Ganesh is a Hindu deity and is widely revered as the Remover of Obstacles, and more generally as the Lord of Beginnings, which makes his symbol perfect for a wedding. What we loved most about making this job is the way the personalities of the bride and groom shines through. This wedding looks like it will be such fun to attend.

Our clients chose the Sunshine colour from the twelve colour combinations available in the Paisley wedding stationery range. They then selected the ‘bespoke wording’ option for the foiled section on the front and sent us the symbol of Ganesh. From this we had a custom foil block made for them and then we hand foiled the invitations in gold foil on the foiling machines in our workshops. Foiling adds a lovely luxurious and classy feel to these warm invites which is further enhanced by the beautiful silk ribbon.

Millie and Baz also chose to add side-panels within their shutterfold invites with ample space to give their guests the all important information. Deciding how to communicate to guests that a wedding is child free is a common problem for couples as is how to deal with the wedding list. This poem they wrote is a really fun solution to the problem. It reads:

“Although your presence valued most (Your RSVP in the post),

Our gratitude would be ten-fold, for John lewis vouchers, cash or gold,

To help us lovebirds start our life – A brand new home as man and wife!

Those mums and dads we’d love to see.

This day is yours and children free!”

Their RSVP insert had us in stitches when their copy came through the printer. Guests have the option of ticking any of the following boxes:

• Will attend with a saree
• Will attend without a saree
• Will attend, undecided about the saree
• Will not attend, heard some people are wearing sarees
• Will not attend, regardless of the saree controversy

There is a great buzz to the workshop when we are involved with such a unique wedding invitation as well as a lovely sense of being part of a process which will envitably end in a fantastic wedding day this July. We wish Millie and Baz both a wonderful day and thank them for brightening our day and taking our minds off those April showers!

Click here to view all of our Wedding Invitations.

Organising a wedding in the wonderful age of the internet broadens the scope of what you can include in your day which often means ideas deemed impossible even a few years ago can now be easily incorperated into your big day.

With that in mind here are our top five tips for achieving a great summer wedding…

1.Be organised…the natural first place for most couples to start would be the save the date cards. We have many beautiful designs fit to compliment any style or theme of day which can all be viewed on our save the date page. Once you have decided on a theme or style you can then set about reseraching ideas and local suppliers to compliment your day.

 2. Research…You can never do too much research! Start at the obvious place, online. You can then get a real feel for what is available before you start searching locally for the venue, dress, flowers, favors, entertainment…the list goes on… Thats why the research stage is so important. Thorough research will ensure nothing is left to chance and every element of your day will be exactly as you wish it to be.

3. Be Prepared…Everybody hopes for guaranteed sunshine for their summer wedding but alas the great british summers are far from reliable so have a plan B if you’re intending to have an outdoor celebration such as a marquee that can accomidate all of your guests should you need to. Plan for the worst but hope for the best. Even a beautifully hot day may mean some of your guests need shade so having a covered area will ensure you’re prepared for any eventuality.

4. Stay Cool…Many summer brides will be planning their wedding during the autumn or winter so remember when choosing your dress that the fabric should be lighter and cooler for a summer wedding. As we are prone to unreliable weather many brides are opting to choose a shrug or shawl that compliments their dress and can be used if neccessary.

5. Drink plenty…no not champagne (you’ll get plenty of time for that later!) Water’s what im talking about. Staying hydrated during the day but also whilst planning a wedding is the simplest yet possibly the best tip anyone will give you. I wish someone had told me, the stress and excitement of the biggest day of your life certainly can leave you a little parched! Task someone else with the job as you are bound to be preoccupied and it will certainly keep you level headed and feeling good. Regular sips of water will keep you cool, calm and collected.

Our Garden shutter fold wedding invitation is available in 12 colourways including this warm, bright yellow. It’s handmade to order using the finest quality board and ribbons available.

Daffodils and narcissi form this delicate Spring bouquet from Martha Stewart Weddings, would work well with any of our stationery for a fresh, natural look.

You could also choose this beautiful and delicate Jasmin wedding invitation design which is handmade on pearlised board with pearlised personalised inserts and envelopes.

Freya is a shutter fold invitation perfect if you’re looking for something with a rich, saturated colour and a timeless beauty. Again, there is a wide selection of items in this beautiful wedding stationery range, all made with the highest quality materials to the highest standards.

These Easter table ideas from Wedding Flower Ideas could work really well for a Spring wedding, the one on the bottom right work be very pretty for a vintage Spring look.

This simple yet stunning bouquet from Bollea.com compliments our English Beauty range with it’s silver Swarovski crystals and classic styling.

If it’s birds or butterflies you’re looking for, these gorgeous handmade table place holders from Vintage Green Limited could add a lovely, whimsical touch to your tables.

And for butterfly wedding stationery in bright yellow, with deep yellow Swarovski crystals. Imagine how the matching butterfly wedding menus and butterfly place cards would catch the beautiful Spring light on your tables!

And here’s a little hair clip from Spot Light Jewelry. They would look stunning on all your bridesmaids, young ones and younger ones!

To compliment all this delicateness, this beautiful cake, photographed by Juliet McKee, designed and hand made by Janet Mohapi Banks would be perfect…

And lastly for a striking, stripy look, our Brighton wedding invitation also comes in a bright yellow, with beautiful satin ribbon and pearlised personalised inserts and envelopes. I think it compliments these cafe-chic ideas from One Lovely day.

So if you’re planning a Spring wedding, why not consider going for gold! It really is the most cheerful colour, and perfectly represents this time of year.

Garden Wedding Invitation - Sugar Pink

The colour scheme that customers choose makes such a difference to the impact of the overall design. For instance the stronger colours such as foxglove, red and smoke give the stationery a bold statement whereas the softer colours such as sugar pink or ash set a beautiful background to our satin ribbons, which can also be customised according to your own colour scheme. 12 colourways are available to choose from and the range is printed on our luxurious 300gsm board. Personalised inserts on coordinating shimmer paper and envelopes are included.

We love the illustrative quality that the garden design has which really sets it apart and gives the design a very modern feel. Floral designs are always popular and the Garden range may also appeal to those brides preferring a fresh approach to the floral theme. For more information, click on the link to see the range of Garden Wedding Stationery available.

We have been making some lovely invites for customers this month and these ones really stood out for me so I thought I’d share them with you.

They are made with lovely thick 350gsm GF Smith board in a rich fuchsia colour. The couple’s names are hand foiled in silver foil and the wedding invitation is tied with gorgeous silk Beresford ribbon. This shutter-fold design reveals the luxurious pearlescent inserts within containing all of our couple’s main wedding details.

I really enjoyed making them, but what counts most to us is that our customers are pleased with the results. I’m happy to report that Sarah and Ollie were delighted with their order saying they were beautiful and thanking us for “fantastic customer service.”

Click on the link to view some of the Pleasure Wedding Stationery items available.

Reminiscent of the lovely little beach huts that adorn our promenade, the Brighton range is a breath of fresh air. Candy colour choices will give the invites a very current and unique look, while choosing pastel shades will give the invites more of a vintage feel. This range is available in 12 colourways and is finished with a ribbon in the colour of your choice. The board is luxurious at 300gsm and as always our personalised inserts and envelopes are included.

The possibilities for a seaside themed wedding are endless but these are a few ideas that we think are really fun. For a stunning centrepeice you could fill large glass bowls with water, have sand and shells at the bottom, then finish with floating gardenias. How about pebbles for place names? Serving a seafood platter or fish and chips for your wedding breakfast would really compliment your theme and miniature sticks of rock make great favours.

We may be biased, but this summer we’re hoping Brighton is going to be as much of an inspiration to our brides as it is to us.

For this month only we are offering you 10% discount on our Florilia range!

Many of our designs have a floral element to them but if you’re planning a floral theme for your wedding then our Florilia range may be just what you’re looking for.

The design features a beautiful floral spray which could easily match a modern romantic theme or a vintage inspired wedding.

The range is available in seven soft pastel shades to compliment any colour scheme. They are printed on luxury heavyweight 350gsm board and are available with a choice of gloss black, gold or silver foil. You can also customise your invitations with ribbons, in a colour of your choice, to better match your scheme.

This offer is available until the end of March when spring will hopefully be in full swing! Please use the code FLORILIA10 at the basket stage of our website www.ivyellen.com.

The design is simple and elegant and available in 55 colourways to perfectly match the colour scheme for your day. Changing the colour also gives you the creative control, and can really change the feel of the design. From crisp cool blues through to pretty pinks and everything in between! Have a go yourself on our Bloom Invitations Page.

Bloom is one of our more modern designs, yet it’s so versatile it will compliment almost any theme. The invitations are printed on 300gsm pearlescent diamond board with Silver Foiling and matching envelopes.

Those Spring weddings are almost here and we cannot wait to see the blossom on the trees but for now we’re just as happy to see our workshop in Bloom.

If you’ve already had your proposal and are planning a romantic themed wedding, feast your eyes upon our beautiful hand finished invitations. These gorgeous gatefold invites from our smitten range have the finest satin ribbons which add a wonderful touch of romance.

Smitten Wedding Invitation

Woah! We’re finding it hard to believe that January has gone already. We’ve had our busiest month EVER in the workshop and the orders keep coming! How time flies when you’re having fun…

We’ve already seen our first order of black and white invites for the year, our recent blog on the monochrome trend for 2012 suggests it wont be the last either! Butterfly Love is still a popular choice and our new ribbon tied shutter fold invitations are also proving to be very popular.

Next month is THE month when it comes to romance so we’ll be expecting plenty of proposals on Valentines day. In preparation for the onset of such loveliness we wanted to share with you a lovely little story we found recently that is sure to warm even the coldest winter night…

On December 26th in Michigan, USA a woman found a wedding ring in her back garden. Much to her surprise the inscription revealed the following day to be the couples 42nd wedding anniversary. Talking to neighbours led to the woman being given a phone number for the couple who’d moved in the 90′s. Understandably shocked to hear the news, they explained that they had thought the ring got lost whilst gardening, and had even borrowed a metal detector to search the whole yard. They were delighted to get the ring back. It’s a wonderfully romantic story which they’ll no doubt be telling their grandchildren one day!

With that in mind, we’re looking forward to hearing all the hopelessly romantic proposals just around the corner…