Pocket wedding invitations are not only elegant but useful for holding RSVPs and other enclosures you may need for out-of-town guests. For instance, you may insert cards with information about the wedding and reception locations, accommodations, and special information for the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Pocket invitations come in a variety of sizes and styles. They can be ordered from numerous on-line sources or purchased from stationers.
Conventions governing what is acceptable and tasteful in a wedding invitation used to be strict and unbending. Traditionally, wedding invitations were engraved in black ink on white paper. At one time, if you were really daring, you might do your invitation in off-white. Times have changed, however, and today's couples want their invitations to express their personalities. Color, motif and design can communicate feelings of joy and celebration. You can use a tasteful format and incorporate color. You can also use a recurring icon such as a flower, a feather, a monogram or a graphic design element throughout the components of a pocket invitation to create continuity.
Companies such as Envelopments, featured in "Martha Stewart Weddings" magazine, offer mix and match pocket wedding invitations. You can create your own distinctive invitations and inserts at home using a laser or ink-jet printer, or the stationer can work with you to develop professionally printed ensembles. Websites offering Envelopments, Birchcraft, Carlson Craft, Stylart and other pocket invitation lines post recipes for certain styles and groupings. You can order components for pocket invitations with various options for customization.
With pocket invitations, you can incorporate a variety of unique creative elements including graphic designs, flourishes, photographs, charms, swatches of lace or brocade, ribbon, emblems, monograms, letterpress designs, stamps and seals. Let your creative juices flow! For example, if your wedding invitation is imprinted with a faint outline of a bird in flight, the inner cards could be imprinted with a simple feather to carry the theme throughout. This concept could be applied to almost any object that is beautiful.
As of 2011, pocket invitations are available on more than 60 websites. Based on 2011 on-line store pricing, you can print and assemble your own pocket invitations at home for as little as $1.63 a piece when ordering from The Party Block, or select a full-blown, professionally printed version with several inserts for as much as $14.42 each when ordering from Renaissance Writings. Printing and putting together your own invitations can be fun, and you can create an impressive look using the same components that would be printed professionally.