Planning a wedding can quickly become overwhelming. Touring venues, picking colors, organizing guest lists. Amongst the craziness, it’s easy to forget the why. Why are we doing this? Why does it all matter? The truth is, everything that has meaning in this life is tied to a story. Your wedding is all about your story. I’m going to share some ways to connect your personal love story to your wedding day, especially through custom invitations.
Meaningful Places
Reflect on your relationship and some of the places that are meaningful to you. Did you meet at Penn State? Do you go hiking in the mountains every weekend? Is the city where you feel at home together? There are many ways to tie these important places into your wedding day. Choose flowers for your bouquet that are native to your home state. Incorporate a mountain illustration into your wedding invitations. Wear your university hoodies in your engagement photos. Places carry loads of meaning – think of ways you can include those that are important to you in the biggest day of your life.
Honoring Loved Ones
The most important people in your life will be at your wedding, which is one of the reasons why it’s the most special day. However, for many people, there are loved ones who have passed away and are unable to be physically present at the wedding. Is there a more beautiful way to share your story than to honor those who helped mold you into who you are today? Here are some ways to do this:
- Display photos of your passed loved ones on a ‘Memory Table’ at your reception. You can hire a calligrapher to create beautiful signage showing their names and your fond memories with them.
- Incorporate fabric from your loved one’s clothing or wedding attire into your own wedding dress or bouquet wrap.
- Include your loved one’s favorite songs in your playlist as a tribute to them and dance away when it comes on.
- Ask your stationer to include a memory tribute to your pass loved ones on the ceremony programs.
Identifying Symbols + Motifs
Capturing love with words can be a huge challenge. Writing my wedding vows was one of the hardest things I ever did – and I’m an English teacher! True to my inner nature as a lover of literature, I can’t help but turn to symbols and motifs when at a loss for words.
What are some physical things that represent your relationship? For me and my husband, I would include a cross to symbolize our faith and a paw print to reflect our mutual love for our dogs. I may even include a red truck somewhere as a nod to our shared obsession with Christmas and the class Christmas Red Truck.
Your symbols and motifs can be colors, objects, textures, scents, or places. As a stationer, I love to include these symbols in the invitation design. One of the best ways to do this is through a custom crest. We work together to curate an inspiration board that reflects you as a couple and tells your love story artistically. This is the perfect place to include the little symbols that your loved ones will smile when they see, because they’ll think “It’s so them!”. Click here to inquire and plan your custom wedding invitations!
As you are bringing together those final details of your big day, remember that the whole point of your wedding is to tell and celebrate your love story. Your day will feel exponentially more special if you are intentional about including aspects of your identity as a couple. Ask yourselves, how does our wedding tell our love story?
Those who are married, comment below and share ideas of how you incorporated your unique couple-ality into your wedding!
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