Okay, so over the years your hair has been colored a couple of rock-star shades. You're rarely seen in anything other than chunky, funky shoes. You love the sleek look of urban fashion. But it's your wedding and you're willing to go a little glam -- just not without your own offbeat flourishes and touches.
You wouldn't dare go the ivory paper with black ink route; you want something distinctive and unusual. You will want to experiment with paper color, paper size and also text size and color. Think of a rectangular accordion-fold invitation in tangerine-orange, with the word "wedding" emblazed in yellow block letters on the opening fold. The second fold has all the particulars, again in yellow block printing, simple and to the point. The last fold has a meaningful, perhaps mildly esoteric, quote about your love. No traditional language here.
Design your own "ransom note" style invites with beautiful fonts, block letters and stamps. Print your wording in metallic hues; one letter in gold, the next in platinum, the next in bronze and so forth. Or take a strip of photo-booth snapshots of you and your groom being silly and romantic. Have it photocopied in color and mounted on hot pink card stock with the reverse side printed with all the particulars. Send it in a see-through vellum envelope.
For your response cards, do something zany and different: include a crayon in the envelope and have your guests respond with it. Tell them to draw a picture and express themselves! We know one artistic bride who sent psychedelic-patterned invites with matching black-and-white "coloring book" response cards. She asked her guest to fill their cards in however they chose, and displayed the vivid and creative results at the reception.
And speaking of receptions, why not add your own brand of ultra-hip charm to otherwise traditional touches? Embellish guest place cards with unique bindis, self-adhesive rhinestones or temporary tattoos. That way, your guests can adorn themselves with a tiny piece of your glittering style.
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