While KK&S Designs has a long history in the wedding industry, invitation suites have not been a venture that we explored until recently. Traditionally designed for paper, we wanted to push the boundaries of what an invitational suite can look like, which we’re excited to share with you all now!
If you’re a wedding planner or someone who has taken wedding planning into your own hands - keep reading as we dive into how some unique design choices can take your Invitation Suite to new heights.
Putting the Luxe in Your Suite
To start, we should go over what most people will find in a modern invitation suite. A collection of cards designed to be used together, the most common sets typically include: a save the date, an invitation, an RSVP, and a details or thank you card. While many couples may prefer to simply send out a save the date followed up by a formal invitation, others have found full suites to elevate the invitational process. However, a larger collection of items doesn’t make something luxe. This is where materials come into play! With a range of acrylics and more to use at our discretion, we believe everything that goes into your big day should exude quality and opulence. But what makes these alternatives so special? At KK&S we mainly utilize acrylics when creating our laser-cut designs. This can seem an unusual choice for an invitation suite, but one that comes with various perks. Lightweight and waterproof, acrylics have a longevity not seen in paper which makes it perfect for those of you interested in creating a lasting keepsake for your guests. Coming in a wide variety of specialty finishes, such as glossy or mirrored, acrylics make a versatile choice that additionally work as an excellent base for multilayered, three-dimensional items. And of course, you aren’t limited to acrylics–adding fabric accents or utilizing wood with its natural grain can add additional visual and tactile interest.
For our first foray into the world of invitational suites, we wanted to push the idea of what a card could be and created a sugary sweet save the date. Being a sort of a pre-invite with minimal info, we chose to design our Emerald City Suite’s save the date as a luxe bar after finding a swatch of gorgeous fabric we simply couldn’t pass up. Utilizing a gold-mirrored acrylic for the plaque with the date, location, and couple’s names, the emerald suede that covers the body of the bar pushes the concept of luxe to the next level with the subtly engraved floral motif that we repeated on the envelope liners. In this case, the material guided us, but that isn't always the best place to start. So where should you start when crafting your own suite?
Designing Your Perfect Suite
When you’re designing any wedding invitation suite, things can seem a bit overwhelming–that’s where it can be helpful to make a moodboard. For the uninitiated, this is where you start a collection of photos that inspire you and evoke the kind of vibes you want to have for your big day. This collection can be physical or digital–you can even use apps and media-sharing sites like Pinterest to create your board–the important bit is having your images all in one space where you can view them together. Once that’s done you can start analyzing them. This doesn’t mean you have to dissect every picture and find the exact pantone color of a tablecloth you liked, or the name of the specific typeface you saw in a welcome sign. Instead, you should take note of what things pop out to you in a picture and what overarching trends you see. These will be helpful in clarifying what tangible ideas you want to incorporate into your own event. From there you can confidently contact a professional to see how they can help craft your vision into a cohesive suite.
DETERMINING FONTS, COLOR, AND SIZE
While designers are here to help you, beginning the conversation around your suite with an idea of what styles of fonts, family of colors, and size of cards that you are looking for will greatly speed up the design process. Returning to your moodboards–which you should ideally be referencing when designing anything for your big day–fonts and colors in particular can drastically set the tone for what guests can expect on your wedding day.
For example we’ll reference our details and invitational cards. As both client and designer in the case of our Emerald City Invitational Suite, we found ourselves saving pictures of gemstones, opulently decorative frames, and rich, embellished fabrics to our moodboard. These then informed the tones, materials, and shapes seen throughout the collection. Taking our color palette directly from our moodboard, we chose to reference more classical typography with a fully-capitalized, structured serif font paired with an airy but embellished script. Together, these decisions reinforce the sense of opulence and formality that we introduced with our combination of materials.
As for size, think about how much information should be included on each piece of stationery--we promise, you don’t always need to include everything on the card itself, particularly if you’re trying to stay small! Looking back at our details and invitational cards, we included quite a bit of information, which thus made the pieces a bit larger to create a more balanced and legible layout. Alternatively, our RSVP card is quite small, with the only content being brief directions on how to RSVP using the provided QR code. This saves significant room for a card which, at its most basic will ask for: the number of guests, the name of the guests, and if applicable, their food choice. Going this route with this kind of card not only saves on material for the initial card, but can save time and mailing costs for you and your guests by making a singular, digital hub for all your guests to respond, instead of guests having to mail a response back. In the end though, it will all depend on how much you feel the need to include and what methods of communication you find work best for you.
Last Thoughts
And we’re at the end for today! Hopefully you’ve taken something away from this all, but if you’re still not quite sure where to start then you can stop by our socials for some more inspiration. You can also leave a comment letting us know what you thought or if you have something from your own experiences to share. Be sure to check out our shop or send us a quick message for inquiries!