The Beginner's Guide to Wedding Planning

Invitations

Paper has gone couture—textured cotton pulp papers, soy-based organic inks, vintage letterpress printing techniques, contrasting paper wraps, luxurious swiss silk ribbon accents and more.

Unique shapes are another hot trend. Think square with square response and enclosure cards, long and narrow, petite tri-fold accordions, pocket-fold jackets and paged booklets with ribbon or silk cord spines.

Cost saver: Skip the formal reception card, opting instead to list dinner and dancing to follow below the ceremony details at the bottom of the invitation.