Vane + Chad’s Modern Brooklyn Wedding Invitations

This week, I’ve asked one of my very favorite wedding bloggers – the amazing Vané from Brooklyn Bride – to share her invitations with us!  As I’m sure you all know, Vané had a distinct modern and Brooklyn-inspired aesthetic for her wedding this past April.  Vané worked with Viñas Design to letterpress her invitations in a crisp green and white color palette, and with Betsy Dunlap on the calligraphy for both the invitations and table signs.

From Vané:  Since the wedding had a distinct Brooklyn theme, it was only natural that iconic Brooklyn and NY images were used on the invitations and all paper goods. We (Jaime Viñas of Viñas Design and I) used some photos I had of the Brooklyn Bridge, the wheel from Coney Island, and a water tower outside my window for some of the pieces.

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The map of Brooklyn came from our save the dates, and the bagel was actually scanned on a scanner and brought down to size.  Having them letterpressed was great because all the sesame seeds on the bagel popped up.

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For the font, Jaime used Neutra, which was great because it was designed by the architect Richard Neutra (and my husband just happens to be an architect!), and he used the perfect shade of green for everything on the crispest white card I’ve ever seen…the pieces had such a presence just with their thickness, I loved it!

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I love the way the invitations coordinate perfectly with all the other elements from her gorgeous wedding:

Thanks Vané for sharing your beautiful invitations with us!  Invitations by Vané and Viñas Design, calligraphy by Betsy Dunlap.

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

{all images by Bethalee Photography via Brooklyn Bride}

Place card & escort card ideas…

For those of you trying to gather ideas for escort cards and/or place cards for your reception, I thought I’d pull together a few of my favorite ideas:


These rustic table name/number signs and holders are a great way to help guests find their way to their table. Via Big Sur Bride.


These would be a fun idea for place cards. From mintd via Brooklyn Bride.

Rebecca Thuss Escort Card Inspiration via Oh So Beautiful Paper Rebecca Thuss Escort Card Inspiration via Oh So Beautiful Paper
A couple of playful spins on traditional place cards by the ridiculously talented Rebecca Thuss. These keepsake escort card booklets could include favorite quotes, or even your marriage and ring vows from the wedding ceremony (if not included in your programs), in addition to seating and table information.


Erica from thoughtful day continued the design from her invitation suite to the place cards.

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Another option is to use wallpaper or patterned heavy paper to DIY your own place cards – although just be careful to make sure that guests’ names are legible on the front of the card. Via {ritzy bee}.


These escort cards were arranged around a long piece of paper featuring the pattern from the couple’s wedding invitations. Via The Bride’s Cafe.

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This wedding featured place cards in the shapes of birds, which were placed in guest’s champagne glasses. Via Style Me Pretty.


For any brides with a vintage travel theme, vintage maps and stamps would make great elements for travel-inspired place cards and escort cards. Check ebay for vintage stamps, and Paper Source for reproduction prints of old maps on flat paper. Vintage map inspiration board via Perfect Bound.


These adorable tags from Linda & Harriett would make wonderful place cards or escort cards – either hung from manzanita branches or from the back of each guest’s chair.

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I love the simplicity of these DIY place cards – featuring only the guest’s first name and an image used throughout the paper products for their wedding. Via Once Wed.


These escort cards blend modern style with personal touches; from the wedding of Eva and Fabrizio via Brooklyn Bride.

I’ll have more place card and escort card ideas a bit later on. Oh, and for those of you not quite sure what the difference is between a place card and an escort card, there’s a pretty good explanation at Something Old, Something New.

{images from their respective sources}

Wood Veneer Invitations — Oslo Press

As much as I love paper, I love the idea of wedding invitations printed (or in this case laser engraved) on unusual materials like wood and fabric.  Oslo Press creates some truly lovely wood invitations with an understated elegance that works for either an informal outdoor wedding or a formal black-tie affair.  They also create beautiful letterpress accents, like envelopes and rsvp cards.  So unusual and so very beautiful… here are a few of my favorites:

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All images via Oslo Press

Cara’s English Garden Floral Wedding Invitations

While I absolutely love the look and feel of letterpress, I also love it when creative couples decide to use a non-traditional material in their wedding invitations, like fabric or even invitations printed on thin sheets of wood veneer (more on that later).  I particularly love the result of these English garden floral wedding invitations from the lovely Peonies and Polaroids:

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Using fabric to back DIY invitations seems like such a great way to personalize invitations without the expense of a custom wedding invitation design. And with so many great fabrics to choose from, you can easily find one that ties together your wedding theme and color palette, giving your guests an idea of what to expect on the big day.

I love the way that the simple construction and elegant, but understated, floral pattern perfectly captured the feel of her lovely wedding last month:

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Just lovely… you can read more about the invitation assembly process here and here.

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

{all images via peonies and polaroids}

Kristina + Brock’s Modern Black and White Wedding Invitations

These invitations from Kristina at Lovely Morning are just beautiful – the ribbon, the honeycomb pattern, the blind impression, the calligraphy, it all just works so well together…

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Invitations designed by Kristina and printed by Aardvark Press – with gorgeous calligraphy by Jenna Hein.  I love the contrast of the white calligraphy on black envelopes!  You can follow the entire process here, here, and here.

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

{image via Lovely Morning}