If you just got engaged and are starting to think about wedding invitations, there’s a chance you could be feeling just a little bit overwhelmed, intimidated, or uncertain. Scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram for ideas is fun, but after a while you may start wondering…how do you even get started creating custom wedding invitations? Design experts like ours, believe it or not, can make the process efficient and deeply enjoyable for you! Here’s a step by step on how we do it.
1. Establish Contact
Whether you found out about Dodeline Design through our Instagram, word of mouth, or through a Google search, we encourage you to take a look at our website’s gallery, blog, and social media to get an idea of our range of styles. It’ll help you see what we are capable of producing, and it’ll also help you get a starting point for expressing to us what you’d like to see in the finished version of your custom invitation suite. Statements like, “I like the font in this one, the colors in this one, and the watercolor illustration in this one” are great launch pads for creating your invitation!
Of course, the next step is a meeting with one of our expert creative designers. That can happen here at our studio in Mount Pleasant, SC if you’re local; we can set up a phone call; or we can do everything over email if you’re swamped with other responsibilities and that’s the most efficient way for you to communicate with us!
2. Brainstorming and Refining
The first thing we’ll do together is best described as “brainstorming.” No matter how scattered and incoherent you think your initial thoughts are about what you would like to see in a custom wedding invitation, just throw them at us. We know how to take those scattered thoughts and start organizing them into the beginnings of a design. Once we learn about you, get a sense for your style, and find out what priorities you have for your invitation design, we can put our creativity and experience to work building some options for you to look at.
This is also the stage at which we start talking price. Our experience in this area allows us to provide you with an accurate quote based on the paper, ink, custom work, volume, and other factors that we are considering. Your deposit is based on that quote, but we do keep the quote flexible so that we’re free to add, subtract, and modify elements along the way. That way we end up with the perfect invitation!
3. Narrowing Things Down
Based on the ideas generated in our brainstorming session, your designer will get to work creating three different options for you to look at. There’s a myriad of different design elements to consider, from paper color to specialty inks to ribbons, seals, and other accessories that add a touch of extra texture and color.
In this stage, our designers also create the unique elements that make your invitations truly unique: custom watercolor illustrations, drawings, maps, and other artwork. There’s just nothing like a customized, handmade illustration to make your invitation totally unique and surprisingly beautiful.
With a little more back-and-forth, we’ll work with you to adjust coloring, alter fonts, move illustrations around, switch out accessories, and make the other changes necessary to narrow down your choices to that one perfect design. See, that wasn’t so hard!
4. Inviting Your Guests
Once we’ve gotten final approval from you for your custom wedding invitations, it’s time to start printing! We complete your order, giving each piece the attention it deserves, whether we’re carefully tying a ribbon or pressing a wax seal with your monogram. If you’re sending out the invitations yourself, we package your order both beautifully and safely so that it reaches you ready to be mailed. If we’re sending the invitations on your behalf, all you have to do is wait for the RSVPs! With the wedding invitation design process behind you, it’s time to plan the big day itself.
Our creative designers can’t wait to meet with you. Your custom invitations are going to be incredible, and it’s a special privilege every time we get to meet a couple and help them create a suite that beautifully reflects their relationship!
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