When you first start looking into your wedding invitations, you’ll find you have many options when it comes to how you want to design and print them. Odds are, you’ll come across Minted, which promises beautiful invitations for a lower price. However, although Minted offers a large selection of beautiful options and good paper stock, you’re actually quite limited in your options. For this reason, it’s so important to understand custom invitations versus Minted invitations. In the hands of an experienced designer, custom invitations can offer you much more freedom.

Avoid the Overwhelm

With a higher budget for your wedding stationery, you can afford luxury items and services, like calligraphy, letterpress, and an actual relationship with your designer. We’ll go into the physical differences between custom invitations versus Minted invitations. But first, it’s worth noting that custom invitations come with an experienced artist who you can contact anytime. It is a one-on-one personal experience.

Your designer will get to know you and your dream designs. They can produce a unique experience for you, and therefore, a unique wedding stationery suite. A designer can explain the various ways to make your suite unique and work within your budget. You can actually meet with your designer (in person or virtually), and they can go through your various options. The whole point is that you are getting a wedding invitation that is unique and personal to you.

Custom Invitations versus Minted Invitations

As your designer, I always begin with a conversation about you and your vision for your wedding day. We’ll go through things like venue, color palette, textures, details, and family traditions. Then, we’ll get into the customization. There are many ways to customize your wedding invitation and make your suite unique.

Paper

You can choose a variety of papers for your wedding invitation suite, from cotton to standard to homemade. Then, you’ll choose between single-ply and double-ply and what kind of edge you like. There’s always a wide variety of colors to choose from. To create a really unique invitation, you can choose a combo of options.

Printing Methods

There are so many different types of printing methods for your custom wedding invitation. There’s digital, letterpress, foil, white ink, and embossed. Each method has its own unique look and price point. Letterpress, foil, and embossing have a very tactile feel, while digital is much more colorful. White printing allows you to print on dark papers for contrast. Your designer can help you pick out the best option for you.

Wraps and Overlays

These are practical and functional. You can create a beautiful vellum wrap with twine and wax seal to enclose your suite. This changes the way your guests interact with your invitation. It can create a real first impression for your wedding and theme.

Wax Seals

There’s so much room for customization here. You can pick the shape (round, oval, square), style edge (organic, perfect circle, raw edge), and color. You can even decide if it’s hand-stamped or pre-made. I prefer to add this touch to the invite itself as opposed to the outer envelope. You’ll spend less on postage, and there’s no need to worry about the wax seal getting damaged in transport or the post office refusing to deliver it.

Ribbon and Twine

This detail can really make your suite feel special. It adds an additional level of texture.

Envelope Liners

This is another detail that adds a bit of texture to complement your wedding invitation suite. You may not think about envelope liners too much, but they can really add that unique element.

Vintage Stamps

This is a great detail that people don’t typically think about when it comes to custom invitations versus Minted invitations. There are tons of different styles to coordinate with your color palette and theme.

Calligraphy

This is definitely something that can really elevate your wedding invitation. At Turnage and Watts, we offer digital (matching the font from your suite), white ink addressing, and handwritten calligraphy. It’s such an elegant touch that many couples prefer.

As you can see, there’s a lot of consider when it comes to custom invitations versus Minted invitations. With Minted invitations, you cannot mix paper types, colors, or printing styles. There are no handmade wax seals or calligraphy. They do offer you a designer who you can work with, but the resulting invitations still have an assembly line feel.

If you go the custom route and work with a designer, there are endless possibilities. You can get your entire wedding suite with save-the-dates, bridal shower, wedding invitations, RSVP cards, and any other inserts, and they all work perfectly together. Your designer will help you through the maze of choice, and you’ll end up with the perfect invite.

At Turnage and Watts, I pride myself on helping couples create their one-of-a-kind keepsake heirloom that they’re over the moon about! Reach out to me today because I’d love to get started on your custom wedding invitations!

Photography and flatlays by @julianamary and @thestyledstockshop

Psst…Want to Get the Complete Guide to Wedding Invitations?

Navigating the crazy world of wedding stationery can be very intimidating. Not sure when to send your invitations? How much postage will you need? What items do you need in your suite? Confused about your invitation suite wording?

You’re thinking, “Oh my! There is so much I don’t know!”

Grab our Complete Guide to Wedding Invitations to give you peace of mind knowing that everything is going according to plan.

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