On Friday I asked wedding invitation designers from all over the UK to share their best bright and summery invites with English Wedding blog. A cold and frosty day turned into a little ray of sunshine for me as lots of talented designers joined in to showcase wedding invitations with a cheerful spring and summer feel to them.

A new feature on English Wedding blog

This will become a regular feature because it gives you lovely readers out there a chance to see lots of new and exciting designs and ideas, all in one place.

(I’m thinking next time I might look for jewellery and accessories on a theme… if you have a theme, season or style in mind, give me a shout and I’ll ask for ideas for your theme!)

Do pop over to the English Wedding Showcase to see the summery wedding invitations in glorious technicolour (by which I mean: bigger. They also have descriptions and more info from the designers over there). In the meantime, here’s a round up of all the designs shared: two wedding inspiration boards with all the supplier information below each one.

Photo and design credits clockwise from top left:

• Beautiful Butterflies invitation by Wendy Bell Designs
• Aqua scroll wedding invite by Julie Boyd at Carol Miller Designs
• “Marie” summery wedding invitation from Cards by Sophie
• another scroll wedding invitation in pink from Carol Miller Designs
• Pretty pink invitation from the Ditsy print range at Knots and Kisses
• Beautiful bright wedding invites from the Enchanted Collection at Pink Sherbet Designs
• The Promenade Range from Invite In The Post is bright and breezy — perfect invitations for a spring or summer wedding!

Photo and design credits from top left (please go by my descriptions):

• Summer tea inspired wedding invitation by Sweet Words
• Bright and cheery stripey wedding invitation from Bonnie Blackbird
• Glorious sunshine invite by Octavia Plum
• Emma & Marc’s summer wedding invitation — photo credit McAvoy Photography
• Creative handmade calendar invitations by Gabby (shared by Ann from Eleventh Heaven)
• Pocketfold wedding invitation for a relaxed summer wedding by Bunny Delicious
• Vintage summer wedding invitation with lace and buttons by Flutterby Couture
• Bright and cheery peacock inspired wedding invitation from Inspired by Lisa
• Lime and charcoal pocketfold invitation by the lovely Millie and Me
• Vibrant orange and yellow bunting invitation by XOXO Stationery
• Cool invitation for a music themed wedding shared by Lynette at BlincPics Photography

So which is your favourite? Do you prefer pastels or bright colours for summer wedding invitations? And do you like the new feature… I hope it helps and inspires some of you

See all the invitations with full descriptions and big pictures on the English Wedding invitations Showcase

Claire xx

Hi again! Time for some pretty unique wedding invitation designs to show you — beautiful, creative and standout wedding invites from Wendy Bell Designs.

I featured Wendy’s London wedding on the blog back in 2011 — she’d designed all her own stationery to fit with her choice of wedding venue, and it was absolutely divine! Wendy’s bespoke wedding invitation service promises to be outstanding, so do check out her official website to find out more.

As a sponsor of English Wedding blog, Wendy Bell Designs now has a dedicated Showcase Page which I think you’ll love — there are more pics on there of her personalised wedding invitation designs, alongside info on the bespoke wedding invitation service.

Watch out for Wendy’s blog posts on the English Wedding Showcase as well — I’m looking forward to seeing what 2012 has in store for this very talented young designer (and lovely, lovely lady!)

Find out more about Wendy Bell Designs on the English Wedding Showcase

Wendy — welcome to English Wedding!

I wonder how many of you brides and grooms out there started the month a day or two ago with a resounding rallying cry of, “Right!” If you’re marrying in 2012, it’s time to get stuck into your planning, and especially time to think about wedding invitations. And if my inbox is anything to go by, plenty of you are investigating your options for stationery already! So I welcomed this guest blog post from Confetti with open arms. I hope you find it useful!

This article is supplied by Confetti.co.uk. To see their range of wedding stationery, visit www.confetti.co.uk/wedding-stationery/

Ok, you’ve set the date, what’s next? Well, this is where it starts to get really exciting. This is your chance to tell the world, (or your friends and family at least) by inviting them to the big day! Your wedding stationery is the first glimpse your guests will get of your wedding day style, so it’s important to make a good first impression.

When to send?

Timing is critical. People lead such busy lives these days that perhaps you shouldn’t be surprised if sending out invitations just a few weeks before the event results in a postman’s sack full of “Sorry we won’t be attending” replies. To make sure that your nearest and dearest are all present on the big day, sending out save the date cards around 6 months before the wedding is a great idea. If you are holding your wedding abroad or during a popular holiday period, it would be wise to get them in the post even earlier.

Personalised wedding stationery

As the cost of printing has fallen over the past several years, personalised stationery has become hugely popular. It’s the perfect way of putting your own stamp on your wedding with the minimum of effort.

There is a huge range of personalised stationery available, however the quality of design is just as large. English Wedding has some wonderful examples of beautiful wedding stationery so take a look around to find something suitable for you.

Advantages of using personalised stationery

• Saves you time and effort — it’s easy to order personalised stationery online so all the work is done for you
• The choice is endless so you can choose your favourite design and font, creating a unique style which is personal to you
• You can mix and match with DIY wedding stationery — you could have personalised invitations, for example, but create your own place cards

DIY wedding stationery

Creating your own wedding stationery is a time-consuming process which can either become a hugely enjoyable part of your wedding preparation, or a major regret. It’s a very hands-on approach, but lets you design something perfectly suited to your day. Receiving a handmade invitation feels much more personal and special. It’s a wonderful gesture, but it’s crucial to plan each step through before starting.

Make sure you’ve got time. For example if you’re having a small wedding and you’re planning well ahead of time, DIY stationery could be the perfect choice. If, however, you’re inviting hundreds of guests and only have a couple of months before your wedding day, you’re almost certainly going to be better off with a personalised range. It’s just not worth the stress!

Advantages of DIY wedding stationery

• Perfect if you want to show off your creativity and use your artistic skills to create completely unique stationery
• Creating your own stationery can be great fun. Evenings spent with bridesmaids making cards can be one of the highlights of planning your wedding
• DIY stationery tends to be less expensive

Whichever style and type you go for, stationery is such a huge part of your wedding day it’s worth getting absolutely right. Give your guests something to get excited about with your invitations and follow the style through to your menus and place cards for extra effect. The effort will be worth it.

I promised you gorgeous, glamorous, bright and sexy wedding invitations, and here they are. Designed by Wendy Bell, whose wedding I featured on the blog yesterday, these invitations are pretty special — and right up my street.

Roof Gardens Flamingo Design: www.WendyBellDesigns.com

Wendy’s Flamingo design was created for her wedding. She coordinated the wedding invitations to tie in with her wedding venue — the Roof Gardens in Kensington. The funky invitations take inspiration from the colourings of the wedding venue. The flamingos are found in their gardens and the dots symbolise the beaded curtains in the Roof Gardens club area. Wendy offers a bespoke invitation design service… and you can see just how much thought and attention to detail goes into the design process!

Peacock Spots wedding invitation: www.WendyBellDesigns.com

Above, Peacock Spots wedding invitation. Intricately dotted designs evoke the natural patterns of peacock feathers, in cool pink and grey… so sophisticated.

Monochrome Hearts wedding invitation: www.WendyBellDesigns.com

Monochrome Hearts wedding invitation. I love the grungey hearts, the textures and beautifully messy design with such a lovely typeface. Yummy.

I Love You wedding invitation: www.WendyBellDesigns.com (Wendy, we love you too!)

My favourite invitation from Wendy Bell’s collection is the I Love You design — it just looks like so much fun, and the colours are fabulous!

Beautiful Butterflies wedding invitation: www.WendyBellDesigns.com

…while these butterflies against a dark background stand out from the crowd — a really pretty design with a beautiful contemporary feel to it.

Art Nouveau wedding invitation: www.WendyBellDesigns.com

Last but not least, this is Wendy’s Art Nouveau wedding invitation design. It’s so pretty and elegant, but fits with the more glamorous side of vintage that we’re seeing emerge in the wedding industry for 2012. The squares in the layout contrast with the delicate flower designs, and I love the swirly bits.

She’s so talented!

Wendy Bell is an accomplished designer, having graduated from Winchester School of Art & Design with a BA (Hons) degree in Textile Design, specialising in Print. When she became engaged in 2010 and designed her own wedding stationery Wendy decided to create a bespoke invitation design service — and I’m delighted she did!

Find out more about Wendy, see other wedding invitation designs and read about her bespoke design service at www.wendybelldesigns.com

I have pet names for only a very select few wedding stationers. Zoe from Bunny Delicious just happens to be top of my list, and in more ways than one. I can’t remember quite where ‘Miss Delicious’ came from, but I like the sauciness of it… and it makes me smile whenever I see a Bunny Delicious design! I’ve known Zoe via the miracles of our modern interweb for years — and I’ve watched her creativity with growing delight.

Bunny Delicious is one of the UK’s top wedding stationery companies, appearing regularly in top wedding magazines and leading the way with a distinctive and unique artistic style. Wedding invitations from Bunny Delicious are instantly recognisable, Zoe’s guest books and photo albums are inspired and exciting, and Zoe herself is just brilliant.

An outspoken, creative and genuine lady, Zoe Rusga is one wedding stationery designer you have to find out more about. I’m very pleased to have Bunny Delicious as my newest sponsor on the English Wedding Blog. Find out more and see some of my favourite contemporary wedding invites and accessories on the new Bunny Delicious Showcase Page.

Zoe — I’m very happy to welcome you to English Wedding Blog.

Claire xxx

English wedding invitation competition on facebook

Morning everyone — now who’d like to enter a brand new competition on English Wedding blog?

All you have to do is help choose English Wedding’s favourite wedding invitation.

It’s just a bit of fun… but you can win some lovely prizes just in time for Christmas, and share a little happiness with top wedding invitation designers too!

Win a gift for your fiance! (and a little something for yourself)

The main prize is a Paul Smith Extreme Fragrance Gift Set (aftershave and shower gel) for your fella, and because you’ve gone to all the trouble of voting there’s a little treat for you too: a Ted Baker Butterfly Blossom gift set.

All you have to do is vote for your favourite wedding invitation on the English Wedding facebook page.

I’ve chosen ten gorgeous finalists from wedding invitation designs submitted to the English Wedding Showcase. Now it’s your turn to tell me which is best of all!

How to enter the competition

1. Visit and ‘Like’ the English Wedding facebook page
2. View the wedding invitation finalists and choose your favourite design
3. Vote for one design only by commenting on your favourite image
4. A winner will be chosen at random from everyone who’s voted
5. The designer of the wedding invitation with most votes will win 6 months sponsorship on English Wedding blog

Full terms and conditions

1. The competition is open until midnight on the 14th of December
2. The winner will be announced on the blog and on facebook within 7 days of the closing date
3. The prizes are as stated and no cash alternative is available
4. This prize draw is limited to the UK only: please don’t enter if you’re not in the UK
5. One vote per person please; duplicate entries will be disregarded

View the facebook album of final designs here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150372506603515.357801.258190068514&type=3

Morning everyone! I’m on a mission today and I need your help. I’m looking for wedding stationery — the latest designs, newest trends and most exciting invitations in particular. So I’m searching for wedding invitation designers: get in touch and share your favourite designs!

Wedding invitation by Dragonfly; calligraphy by Wedding-Calligrapher.com

Wedding invitations showcase

I’m looking for as many UK wedding invitation designers as I can find to log in to the English Wedding Showcase this month and share latest, bestselling and favourite designs. It’s a unique chance to showcase your best work — and to share it with UK brides and grooms.

Then I’ll be running a competition to find the nation’s favourite, here on English Wedding blog, throughout November. The winning designer will get six months’ free advertising on English Wedding!

Don’t be shy! Enter now: choose your favourite design and upload it to the English Wedding Showcase to join in the competition. And good luck!

Claire xx

Please note this wedding invitation competition has now closed. Leonie announced the winners on facebook — congratulations Estella and Helen!

Please do view the beautiful designs below — and get in touch with Leonie if you’re looking for luxury wedding invitations of your own. Explore my list of the best 20 vintage wedding invitations for more inspiration!

Leonie Gordon offers a boutique-style service creating beautiful, one-of-a-kind wedding invitations and stationery. All of Leonie Gordon’s invitations are thoughtfully designed to create a beautiful impression and are custom created and lovingly finished by hand especially for you.

This is my favourite wedding invitation from Leonie Gordon London’s collection. (There are many more — and they’re all beautifully designed) The pink printed design looks like a chandelier and the crystals and buckle clasp are so exquisitely elegant.

Win wedding invitations: The Prize

3 x lucky brides get the chance to have custom designed Wedding Invitation Suites by Leonie Gordon London to include up to 100 Invitations, Reply Card & Information Cards designed for free, all they pay for is the cost of printing and materials starting from £200.00.

Brides may choose from four stunning styles either Letterpress, Foiling, Pocketfolds or Laser Cutting.

How to enter:

The bride must be sending their invitations out by November this year.

To enter simply visit the Leonie Gordon London on Facebook www.facebook.com/LeonieGordonLondon. First of all you must LIKE the page, then upload one single image and one sentence describing how the image reflects the style or theme of your wedding. (No copyrighted images please)

The 3 lucky brides will be announced on the Leonie Gordon London Facebook page, week commencing the 22nd of August. I’ll add the winner’s name to this blog post when I can — so check back here in a couple of weeks’ time.

Good luck everyone!

Claire xx