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I had a hard time choosing my wedding invitations. I suppose you could say I was a stereotypical picky bride about them, though I never got angry or chewed anyone out. I just wanted something simple, and I couldn’t find anything on the market that fit.
I did have an ideal wedding invitation, and it was totally possible to make. The idea came from a close friend of mine. He said it should just be a blank white card, with the words “We’re Getting Married” alone on the front. Opening the card would reveal the simple words “You Should Come.” The necessary time/date/etc. information would be typed in smaller print on the bottom. It was perfect, exactly encapsulating all of my feelings about weddings. I could also have easily made them myself.
However, my parents didn’t like that idea. They wanted something a bit more traditional, even though I hated traditional cards. I hated lace, froofy flowers, sprawling cursive text, and especially my parents’ names giving the invitation. I know, I know, it makes sense: the bride’s parents usually pay for the wedding, and so it is their party to which to invite people. It just felt too much, yet again, like me being handed off from my parents to a husband.
Luckily we were able to compromise. I decided to look into getting custom wedding invitations. Part of me rebelled against the idea – they’re more expensive than form ones and I didn’t want to spend much money on the wedding. But mom didn’t mind, and it seemed the only way to find invitations on which we all agreed.
I discovered a lovely graphic design company, one that’s sadly now defunct, based in Vancouver. Two women ran it, one doing the artwork and the other handling the business end. I actually didn’t end up getting a custom wedding invitation; I used one of their stock designs, because at least that was a bit cheaper. The girls were lovely, and I was able to get a pretty invitation that still had plenty of my own personality.
I was determined to make the invitations a little subversive, even if the original mostly-blank card didn’t work out. I decided to include a picture of Jonathan and I on the cards, complete with one of my favorite relationship quotes. As you can see above, it wasn’t exactly the type of thing that one expects to find on wedding invitations. It even confused some people. But I thought it conveyed our personality much more than a typical invitation would, and it made me happy.
It’s always perplexed me how people bend over backwards for a bride, and how it’s almost acceptable for her to act crazy – but only if the things that she wants are traditional. Is she insane about having the most beautiful flowers and dress, about spending astronomical amounts of money? That’s cool. But she wants to keep things really simple, inject a little silliness into the proceedings, wants to do something nontraditional? All of a sudden it’s impossible, and it’s hard to find anyone who wants to help with that. Barefoot weddings are O.K., or spending hundreds of dollars on shoes she’ll probably never wear again, but wearing striped knee-high socks and old beat-up Chuck Taylors is too far out there. I find it very strange.
I had a good wedding, though, even if I found the entire process mostly uncomfortable. And I had the most awesome wedding invitations, thanks to two wonderful women from Vancouver.
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