This is certainly a first! Dramatic black meets romantic mermaid wedding invitations, brought to us by Victoria of Design House of Moira. I never would have thought to pair rich black hues with subtle mermaid themed pastels, but it works OH SO WELL! What’s more, the flourished calligraphy and oversized wax seal are just the right amount of bold and beautiful for this over the top modern yet aquatic suite! What a fun and fresh look!

From Victoria: We had an unusual combination of requests from this bride: she wanted black, dramatic, foil printing, handmade paper, a large scale wax seal, unusual size, and mermaid paper (yes, mermaid paper).

Since size and handmade paper are the most difficult, we started there. We collaborated with Owl Post Calligraphy to create a custom order of black handmade paper in 8×11 inches. We wanted to be able to fold the invitation into thirds, so we paired it with inserts that were long and thin to fit inside the folded invitation. We choose a long envelope that opened with a flap rather than on the end of a #10 envelope.

The mailing envelopes were a gorgeous handmade paper from Spain with a lacy and delicate deckled edge, while the reply envelope was a deep matte black.The wording on the invitation was also unusual. The wedding was hosted by the bride, groom and their son, whose names are listed together as a family.

The additional inserts were all hand painted with watercolor in shades of blues, teals, and purples (mermaid colors!) on Italian paper with an extremely soft felt finish and delicate deckled edge. We selected the Italian paper for its cotton content and knowing that it wouldn’t buckle or warp with the watercolor.

We paired an extremely formal and flourished calligraphy style selected by the bride and with a simple sans serif. We then selected a pale silver with a slightly matte finish for the printing. We wanted to be able to use the same printing on all four paper types included in the suite – Spanish and Italian handmade paper, custom black handmade paper and the flat black envelope.

We created a logo for the couple of XX representing the day they decided to become a family. The XX logo was featured on the 2” wax seal as well as the return address and reply card envelope. The entire suite was folded and tucked inside the gorgeous, ivory Spanish paper envelope and addressed in matching formal calligraphy. We choose Oscar de la Renta postage with two stamps per envelope.

Thanks Victoria!

Design and Calligraphy: Design House of Moira
Foil Printing: Viking Printing 
Custom black handmade paper: Owl Post Calligraphy 

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Design House of Moira