I do some freelance wedding invitation design on the side. It’s not something I really advertise but I always seem to have one project on the go and it’s all been from word of mouth, which is great. I was recently asked to design an invite for my cousin. They are really the dream clients because they gave me 100% creative freedom. The only thing they said is that they “wanted it really simple”. Nothing flashy. I also found out after showing them my first round of creative that they weren’t big on hearts. Now,that, would’ve been helpful to know before when designing wedding invitations ;) But it’s ok…I figure whatever didn’t get chosen will be loved by another potential couple.

With some down time between Christmas & New Years and the freedom to do whatever I wanted, I went a little nuts with concepts and wanted to share some of my favourites. Keep in mind that these are pretty rough – some of them can be taken to the next level with more detail for the rsvp or other elements (tags, menus, save the date…etc) but it gives you an idea where my head was at.

I think they’re pretty fun and definitely simple.

This was the winner…minus the hearts and few other modifications. But I like the hearts. They’re cute without being too cutesy.

And lastly, here is a completed set that I did for a lovely couple, Kim & Mark, who were married in October 2010. It was a pleasure to work with Kim because she had great taste and was willing to really come up with a whole package. She happens to be a bird lover like me, so that helped.

I really enjoy doing invites because it’s so creative. You can really set the mood for what the wedding will be like and express the personality of the couple. I think that many weddings today are less traditional and stripped down and this includes the invites. There may be smaller guest lists and smaller budgets but you can still do a super cute and memorable invite without spending a lot of money or doing anything flashy. This is true of any memorable or special event really. Just need some creativity. I love the challenge of coming up with something great with very little.