Custom Color Palettes: Designing Wedding Invites With Shutterfly

Wedding stationery is an important part of the big day, and Shutterfly offers couples the chance to create custom wedding invitations that reflect their unique style. Shutterfly's online tools allow couples to upload their own designs or edit pre-designed templates to create invitations that match their wedding theme and colour palette. This includes choosing from a variety of classic and contemporary themes, such as Glowing Bright, and selecting from different trim and paper options. Couples can also upload custom photographs to their invitations, whether it's a picture of the happy couple or an image that represents their wedding theme. Shutterfly recommends keeping the colour palette simple, with two to three colours that complement each other and reflect the season of the wedding.

Using photos to create custom wedding invitations

Wedding invitations set the tone for the entire celebration. They offer guests a glimpse of the wedding day to come and are a chance for couples to express their authentic style. Using photos is a relatively new trend in wedding stationery, and there are several ways to create custom wedding invitations with pictures.

Single-Photo Invitations

A single photo invitation can be elegant, especially if it's a professionally-produced photo from the couple's engagement session. Shutterfly has designer single-photo wedding invitations available in a variety of classic and contemporary themes, such as Glowing Bright. The Glowing Bright wedding invitation is a modern template that allows you to upload a single photograph that captures your love story and unique sense of style as a couple.

Creatively Framed Invitations

If you have the perfect photograph but don't want it to take up the entire invitation, you can upload it into a lovely frame template. Shutterfly's Ingrained Love wedding invitation features a frame you can use to upload your own photograph, image, or illustration. The Classic Romance suite includes a template for a wedding invitation with a picture, response card, enclosure card, and address label, all in a coordinated, elegant style.

Multiple-Photo Invitations

If you have more than one photo you want to feature, consider a collage-style invitation. Shutterfly offers custom photo-on-photo templates that are ideal for casual and cocktail-attire weddings of all themes and styles. An invitation featuring a collage of custom photographs reflects a couple's style and sense of adventure.

Photo and Illustration Combinations

In addition to photos of the happy couple, couples can also use a photograph of a landscape or an image that represents their wedding theme or style. Shutterfly's Art Library includes photos and illustrations that can be used to create unique themes, such as Boho wedding invitations or beach-inspired wedding stationery.

Custom Color Palettes

When creating custom wedding invitations with photos, you can also personalize the color palette to match your wedding theme. Shutterfly allows you to create season-inspired wedding invitations with your personal details, choice of paper, and trim. For example, if you're having a summer wedding, you might choose invitations in shades of white, bright green, and navy.

Design Tips for Photo Wedding Invitations

• Choose high-quality, clear, and well-lit photos that showcase your love and personalities.
• Select photos that match the theme and style of your wedding. For a formal wedding, a casual snapshot might not be appropriate.
• Be mindful of the layout of the invitation and how the photo will fit. Vertical photos may work better with portrait-oriented invitations.
• Choose colors that reflect your wedding theme or personal style.
• Keep the design simple and uncluttered, focusing on the essential information.

How to design your own custom wedding invitations

Designing your own wedding invitations is a fun and creative way to add a personal touch to your special day. Whether you're a graphic designer or not, creating custom wedding invitations is made easy with Shutterfly's online tools and templates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to design your own wedding invitations:

Choose Your Theme and Colors:

Start by selecting a theme that reflects your wedding style. Is it traditional, whimsical, or bohemian? Once you've decided on a theme, choose two to three colors that complement each other. Consider the season of your wedding and the colors associated with it. For example, soft pastel colors are perfect for a spring wedding, while deep jewel tones are ideal for a winter celebration.

Select Your Photos:

Photos are a wonderful way to personalize your wedding invitations. You can use a single photograph, such as an engagement photo, or multiple photos to create a collage. If you're including a photo of the happy couple, consider the location and attire to ensure they match the mood of your invitation. For a formal wedding, opt for elegant attire and a sophisticated backdrop.

Determine Your Style:

Style refers to the specific design choices you'll make, including font style, size, and placement. These choices should align with your chosen theme. For a classic wedding, a simple design with two colors and minimal flourishes is elegant. While for a springtime garden wedding, a soft floral border or watercolor background adds a whimsical touch.

Pick Your Size and Shape:

The standard wedding invitation size is 5" x 7", providing ample space for essential details, your wedding website, and design elements. However, you can also choose folding cards or accordion-style cards for a unique presentation. If you want to include additional information, consider enclosure cards or response cards in a coordinated style.

Perfect Your Wording:

When it comes to the text on your invitations, legibility is essential. Choose a clear and bold font, and avoid overcrowding the invitation with too much information. Include the hosts' names, wedding announcement, location and timing details, RSVP date, and a link to your wedding website for guests to find more information.

Timing and Quantity:

Start designing your invitations eight to twelve months before your wedding, and aim to send them out six to eight weeks before the big day. This gives you plenty of time to perfect your design and allows guests to make travel arrangements. Order a few extra invitations to account for any errors or last-minute additions to your guest list.

By following these steps and using Shutterfly's custom color palette options, you can design elegant and personalized wedding invitations that set the tone for your special day and leave a lasting impression on your guests.

Choosing a colour palette: complementary, analogous, triadic, and tetradic combinations

When it comes to wedding invitations, Shutterfly recommends choosing a colour palette that reflects the hues of the wedding season and your personal taste. To achieve a clean and professional finish, it's important not to use too many colours, as it can make the design look busy. Instead, select two to three colours, focusing on one main hue and adding a second or third colour to complement it.

Complementary Colour Combinations

Complementary colours are any pair of colours located directly opposite each other on the colour wheel. Examples include red and green, blue and orange, or yellow and purple. These combinations offer the most contrast and are very eye-catching, often used by sports teams as they stand out and can be noticed from a distance.

Analogous Colour Combinations

Analogous colour schemes consist of three or more colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. One of these colours is the dominant one, usually a primary or secondary colour. Analogous colour schemes are commonly found in nature and tend to create a calming effect.

Triadic Colour Combinations

A triadic colour scheme uses three colours evenly spaced apart on the colour wheel. A common example is the green-purple-orange palette, with one dominant colour and the other two serving as accents. This combination requires careful execution to avoid a busy or loud design.

Tetradic Colour Combinations

Tetradic colour schemes use four colours arranged into two complementary pairs. This type of combination offers a wide range of possibilities for creating a unique and vibrant look.

Deciding on a theme and colour scheme

When deciding on a colour palette for your wedding invitations, it's important to consider the season in which the wedding will take place, the main colours of the venue, and any themes or styles that you want to incorporate. For example, if you're having a formal country club wedding, a casual beach theme might not be appropriate. Stick to one or two main hues and one or two secondary colours, one of which should be neutral. You can also add an accent shade, such as metallics, to draw the eye.

If you're having a summer wedding, classic colour combinations include white and purple, or white, bright green, and navy. For spring weddings, consider a colour palette of blush and mint, peach and blueberry, coral and sage, or pale pink and robin's egg blue. Winter weddings are a great opportunity to bring out deep colours such as dark purple, red, or green, paired with metallics like gold or copper. If you're having an autumn wedding, consider colours like fiery red, orange, gold, smouldering green, or burnt brown.

When creating custom wedding invitations with Shutterfly, you can upload your own design or edit pre-designed templates. You can also choose from a variety of classic and contemporary themes and add your own custom photograph to capture your love story and unique sense of style.

Matching your custom colour palette to your wedding website

Wedding invitations are an opportunity to express a couple's authentic style and give guests a glimpse of the wedding day to come. Shutterfly allows couples to create custom wedding invitations with their own colour palettes, matching their wedding website.

When creating a custom colour palette for a wedding website, it's important to consider the overall wedding theme and colour scheme. The website's colours should complement the hues that will be present at the wedding, such as the bridesmaids' dresses, groomsmen's ties, bridal bouquet, and centrepieces.

To match the wedding website to the invitations, couples can use Shutterfly's customisation tools. They can choose from a variety of templates and edit them to match their colour palette. This includes changing the background, graphic, and font colours to create a cohesive look.

In addition to colour, couples can also add personal photographs to their wedding website. This could be an engagement photo or a picture that represents their wedding theme. By using similar colours and visual elements across their wedding website and invitations, couples can create a seamless and cohesive experience for their guests.

When designing a custom colour palette for a wedding website, it's also essential to keep legibility in mind. Choose font styles, sizes, and colours that are easy to read and ensure that the text stands out against the background.

Finally, consider using the same colour palette across other wedding stationery, such as RSVP cards, date cards, and enclosure cards. This will create a unified look and feel for the entire wedding suite, making the event even more memorable for guests.

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