Sunrise Creations Blog

There is nothing like receiving an extraordinary envelope in the letter box, knowing that it will be something exciting and fun and not a request for money.

In today’s modern and more relaxed times engaged couples are less hesitant to let their personalities and love of life shine through, and this starts with the invitation to your special day.  This is a teaser of the theme and should reflect the mood you hope to create.

Gone are the days when wedding invitations were white, ivory, ecru, cream, alabaster etc. You get the message! Weddings and therefore invitations tended to be formal and traditional. Not anymore!  You are restricted only by your imagination, and wedding invitations can be any colour of the rainbow to tie in with your personal theme, the colour of the attendants, or even the season or the location.  Gold and Silver are always in fashion, and can be combined with just about any colour you like.

For example, show your love of the orient by selecting an oriental inspired invitation and then follow the theme with your catering, decoration and even your choice of wedding gown.

Wording and font is another design feature that allows couples to individualise, moving away from traditional phrasing. Invitations often come from the couple themselves, instead of the parents as was the case in a generation or so ago.

The ultimate personalisation is the inclusion of photographs. Maybe you invested time and money in your engagement photos, or you want another excuse for a casual photo shoot to record the early days of your relationship.  Using these special images in your wedding invitation is a special touch.

The trend is to individualism with the creation of unique and very personalised wedding invitations and stationery.  It makes your special day even more perfect because your personality shines through every part of the day.

Nothing can beat the feeling of quality paper between your fingers, and the anticipation created by pinning a gorgeous invitation to your fridge for 6 weeks.  Everyone loves a wedding!

Gone are the days of equating the word ‘party’ with garbage bins full of throw away plastic and paper rubbish at clean up time. These days when we celebrate many of us want to know that the environment isn’t going to suffer unnecessarily just so that we can have a good time.

Consider using washable and re-usable cutlery, crockery or plastic plates, table cloths and serviettes, perhaps providing only finger foods on washable platters or even cutting banana leaves into different shapes for use as individual plates.

There are many different options available for disposable party products that have been made from recycled materials such as the bamboo range from An Eco Dream .  No one wants to wash the dishes after a party and these product free you from the sink without harming the environment.  There are so many other fun ways to achieve a unique party experience without having a negative impact on the environment.

 

Make a list of items you need for your party, starting from your invitations and working your way through to pack-up time and find a fun and environmentally friendly alternative for each one.

Electronic invitations are onet way to remove paper from the invitation equation and for informal occasions they are great.  For something important, though, I still love real, paper, personalised invitations.  There is nothing like them.  If you are choosing paper invitations, make them personal and include a photo so that they become a keepsake. 

A great alternative to balloons can be paper lanterns and other decorations made from recycled paper and cardboard and materials from your garden. Decking your halls with garlands, vines, grasses and flowers gives a stunning effect in place of streamers.

Catering with organic, natural and healthy foods is not only fun and much easier these days with the ready
availability of natural food colours and dyes, you are less likely to end up with a group of manic children and you can relax, knowing that they are enjoying party food that is actually good for them too.

With a little bit of planning you can still put on just about any kind of party and give it a few eco friendly tweaks so that it sits comfortably with your own sense of environmental responsibility.

(image by Aneta Blaszczyk)

Sometimes in this busy life of ours, we are tempted to take shortcuts, aren't we?  Email has taken over from snail mail in many cases but that only makes it extra special when we get a personal note in our letterboxes.  Imagine how much more special that note would be if it was personalised with a photo.

Our personalised Baby Thank You Cards are perfect for saying thanks in an intimate and very special way. 

Thank you cards make it simple to acknowledge the love, support and gifts you receive on the birth of your baby.  

Style your baby thank you cards to reflect your own personal taste or carry on the theme and colouring of the christening or baby shower.

This one is stunning in the purity of black and white and has been designed around the gorgeous photo.  It is clean and lovely in its simpliciity.

This thank you card is very different.  It features more photos of your baby and you will notice that the colours have been chosen to match those in the baby's bonnet in the main photo.

Both designs are stunning and will be kept with all those other special mementos for a lifetime.

Do something special when you are thanking your friends and family.  After all, they went to a lot of effort to select a gift for you and your child.  Give them a thank you worth doing with a personalised photo baby thank you card.

As you know, I believe that by selecting a theme for an event it makes decisions about colours and decorating styles much easier.

When I create a theme for an event I like to gather inspiration from magazines and online.  The images help me develop a picture in my mind about the way I want the event to look.  I want to share an example with you.

This collection is inspiration for a vintage themed christening.

These ideas were collected from the following sources:

 Christening Kids- stunning antique styled christening gown 
Amazon-  fabric Bunting
 Handley Beard Event Planners- a stunning christening design
Vintage Rose Collection - superb rustic elegance
 Favor Ideas- gorgeous crystal stroller bonbonierre
Classic Function Centre - delightfully floataway table setting.
 Kara's Party Ideas-  a blog full of clever ideas including the pretty cake with booties.
Sunrise Creations - the pretty vintage styled invitation.

Creating a lovely christening invitation is a little more complicated than just adding a baby photo to one of our designs.  It's important that you select the right photo so that the final product will look wonderful.

This is an example of one of our most popular invitations.

What makes this invitation look so good?

Firstly, have a look at the colours.  The colours in the design are matched to the colouring in the photos. The same gentle pink colour co-ordinates the image with the design on the invitation.

The second important element is the photo of your baby.  The best photo to use is one that has quite a plain background so that the focus is on your beautiful baby.  If you look at the invitation the first thing you will notice is the face of the child smiling out at you.  That is perfect.  If you looked at it and noticed the design before the photo it tells you that the design isn't balanced and you may have chosen the wrong photo to use.

Finally, take care with the clothing your child is photographed in.  Choose clothing that is fairly plain and is not in too many colours.  Ideally, the more simple the better result you will get.

Nwxt week we will give you a few tips on how to take the best photograph of your child.  Your christening invitations are going to look stunning!

I am very pleased to see that one of our lovely wedding invitations has been featured in "The Bride's Diary- Canberra".

They said  "We just love this gorgeous yellow and black wedding invitation by Sunrise Creations. The bold yellow stripes coupled with the black motif work together to create a daring and striking design, perfect for your yellow and black themed wedding!"

The Bride's Diary is an online site full of bright ideas and discoveries for weddings.  If you are looking for inspiration for your own wedding why noy drop in and see what you find.

As I mentioned in my last post, wishing wells have become a popular way for marrying couples to ask for money instead of a gift.   So how can you get the message across without offending someone?  The answer seems to be with poetry!

The wishing well poem can be a way of alerting your guests to the fact you are going to having a wishing well. You can print your wishing well poem on the rear of your invitation, on a separate insert to include with your invitation or inside the cover if you are using a standard card format.
 
How you phrase the poem is up to you but there are many examples floating around the internet that will help you get started.  Here are a couple that might help.

Example One
We’ve been together a long while now;
We’ve gathered pots and pans and linen a’plenty;
We have glasses and electrical appliances;
So respectfully we ask of you, if you would like to make a gift to us on this our special day
A certain amount of “pay” would help us along the way;
To buying our first home. 

Example Two
We know how hard it is to find the time.
To run around and shop with something in mind
So, here’s an idea we’d like you to try;
Come to our wedding to wish us well.
 
Here’s a pouch to fill with silver.
In this way you’ll earn your dinner
And help us along the way
With that down pay on the house we want to play home in!

I hope that gets your poetic juices flowing beautifully. 

It seems so easy to write an invitation but these simple little things can often trip up the bride who isn't paying attention.  Here are the top 10 wedding invitation mistakes that we have seen.

1.       Errors in Spelling
Ask a friend, or someone who is quite particular with their grammar to proof read your wedding invitation for you. A great tip is to read your wording from right to left, this way you are not assuming what is there, but actually reading the words.

2.       Date
Date, you say? Yes, particularly if your wedding is in the first couple of months of the following year, or if the RSVP date is in a different year to the wedding. You will be surprised at how often this does happen!

3.       Too much colour
The colour in your wedding invitations can be used to depict the theme of your wedding; stylish, elegant, relaxed or fun. That said, using too many colours can spoil the effect, with the invitation then looking a little busy and messy. We recommend a palette of 3 to 5 colours, where a couple of the colours are neutral.

4.       Not ordering enough invitations
Order more than what you need, thus allowing for keepsakes, additional guests or wedding invitations that were lost. It is expensive to go back and order just a few more wedding invitations, especially, if you need to also order the RSVP card, wishing well and information cards.

5.       Ordering too many
Whilst it is nice to have extra wedding invitations, there is also a limit to what you need.

6.       Setting the RSVP date to far in advance
Leave 3-4 weeks for your guests to RSVP to you wedding. Any longer than that they will forget they had something to reply to.

7.       Forgetting to put a stamp on the RSVP Card
If you would like your guests to respond to your wedding invitation quickly, the less they need to do the better. By having a stamp on the card, means that it is ready to send as soon as they have ticked the box.

8.       Trying to include all details of the wedding into your invitation design
It is great to have a personal touch to your wedding invitations, however, quite often less is more. Try to feature one detail of the wedding, be it your colour theme, style of wedding, detail on your dress etc, rather than a combination of them all.

9.     Ordering the invitations too late.
It's a good idea to order your invitations six months before the wedding.  That gives you plenty of time to check them and even reprint if there is an error in them. Some printers will accept a rush order but of course you will have to pay extra. 

10.    Not ordering extra envelopes.
When you are addressing a lot of envelopes there ia a high probability that you will make a mistake.  You might spell a name incorrectly or include the wrong address.  Having a few extra envelopes can come in very handy and make the difference in the way your invitation looks when it arrives in your guests mailbox.

I hope these tips help you to manage the invitation ordering and posting process.  Remember, though, that is it supposed to be fun so go on and enjoy it.

You've received a wedding invitation or birthday invitation, and it just sits on your kitchen bench. Did you know that the person sending it out is awaiting your reply? Not only to confirm the guest list, but also in recognition of their wedding, event, or invitation. If you have received a wedding invitation, and cannot make it, the bride and groom may have others on their reserve list - it is only polite to let them know straight away.

1. RSVP as soon as you know you can or cannot make a wedding or party - just as you would want others to do. As mentioned previously, there may be others they will invite, as a result.
   
   
2. Respond by the date specified or preferably beforehand. The RSVP date is there for the hosts to prepare, particularly if it is a more formal function like a wedding, where catering and seating arrangements need to be made. It reduces the stress on the bride and groom immensely if they don't need to chase after rsvp's.
   
   
3. If you have previously said you are able to attend an event, and now can't - pick up the phone and let them know. Your call will be appreciated.
   
   
4. A wedding invitation that has been addressed to you and does not have 'partner', 'guest' or your children written on it, means that it is only you that has been invited. That said, if it is a kids party or christening invitation, and your children aren't on it, this may have been an oversight, so ask.
   
   
5. If there is no name on the wedding invitation, look on the envelope, this may indicate who is invited, e.g. family, or just yourself. Still unsure? Just ask!

We recently received this email from a Sunrise Creations customer with quite a common question. Who should receive a wedding announcement?

I love you wedding announcements, and I can’t wait to have one made using photos from our wedding. I’m just not sure who to send one to? Guests from the wedding? People who were not invited? Friends who were unable to attend the wedding?

Thanks for your help!

Thanks for your question. Generally a wedding announcement is not sent to guests who attended the wedding. Wedding announcements are sent to guests who were unable to attend your wedding ceremony, or to friends, family and acquaintances who were not invited but may be interested in hearing your wonderful news and seeing some photos of your wedding day. A great option is to double up your wedding announcement as a wedding thank you card. The same design can be used, but just personalised with different messages.

Wedding announcements are perfect for destination weddings or elopements. You can organise them before you leave and have them sent to your guests before you arrive home. What an incredible surprise for family and friends!

Either way, please do not be concerned about whether you will offend friends not invited to your wedding. People know that weddings are expensive – they will be delighted that you thought of them to send them a wedding announcement!

Do you have any advice you would like to share? Or if you are looking for some announcements for yourself, view our collection of wedding announcement cards now.