This year the hottest wedding invitations styles take their cue from the world around us. Colors both bold and subtle, patterns that make an immediate impression and styles that combine tradition and innovation in a unique, contemporary look are all great styles. Your wedding invitations will set the tone for the wedding of your dreams when you choose from a variety of can’t miss wedding invitation styles taken from today’s hottest designers. Take a look at what the top designers are offering for your 2009 wedding invitation needs.

Vera Wang

Bold prints and delicate, subtle patterns combine in designer Vera Wang’s wedding invitation lines. Wang mixes contemporary and traditional in a style that is unabashedly joyful, un-self-consciously playful and inimitably modern. In the Vera Wang Retro Verso line, Wang turns tradition on its head to print on both sides of the invitation, pairing bold prints with delicate patterns to create wedding invitations that are memorable and unique.

Vera Wang Retro Verso Dual Sided Gingko Wedding Invitations are simplicity embodied. One side features a bold imprint of the lovely fan-shaped gingko biloba leaf in reverse print, while the invitation appears on the other side, framed by a delicate spray of gingko leaves traced along the border. Lovely for the modern bride who still wants to offer a nod to tradition. It’s an especially apt choice for an Oriental themed wedding.

Vera Wang’s William Arthur Black and Pink Paisley Letterpress Wedding Invitations are delightfully retro with a modern punch of color. Black and pink play against each other in a paisley-inspired flower print in bold black detailed with pretty-as-pink touches. The hand-lined pink envelope completes the ensemble that is both whimsical and very Art Deco at the same time.

Anna Griffin

The Retro Verso and Letterpress wedding invitation lines from Vera Wang are absolute can’t miss wedding invitation choices for today’s modern bride. Designer Anna Griffin focuses on the traditional, playing with touches of ribbon, satin embossing and layered panels to create a feeling of opulence and timeless elegance.

Anna Griffin Celadon Repousse Wedding Invitations: Anna Griffin offers a subtle and elegant square invitation bordered with a pale green botanical print. The ivory center panel features an embossed border and is bound with satin ribbon at all four corners. The invitation is a statement of timeless elegance without being caught in the lock-step of engraved tradition. Pretty, subtle and definitely bridal, this is an ideal invitation choice for any formal wedding.

Anna Griffin Platinum Toile Wedding Invitations: Beautiful invitations that save you money, is there anything better? The Platinum Toile Wedding Invitations from the Anna Griffin line is only available blank. Each invitation consists of a platinum-bordered ivory card that can be printed with your invitation wording, a vellum gatefold sleeve to wrap around it and a matching bow to create a truly romantic wedding invitation. Make a romantic statement with your wedding invitation or announcement by choosing this or one of Anna Griffin’s other floral printed lines of wedding invitations.

Custom Mix ‘n’ Match Wedding Invitations

Are you looking for wedding invitations that are completely and totally your own? Custom Mix ‘n’ Match Wedding Invitations fit the bill. You can choose your print colors, choose the color of your envelope linings and even choose the style of your enclosures. In fact, there are so many custom options that your wedding invitations are bound to be completely one of a kind.

Custom Mix ‘n’ Match 7 x 7 Pocket Fold Invitations

Classic elegance and contemporary styling combine in this unusual wedding invitation style. You have a choice of 90 different color papers, including a range of metallic colors from pearl white to lapis blue. Customizations available for the Mix ‘n’ Match wedding invitations include the color of the liner paper, color of the backing paper and color of the invitation panel. The pocket fold is contemporary and sleekly elegant, ideal for today’s bride with a sense of timeless style.

Reagan 3-Layer Wedding Invitations

Who said the only thing that comes in layers is the wedding cake? The Reagan 3-Layer Wedding invitation is part of the Custom Mix ‘n’ Match wedding invitation collection. The three layer panel invitation can be customized in literally hundreds of ink and paper colors, making your wedding invitations truly one-of-a kind creations. Choose two different backing colors, one panel color and ink color, customize with your chosen type style and pick out an envelope to accent or contrast with your invitations.

Your wedding is your day, a day when your personal style should hold sway. Invite your guests to your wedding in style, your own personal style, with a wedding invitation that catches the attention of your guests from the start.

Ryan Anderson is a writer and blogger who discusses topics such as event planning and event coordination, along with specific topics such as wedding invitations.




There are many different ideas when it comes to wedding invitations, so it is important to look at the style that fits best, before you decide which invitations to send out. Wedding invitations are an important part of the wedding planning process because it provides your guests with valuable information about the ceremony. These ten commonly used invitation styles can help you find the best choice for your wedding.

Traditional

The traditional themed wedding invitation is making a comeback because of its simplicity, which many couples like to have. The traditional wedding invitation is a rectangular shape made from one sheet. This style generally has printing on the front of the invitation in a scripted font without any other decorations or designs. Although it is very simple and plain to look at, the couples who choose it do so for its simplicity. This is also a style typically used with formal weddings.

Contemporary

The contemporary wedding invitation is something that is drastically different from the traditional style. It is a wedding invitation that can be in any shape and in any size, and the couples usually choose it because they can customize it to their own needs and wants. This style is perfect for destination weddings. The couple may also choose to incorporate a picture on the invitation. There are many excellent choices available when choosing a modern themed wedding invitation.

One Fold

Invitations that fold in half are also very common today. On the front of the invite, there is usually a quote or lyrics from a song, or even a picture. When the invite is unfolded, the information important information about the wedding can be found. These can be opened sideways, like a traditional greeting card, or it can be opened top to bottom. Either way, many couples are choosing to use them.

Two Fold

Two fold wedding invitations were not used in the past because they take up a lot of room and can be heavy and expensive to buy. However, many couples have started to use them, especially if they can print the invitations all by themselves. These are designs that have a lot more information than the traditional invitations, because the have more room. The first fold usually has information about the couple, and the middle fold usually has information about the wedding itself.

Religious

For very religious weddings, designs like crosses and religious symbols are becoming very important to use on wedding invitations. You can find many different design elements that include religious items or symbols, and if this is something that is very important to you and your spouse-to-be, it is important to use a wedding invitation that matches your needs.

Cultural

Many people are putting cultural ideas or decorations onto their wedding invitations because they want to celebrate the mixture of two different cultures in their wedding. These can include using Celtic knots as decoration, or even using traditional colors and designs of the Native Americans. Either way, using cultural designs on wedding invitations is becoming quite popular.

Theme Oriented

A big idea when it comes to wedding invitations is to incorporate the theme into the actual invitation itself. This can mean fall leaves on an invitation, or invitations in the shape of snowflakes for a winter wedding. It can also mean a beach scene on the wedding invitation to indicate that the wedding takes place on the beach.

Transparent

A newer addition to wedding invitations are invitations that have transparent sheets added to them. A wedding invite might have a photograph underneath a semi-transparent sheet of film over the top of it. This adds depth to the wedding invitation and makes it much more fancy and interesting to look at. It can be an idea for a formal or informal wedding.

Illustrated

Another idea that is hitting the market when it comes to wedding invitations is the illustrated invitations. These have either a picture of the couple on the invitation, or a drawing of them or something else on the invite. Because illustrations were not normally used for wedding invitations, the illustrations on these types of invitations can be very interesting and can make for a completely different theme when it comes to wedding invites in general.

Non-Conventional

There are several different non-conventional wedding invitations that are out there on the market today, and couples who seek to be completely different usually do these. Often, they are used for destination weddings, as they often incorporate the overall theme. They can be airline tickets that fit into a pocket, messages in a bottle, or even cloth and paper leaves with the wedding information written on them. Non-conventional wedding invitations are usually done by hand or they are purchased one at a time, so they can be quite expensive.

Lisa Parker is a freelance writer who writes about specific aspects of a wedding, such as wedding invitations.