My friend and neighbor, Seattle cartoonist Ellen Forney, recently designed these sci-fi fabulous wedding invitations for a local couple, Michaela and Ryan.

See, when Ellen's not busy cranking out comics for award-winning books, she does these badass custom wedding invitations. I've liked lots of Ellen's invites in the past (and featured her before) but I'm COMPLETELY in love with Michaela and Ryan's zombie-themed invitation illustration, which reads "Earthquake? Hangover? Zombies? Nothing will stop … THE WEDDING."

You really must view it larger to see all the black-inked details.

And if you're curious about Ellen's non-zombie custom wedding invitations, watch this little video where she walks you through some of her work, including a great twist on using photobooth pictures in your invitation …

Continue reading "Nothing will stop … THE WEDDING" →

Free Labels

I'm a blog-hound and have my Google Reader set up so I can munch on countless design/craft/music/news blogs for countless hours (thus diverting my attention away from work and increasing the possibility of ADD in my future) throughout the day. I stumbled upon this blog, iDiY, while perusing one of my faves, DesignSponge. I'm cursing this useful, amazing site for not presenting itself to me EARLIER (before my durn wedding)! It is such a great resource of freebies, inspirations and ideas for event or wedding planning.

Free Script Font

Need a fancy font for free but don't know where to find it? Enter iDiy! While not everyone wants scripty lettering adorning their offbeat wedding invitations or RSVPs, this is a fantastic FREE (yes, free… a beautiful word) font for anything that needs a little dressin' up. And for those wannabe creatives who are taking the plunge into custom invitation design themselves? Well, iDiY has got some great floral vector graphics and fancy schmancy designs to jazz up your paper.

Are you design-challenged but need a snazzy new look for address labels or stickers? Just add your text and print these puppies out onto adhesive sheets or cardstock. For the Love of Labels Part 1 and Part 2 should do it, and of course they're free (there's that word again!).

Personalized Hand Soap labels

iDiY even has some fab ideas for favors, that you can make yourself, for all you crafty little devils out there. These personalized hand soap labels are classy and formal, perfect for a wedding favor. And this planted banana bread idea has me drooling… would be a great way to let your cooking skills shine through and give your guests something tangible to experience.

There are too many goodies to show you, so just go! Search! Peruse the wonders of iDiY (and no, this is not a paid advertisement.. I just really like what this blog is doing)! Your wedding planning will be a lot rosier with iDiY at your side.

How much do you love these letterpress invitations for a Seattle wedding coming up? Click the photo below to see all the details on realphotography.com.

If you're looking for the perfect green/recycled wedding invitations for your eco wedding, you must go check out the custom handmade 100% recycled paper, invitations, thank you notes, and guest books from Indiana's super-green indie-biz, Twisted Limb Paperworks.

It's hard to beat Twisted Limb's eco-pedigree: their textured papers are made using recycled office paper, grass cuttings, organically grown ferns, and water recycled. They work out of a carbon neutral facility near Bloomington, Indiana in a woodland studio. Over a fifth of their profits are donated to environmental and community groups. Added bonus: I kind of want to be best friends with the whole staff!

All Twisted Limb's invitation styles are offered in three forms–DIY Kit, You Assemble, and Fully Assembled. They have a ton of wedding invitation options (they claim "literally four trillion combinations!") and also do other wedding stuff like guestbooks, favors, programs and menus.

Not only are they greener than green, but they explain, "We acknowledge with reverence and revelry every celebration of love and commitment and enjoy working with both straight and same sex couples." They also have a whole section of their website dedicated to great green wedding ideas.

So if you want your wedding invitations to be sustainable and eco-friendly, and crafted by sweet, eco-friendly artisans in Indiana instead of malnourished child-slaves in some factory somewhere in Asia … get thee to Twisted Limb Paperworks!

Katie Fischer is an artist and graphic designer who specializes in wedding invitations and custom illustrations, including beautiful designs for gay and lesbian couples, like this whimsical invitation featuring two brides. Be sure to check out the "Art & Illustration" section of her website to see more.

Katie's done lots of custom wedding designs, but when I asked her Katie about how she wanted to evolve her wedding invitation designs, she explained, "I'm dying to do invitations for clients who want something artistic — something a little less Martha Stewart and a little more Edward Gorey/Tim Burton."

To this end, she's offering a 10% discount to offbeat brides! Just mention that you found her on Offbeat Bride when you contact her about your, say, Nightmare Before Christmas-style custom illustration invites. Or whatever else your mind might be cooking up…

So you're going for that more mod look for your wedding — no neo-Victoriana for you, hmmmmm? Well, Modern Girl Invitations has gotcher wedding invitations covered.

As a geek, of course I appreciate the fact that they have an online preview system so you can see what your invite will look like before you place your order. And the free shipping & e-proofs are sweet too. But really, it's about the clean, modern designs … and to see a few more and get info on an Offbeat Bride discount, keep reading!

Continue reading "Wedding invitations from Modern Girl Invitations" →

Cami of Cami's Paperie specializes in custom wedding invitations designs that have never been seen before — and will never be seen again.

"Once designed and printed, I'll never re-create that design for anyone else again," Cami explained to me, meaning that her invitations truly are one-of-a-kind.

Cami's Paperie is offering a 10% discount to all shoppers who mention Offbeat Bride!

She also provides wedding invitation supplies for offbeat brides who want to go the DIY route with their invitations, noting that she can custom cut and score the bulk paper to almost any size.

And of course she does more than just wedding invitations — she's got Save The Dates, place cards and table numbers, programs and menus, and all the other paper stuff you might need for your wedding.