When couples decide to spend the rest of their lives together, one of the first big steps they take is planning a wedding. The invitation is often the first thing that their guests receive with details about the upcoming celebration. Margaret Jones, owner and operator of Scriptura, has been creating memorable invitation suites for New Orleans weddings since 1995.
First, some basic vocabulary, for those of us who may not know the term “invitation suite”: A typical wedding suite includes the wedding invitation, inner envelope, outer envelope, reply card and reply envelope. Frequently there is also an additional insert card with a schedule of events and wedding website.
Contrary to what one might expect, Margaret encourages couples to start designing their invitation suite after finalizing all wedding and reception details. “The best invitations relate to the style and location of the ceremony and reception,” she advises. “For example, a wedding at Hotel Peter and Paul can carry off an invitation with richer, deeper colors than a more restrained event at the New Orleans Country Club.”
These deep, rich colors were on display in the invitation to Sevi Hunter and Shed Heaton’s wedding, with an elegant dark blue paper complemented perfectly by gold lettering. The envelope liner featured a picture of the deconsecrated church at Hotel Peter and Paul.
This illustrative envelope liner is one of the many popular trends Margaret has recently noticed in invitation suites, along with color layering with tone on tone inserts. While encouraging couples to try new design trends, she cautions them against being trendy with language, advising them to lean into traditional wording rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.
At times, both the wording and the design itself lean toward the traditional, as was the case when Ainsley Beeman married Clayton Kenworthy. The timeless pink and green tones they chose also spoke to the ceremony’s location at Longue Vue House and Gardens, once again emphasizing the connection between the venue and the invitation suite.
However, sometimes it’s not the location that informs decisions about the invitation suite, but rather a particular interest of the couple. Anne Brown and Will Reily knew they wanted to incorporate Anne’s love of birds into their special day, so Margaret’s design displayed different birds on each piece of the suite.
The nature-themed suite paired beautifully with Anne and Will’s wedding website, which had several photos of the couple outdoors. This pairing speaks to Margaret’s observation that, while the interaction between the invitation suite and the wedding website is limited, “certain colors or motifs will likely be consistent. The platforms are quite different, but the intention is the same—to convey information clearly while keeping the guests’ comfort in the forefront.” Wedding websites are a great place to list the registry, attire, things to do, and more!
The website helps couples convey necessary—but wordy!—details, ensuring that the invitation suite looks clean and uncluttered. Whether traditional or trendy, each suite ultimately reflects the unique couple that chose it. Margaret enthuses, “it is fun to hear their stories and bring a bit of their personalities into the invitation suite.”
