Invitation Color Story + Flat Lay Styling
Featured on Real Weddings of Temecula.
Invitation design is more than just putting pretty colors together, adding the words, and printing your design. We design an invitation suite to tell a story - there’s a TON that goes into it (that’s another story for another day). So yes! - that also means we must think about how it will be styled on your wedding day to be cohesive with your other details (rings, veils, shoes, etc)! Here’s a little run down of how stationery designers can make this happen.
ESTABLISH A COLOR PALETTE
Whether you’re using Pinterest or a special design studio, coming up with a cohesive color palette is essential. Being as specific as possible makes it easy for your designer to create a cohesive invitation suite. As a designer, I often help my clients come up with or narrow down a color palette if they don’t already have one! I like to keep them simple - four colors is usually the sweet spot, but sometimes a fifth is necessary if adding in a metallic. Now..your invitation suite may not use all of the colors in the palette, but you’ll always want to have one primary color and an accent color or two. We can always bring in more of your color palette when we style your details! As a designer like to incorporate the color palette not just in paper colors, but the artwork as well.
FINDING STYLING ELEMENTS
When putting items together to use for styling your details, a photographer and stationery designer are already going to have a few things - the styling board, accent items like trays, ribbon, stamps, etc. I like to keep most of my stying elements pretty neutral, so that they go well with multiple invitation suites. Next up, we bring in pops of color and texture with blooms and greenery from your florist (don’t forget to ask for extras!). This is a great time to bring in more colors from your color palette. Finally, we bring in your personal items like rings and jewelry! They are all placed together to pull off a perfectly styled flat lay!
LET’S LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE
A while back, a fellow stationery designer, photographer (and styling queen) and I hosted a flat lay workshop! While we had a ton of fun styling gorgeous invitations and details, we also really got to see how colors and textures all work together. I want to use this invitation suite as an example because it was a little more difficult to style, but with the right accents and background, the flat lay turned out SO gorgeous. Because the paper was a stark white, we couldn’t use a white or neutral background because it would just blend in. So Carrie being the genius she is, used the floor to contrast the lighter tones. We brought in pops of yellow and a darker blue to accent the dusty blue tones on the envelope. Using a boutonniere placed on a try to give some dimension, we were able to tie everything together. With a little ingenuity, we were able to take an invitation suite that seemed difficult to style and turn it into an effortless flat lay photo!
