallpaper-inspired pattern is a primary part of your nuptials, engulf your flatlay in the motif. In an aqua-and-pink color combination, these paper products by Nib & Pixel feature cherry blossoms and bas relief birds.
Include a Motif
Photo by Thanasis Kaiafas
Is there a certain design detail that will be a recurring part of your big day? Introduce the visual concept through unique wedding invitations. When this bride and groom tied the knot at their summer nuptials in Greece, they distributed paper products by Love Me Do that included a repeating lemon motif. The sunny-colored citrus fruit channeled the idyllic island feel, while the blue-and-white border mirrored the locale’s architecture.
Call Out the Aesthetic
Photo by Megan Robinson
Though you can directly tell guests the theme of your big day, why not take a more mysterious approach? Tease your wedding aesthetic by embellishing your invitations with elements that signify your theme, such as the paisley print and cowboy-boot designs on this flatlay by Twelve30 Creative for the couple’s barn wedding on a Utah ranch.
Give It a Celestial Spin
Photo by Kate Headley
Whether you’re a spiritual couple or you’re saying “I do” beneath a starry night, recreate the constellations on unique wedding invitations. When this bride and groom traded vows at their rustic bash in Virginia, they added a dark evening sky, along with stars, a crescent moon, and sunbeams, to their creative design by Cheree Berry Paper & Design. By including an illustration of their venue, the celestial-inspired picture looked even more authentic.
Channel a Vintage Vibe
Photo by Liz Banfield
Planning a vintage-inspired wedding? Turn back the clock by conceptualizing an invitation suite with hand-torn edges, gold foil, and old-world calligraphy (like the details seen on these custom invites by Sarah Drake Design for this rooftop function in Illinois). All of these antique elements will work together to achieve your vision.
Look to Vellum
Photo by Miss Gen Photography
Another unique wedding invitation material is none other than vellum. The translucent paper with a waxy, smooth finish is the perfect base for modern invites. Plus, vellum is extremely durable, so you won’t have to worry about ripped edges.
Incorporate Geodes
Photo by Green Antlers Photography
Create an edgy, earthy feel with a geode-inspired print in vivid turquoise-and-navy shades with gilded edges. While this design idea is effective in conveying important wedding-day details, it's also easy on the eyes.
Allude to Your Destination
Photo by Carmen Santorelli Photography
If you’re getting hitched in a surreal place, you’ll definitely want to integrate the site into your destination wedding invitations. A watercolor-painted map of the spot is one way to showcase the local colors of your affair in an aesthetically pleasing and functional way. You can also add a custom envelope liner that establishes a sense of place, like a tile pattern for a gathering in Positano.
Create a Modern Canvas
Photo by Taralynn Lawton
An acrylic base with a white font and zero add-ons is the epitome of contemporary wedding invites. This sleek, semi-transparent material will give your invitations (like the ones shown here by Made Divine) a sophisticated feeling, while the simple font will help reinforce the minimalist design.
Stamp It With a Wax Seal
Photo by Rebecca Yale Photography
Wax seals might have been a regular addition to postage in the past, but the inclusion of one today lends a unique vintage touch to wedding invitations. For this vineyard fête in Napa Valley, Aerialist Press wrapped the invites in a gold wax seal engraved with the couple’s joint monograms—which finished off the flatlay in an upscale way.
Color-Block Your Cards
Photo by Katie Ruther
For a multicolored suite with a combination of colors, instead of mixing all of the hues together, consider color-blocking your paper products. These unique wedding invitations feature a details card, a packing list, and the main invites all in different hues—teal, gray, and cream, respectively.
Wrap It in Ribbon
Photo by Brian Lee
Give your creative invites a delicate edge by wrapping them in ribbon. We love a satin bow for a romantic wedding. Look to soft pink shades and light neutrals, along with floral elements, to augment the dainty feel.
Focus on Illustrations
Photo by Shane Macomber Weddings
Turn your invitations into a masterpiece by printing your big-day information on an intricate painting. At this whimsical mountain wedding in Colorado, a large, foldable illustration of the couple’s venue by Sweet Zion Paperie contained small inserts, where the bride and groom listed all of the details of their multi-day event.
Select Apt Stamps
Photo by Liz Banfield
Stamps are a commonly neglected element on wedding invitations. Give your invites a unique touch by selecting postage that complements your aesthetic and matches the rest of the designs on your paper products. Here, stamps with a cowboy hat, a pair of cowboy boots, and a flannel shirt channel the Western vibe of a mountainside celebration.