Just in Time

With the holiday season at an end, it is time to start thinking about the upcoming wedding season. We have created a new line of budget friendly and absolutely gorgeous invitations.  Each invitation is printed on the same beautiful papers, in either snow white or off white shimmer card stock and comes with your RSVP card with matching envelopes for both invite and response cards.

The digital art work on the invitation is either hand glittered or adorned with crystals. Either way you choose your design, your guests will be wowed by the beauty and simple elegance of these invitations.

If you are interested in these lovely invitations, check out our Etsy store or contact me at marlene@amiradesign.net

Golden Engagement

Natalie and Alin are getting married next year. Natalie wanted something different for their engagement party, so we worked on an invitation that stands out and won't be easily forgotten.  Her colors are gold, light pink and cream.

I created these gorgeous invitations for them using an antique gold envelopment and wrapped it with a satin ribbon and a beautiful gold buckle.  I added crystals to the invitation, because really what girl doesn't like diamonds.

They are such an adorable couple, I can't wait to work on their wedding next.

Marlene

Peacock Folio Invitation

Here is another take on our newest Bengaline covered folios.

Some people think that peacocks are played out, but you know what I don't think so at all. I love them, they are truly beautiful and their colors are so amazing. So I decided to use my love for peacocks and create this new design for our new folios.

I started by grabbing my favorite feather and went in search of a perfect button for this, decided to use a mounted crystal instead of a button.  Attached it on the front of the card and got to work on the inside.

After I designed the invitation, I had to add my favorite Swarovski Crystals everywhere, Can you tell I love bling. 

Isn't it gorgeous?  I absolutely love the colors.

As you can see, there is so much that we can do with these folios. I just love them, they are definitely going to be my new favorite.  Cant wait to get to work on a new design.

If you are interested in ordering, please visit our site, our Etsy store or you can email me for more information here.  Thanks for stopping by.

Custom Invitations

What does Custom Invitations mean and why are they so costly?

I have been asked this question a lot lately and thought this was a great way to inform and introduce our readers to the world of custom invitations.

There are quite a few designers that offer custom invitations, varying in degrees of prices and quality of service.  What you need to do is find the one that fits in your budget as well as your style.   Each designer has a distinct style, and more often than not will infuse their style with yours to provide you a spectacular invitation. 

Custom Designed Invitations are unique invitations that are designed just for you.  Each design is created based on your consultation with the designer.  Your designer will gather all the information about your wedding wishes and your background, and will create an invitation that should meet your design ideas.   So when meeting with your designer for the first time, you really need to provide as much information as possible about your dreams and wishes for the big day as well as some information about you and your fiancé.

The cost aspect of a custom design invitation is quite shocking to a lot of people.  Most brides begin their shopping experience by searching online or gathering catalogues so that they can get a feel for the available products and price ranges for their invitations.  The biggest mistake that is made is confusing the prices online/catalogues with the prices for custom design.  When you order your invitations online or from a catalogue you are selecting a design that is regularly available with the only option available of changing the ink color on the design, but very little else can change on your selected item.  This keeps cost to a minimum for the producer of the invitation therefore they can in turn offer you lower prices.

The biggest factor in cost for custom designed invitations is TIME.  So much time is spent on the design aspect of your invitation, once all the information from your consultation is gathered the designer will begin to get a picture of what it is you are looking for and what message you are trying to convey to your guest.  There is so much time spent on the design process, it could literally take 3-4 weeks to come up with a suitable design for you.  Some designers will charge a design fee either on a flat fee base or an hourly base.

Production of your invitation also takes time.  Once the design is set up and all the supplies are ordered to complete your invitations.  The production of the invitation will begin.  As I mentioned, custom designed invitation are created uniquely for you, they are not mass-produced on large machines in large warehouses.  At Amira Design your invitations are created in a small studio by hand.  Which insures that you are provided truly a one of a kind invitation. The production time can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months depending on the intricacies of your design. 

You must remember when choosing a designer, that not all designers are the same and that their price ranges are going to vary.  What you need to do is research first, check reviews, check styles, talk to the designers so that you can get a feel for them, talk to friends or family that have used them before.  If you are unable to speak to a designer directly, or if you don’t know anyone who has used them before,  check their websites for previous designs that they have created. You can get a sense for their style to see if this is something you are interested in before you contact them.   At Amira Design we have a full gallery of designs both past and present, check out the gallery here.

Once you have done your review, contact the one that best suits your style and budget needs, this way you can avoid feeling frustrated, or overwhelmed.  Give yourself enough time to work on your invitations so that you can avoid feeling rushed or feeling like you have to settle for something that you don’t want.  You should consider beginning your invitation shopping 8-9 months prior to the date of your wedding.  Remember that having the design you envision, takes time to create and produce.