Stationery Themes

Stationery will be woven throughout your wedding celebration, from the moment family members and friends open the pristine invitations until the day you mail your last thank-you card. There are several ways to design your wedding stationery so that all the components -- save-the-date cards, invitations, reply cards, maps and directions, programs, seating cards, menus, matchboxes, favor tags, and thank-you cards -- are rendered in the same visual language. Continuity can be expressed through a recurring icon, monogram, or graphic pattern, through paper or ink color, even through a unique typographical style. It requires forethought -- if you'll be sending save-the-date-cards, you'll need to decide on the style at least four to six months in advance -- but having a theme for your wedding stationery is powerful. It helps create a lasting impression, allowing the event to become engraved on our memories.
Green Calligraphy
Dots and Lines
Wreath and Monogram
Contrasting Colors
Fall Leaves

Stationery Themes: Green Calligraphy

A relaxed and festive handwritten script was used to create each element of this stationery wardrobe, then reproduced in two shades of green ink using inexpensive offset printing; this strategy is a great way to achieve a handmade look for less money. The matchbox and program bear monograms in the same style of calligraphy. The favor cone, filled with sweets, is inscribed with an old Irish toast. Green ribbon is threaded through the place card, invitation, and program, then tied in bows.

Stationery Themes: Dots and Lines

A graphic pattern decorates this lighthearted yet sophisticated stationery. The design is slightly different on each piece, but the tight range of shapes and the vibrant red-and-coral color palette keep the papers harmonious. On some of them, such as the thank-you and reply cards, the colorful bands continue onto the back cover. The color scheme is carried out in other details as well: Coral grosgrain ribbon binds the program booklet, and envelopes and place cards are written in a lively, ornate coral script.




Stationery Themes: Wreath and Monogram

In this formal, hand-engraved set, an embossed Georgian-style wreath and monogram connect the different items. Some of the icons are inked in gold, and others are blind-embossed. On the invitation, menu, and place card, the gold is picked up in the beveled edge of the card stock. Stationery that guests will see before and during the ceremony features the bride's and groom's initials; those cards guests will encounter afterward, such as the thank-you note, have the couple's combined monogram.




Stationery Themes: Contrasting Colors

Clean typography and pale-blue and cream tones unite this elegant grouping. A cream invitation is tucked inside a blue envelope, and the cream pages of a ceremony program have a blue cover, for example. The stationery was printed using the letterpress method, which yields a textural effect (the result is an impression in the front of the paper). To vary the presentation, some elements, such as the menu and place card, are calligraphed in the same gray tone as the printed type.

Stationery Themes: FallLeaves

Three different leaves adorn these pieces. The icons and typeface were created by letterpress. Paper and ink in shades of brown enhance the autumnal feeling and further unify the group. To keep costs down, one folder was designed to house the ceremony program as well as the invitation and inserts. Printed stickers and tags decorate favor boxes and menu scrolls.