'Knotical' Invitations Go Both Ways

Our Knotical invitation suite is on the verge of completion, and it's about time. For too long it has existed only as a save the date card, but now it will have invitations, rsvps, and all those extra cards to match, plus a little envelope detail.

When we design invitation suites here at Phaedra, we always make up an imaginary couple. It's much easier to design for someone in particular, even if they're only figments of our own minds. But as you might imagine, we often end up imagining the whole wedding, too!

The Knotical suite was originally inspired by one of those nautical model-knot shadowboxes, little vignettes of regimented skill. But then the sandy dunes and crisp winds of the Oregon coast elbowed their way in, and wouldn't be denied. The result is a design that can go either way: formal or casual.

(Guestbook: Martha Stewart Weddings; Vintage naval wedding photo: Flickr; Favor boxes: Martha Stewart Weddings; Cake: Pink Cake Box; Ropes and ribbons: Brides; Flowers: Martha Stewart Weddings)

The aesthetic of a Naval wedding is a tried and true classic. It's traditional and crisp, with a patriotic flair that can be toned up or down as desired. Though it might be more common among brides and grooms with military ties, a civilian wedding can utilize the same palette and many of the same details: sailor's knots, crisp linens, and polished gold or medal-like accents.


(Landscape: Webshots; Boutonniere: The Knot; Seagulls: Flickr; Tiny white flowers: Capetown Daily Photo; Beach chapel: Flickr; Barefoot bride: Ben Pancoast Photography)

The more casual or beachy take on the Knotical suite relies on the coastal palette. The obvious colors are the sand, sky, and sea, but you might be surprised at how many colors are available in the flowers native to the coastal ranges. Find one or two colors that you love, and use them for a pop of color. Then keep the rest fairly neutral and mellow. Here we chose the yellow-green of dune grass and anemone flowers, but blue-purples are also quite common.

Krista & Aaron's Butterfly Invitations

invitation open

Krista's wedding is loosely butterfly-themed, with a palette of dark purple and ivory. From there, she let me fly free on the design.

One of my favorite parts of custom design is shopping for paper. Running my fingertip along the subtle textures, flicking the corners to gauge the stiffness, coming back to old favorites, and ogling all the new papers on the scene. This time, I found a gorgeous feltweave textured eggplant paper that was perfect for this project. We decided to use this for the main invitation, screen printed in a custom-mixed lighter purple and white gold.

invitation closed


rsvp postcard

Then, for the RSVP postcard, map, and envelope, we chose an ivory paper with a subtle white gold shimmer from the vast array of cream/ivory/off-white papers available, and printed it with the same custom mixed purple.

Her wedding is also going to be a small, intimate gathering, and the invitations reflect this. We kept the physical dimensions of the assembled package small, and the invitation itself involves folding and a self-closure element, making it an unusual size. Part of the joy of wedding invitations is in the recipients' experience of opening them: Krista's tiny shimmering envelopes will announce themselves as little mail-borne treasures, and reveal layers of interactive discovery.

As a bonus, they were designed to come out of standard sheet sizes with very little waste, and to require no more than standard letter postage, keeping costs very reasonable. Proof that beautiful wedding invitations don't have to destroy your budget.

To see more views of this invitation suite, visit the Phaedra Paperie website.

Update: Krista has been receiving overwhelmingly positive responses to these invitations -- even from male coworkers! I think it's safe to say that they're a success.