PRINT MATERIAL DETAILS
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GRAPHIC  |  INVITATION PIECES  |  PROGRAMME  |  OTHER

GRAPHIC

The leaf graphic used on this website and on the printed materials is our pride and joy.  Years before our ceremony we had seen a stock wedding invitation with an illustration of two maple leaves and thought it worked for our situation on many levels: it symbolized our favourite season, it provided colour to the print pieces, and it represented our pride in our country.  In addition, the fact that the leaves were joined at the stem made it a great metaphor for the bond we would be making.   We searched in vain for a stock image similar to that illustration until we finally hired a graphic designer who found the perfect illustration. 

Everything else about the printed materials was very traditional and formal.  To select the font, we printed out the invitation text in a variety of lettering styles. Although we were very tempted to use elegant cursive lettering popular in the formal invitation samples we had studied, we felt it might set too formal a tone and might also appear somewhat feminine.   The font we chose, Copperplate Gothic, couldn't be more masculine!   (Avoiding the perception of a feminine or effeminate wedding was an ongoing concern for us and, in retrospect, probably unfounded.)   The stock was a very tasteful bone colour.

INVITATION PIECES

In order to have a colour graphic, the materials had to be printed on a laser printer.  We were hesitant about the quality of laser printing at first but discovered that it can be as crisp and sharp as any traditional method.  The only drawback was that it did not allow us the option of raised ink lettering that we liked so much in traditional thermographic printed invitations.  

While Emily Post's Wedding Planner had many helpful guidelines about the style of a semi-formal invitation, what pieces should be included and how they should be packaged in the envelope, we had to turn to Etiquette for specific wording guidelines.  We opted to forgo the inner envelope (an omission which Emily Post allows) and to add a line in the RSVP card for guests to indicate the number of persons who would be attending (which she abhors).  

Also included in the invitation packages was an after-party invitation (printed on a glossy stock to somewhat resemble club and professional party flyers), maps printed on a linen stock (viewable through the Directions and Ceremony & Reception portions of GUEST INFO) and a reception card for guests invited to the reception.

PROGRAMME

The programme text was based on samples we found in wedding invitation catalogues and websites as the Emily Post books didn't provide any information on this topic.  Serendipitously, one of those samples contained a brief memorial to departed loved ones and we used that passage as one of the touching ways to include the spirit of Brandon's mother in our ceremony. 

A helpful tip for others considering a programme: keep in mind that writing the text for this piece means finalizing every detail of your ceremony.  For that reason you will likely submit the programme to the printers much closer to the actual wedding day than all the other print materials.  (It was actually quite thrilling to finalize the mockup - it was the first time we realized our wedding had transitioned from an abstract concept to a concrete plan!)

OTHER PRINTED PIECES

A couple of large directional signs were used to guide guests first to the church then to the reception.  When we couldn't find nice leather-bound covers to hold the readings, we made our own holders by affixing the leaf graphic on store bought document holders.  The "official" Marshall Taylor Union look was continued in the seating chart and guestbook set out during cocktails and then finally at the reception in the table cards and place cards.  And just when guests had thought they had seen the last of the joined maple leaves and Copperplate Gothic font, they reappeared a couple of weeks later for the last time when they received their thank you card.

return to Marshall Taylor Union: Planning