Tired of the same dull invitations, but don’t have the means to
splurge on something attendees usually throw away? With a little
creativity, impressive invites can be designed to fit any budget.
Guests might even save them as keepsakes.
“It doesn’t have to be high-end printing and multiple colors,”
says Cindee Johnson, president of Boise, Idaho-based Ooh La Lu! (www.oohlalu.com),
an invitation-focused offshoot of her advertising firm. “It just
has to be a clever idea and high quality.” Johnson sells blank
versions, at a discount, of invitations she custom-designs for
upscale events. One looks like oversized matchbooks placed in a box
of Cuban cigars. Another: fold-up paper lanterns that can be used
for evening outdoor events.
If the event is near the end of the year, print the invite on a
cardboard calendar for the coming year, or staple a page-a-month
calendar to the cardboard. Peter Kruty Invitations (www.peterkrutyeditions.com )
Brooklyn, N.Y., says making such invitations with commercial
letterpress printing can be less costly than traditional engraving,
especially if only two or three colors are used and if the planner
submits a design.
For large events, invitations made from die-cutting are
relatively inexpensive, says New York City-based John Kneapler (www.johnkneaplerdesign.com). This technique involves
cutting out shapes from the paper to create pop-up effects, or
interactive invites with parts that can be assembled into a paper
toy, such as a mobile.