Inviting Change

Choosing invitations used to be a relatively simple matter. For a wedding or other formal occasion, the choices were white or cream, script or print, engraved or offset. Wording was dictated by the rules of etiquette; for a casual get-together, it was a matter of choosing a fill-in with an appropriate motif for or a simple everyday design, with the sender writing in the particulars. But what was once a fairly straightforward category has become much more complicated.

“I've seen the invitation business evolve into a full industry of art and design,” notes designer/vendor Anna Griffin, Atlanta. “Twenty years ago, the choices were illustrated imprintables and engraved wedding invitations. Now the market has every medium, theme and price point known to man, and all in an instant! The invitation business has gotten better, faster and a lot more fun.”

Ask a vendor, designer or retailer what has been the biggest change in the invitation and announcement industry and you're likely to get a variety of different answers. There will, however, be common threads.

Computer technology, which gave rise to the imprintable invitation and affordable customization, has allowed stationers, designers and consumers to imagine possibilities beyond ecru or white, and precipitated a decline in the fill-in invitation business. Moreover, the gradual deformalization of American society has allowed consumers to break away from the strict dictates of old-fashioned etiquette, and have their invitations and papers reflect their own personalities through color and design.

“Imprintables completely changed how the customer looks at invitations,” observes Jean Betses of Village Paperie in Kennebunk, ME. “Ten years ago, they became a quicker way to get invitations printed at your local stationer. Five years ago, they became invitations you could print yourself. Now, people are looking at imprintable stock that has a design sense and is of good quality.”

Griffin agrees. “I've seen stationery stores move away from 'the book business' and embrace do-it-yourself imprintable lines. Today, I see retailers moving back to albums as customers seek a more 'custom' experience.” Those albums include well designed, high-quality imprintable stock.

Baylor Stoval, owner of The Stoval Collection in Memphis, TN, sees consumers as the most significant instrument of change. “They're more studied,” she says. “Brides didn't used to think outside the box; they came in with their mothers, and everything was traditional. Now brides come in alone, have stronger opinions about what they want, and know more about the concepts and options available.”

While opinions differ on the single greatest watershed moment in the evolution of the invitation and announcement industry, few would disagree that the advent of the Internet has had an impact. Kerry Millhiser of Seasons Cards and Gifts, Aldie, VA, observes that the impact of the Internet, with the addition of online discounters and manufacturers selling direct online, has been huge.

Paige Quillin of Greetings and Salutations, Alexandria, VA, echoes that opinion. “Five years ago, everyone wanted to think outside the box and get something nobody else had. People used the Internet as a shopping tool.” But Quillin cautions that the experience can be double-sided. “Sometimes you get used as a reference library for people searching out discounts,” she says. “You also get the people who have had bad experiences with Internet shopping, and want to deal with a live person again.”

It's not just a bad experience or comparison shopping that brings customers back to stationery stores. “I know that when I shop in a specialty store, it's the experience I seek, the quality assurance that comes with the direct contact with retailers,” says Griffin. “Both online access and DIY invitations are about being price-sensitive. You give up guidance to save money. This is where retailers will always win in the wedding business, because brides want help; they want to know that they're doing the right thing.”

While technology and imprintables have helped move the invitations business forward, the resurgence of traditional processes, especially letterpress, have breathed new life into invitation design and printing — and sales. Letterpress has been elevated to a higher level of fine printing through the exploration of new designs and creative use of traditional processes.

With the rediscovery of letterpress, “design became more sophisticated,” remarks Griffin. It inspired young designers to create modern looks that have really caught on with vendors and consumers. (One has only to look at Spark Stationery, Allie Monroe, Elum or Snow and Graham to get the idea.)

“The sheer volume of invitation designers, at all levels of quality, has made a big difference,” notes Stoval. “There's a lot of great letterpress out there now, and more album lines to choose from. You used to be able to sell with just ten lines, now you have to carry forty.”

Because invitations are a fashion business, trends are always a factor, and innovations in technology and design have brought an infusion of color and creativity in upscale invitations. It's no longer limited to the proper or traditional; the rule now is to make each piece sing with the voice of the sender, whether subtle or bold.

“There was a time when every bride wanted to be sure she had the top look,” notes Jackie Johnson, communication specialist for The Occasions Group, Mankato, MN. “They're still aware of trends, but now brides want more choices; they're interested in a design that is different from what their friends had.” As brides look to express their own personalities, invitations have become colorful and themed, aspects that reflect what type of wedding guests can expect. “Anything from the style to the formality of the day can be conveyed through an invitation's color, typestyle or design cut/motif,” adds Johnson.

Stationery designers are quick to react to design trends seen on the runways and noted in magazines. Currently, natural and floral motifs reinterpreted in fresher, more stylized ways are in vogue, as are intricate, curvilinear patterns reminiscent of damask or baroque designs. Interpretations of Moroccan architectural and design motifs are also showing up, especially in letterpress, while graphic, mod styles remain in use for casual occasions, though their popularity is declining. What's most striking is how designers are combining unrelated elements for a fresh look. Texture and dimension are key, whether created via the printing process (embossing, press impressions, etc.), engineering, flocking, glittering, layering or other embellished add-ons.

The advancement of technology and a wide array of sources have given stationery storeowners a foothold in the ongoing battle with the Internet, DIYers and discount competition. “With imprintables and stock companies like Envelopments, a small stationer can offer a design service and good, unique product,” comments Betses.

To contend with the hands-on crowd, Betses makes her store indispensable by offering a full selection of stock, envelopes, and printing services. “I also do a pretty brisk business in fixing or finishing invites that brides get over their heads with,” she adds in an ironic twist.

Stoval concurs. “I have to keep up with the sources brides buy from, continuing to buy from companies that provide the types of papers, add-ons, and do-dads they want to purchase.”

But Quillin strikes a nerve, noting that in order to stay competitive and grow their businesses, independent retailers want vendors to reserve some designs for independent retailers — not selling such designs on the Internet or to big box stores like Target or Wal-Mart. “It forces consumers to stick with a brick-and-mortar store,” explains Quillin.

The invitations business will continue to face challenges in every facet of the trade; being successful means staying one step ahead of the pack. When asked what challenges she sees in the road ahead, Griffin says, “For invitation designers the challenge is to constantly provide new and different products; for vendors, to provide great products at the right price; and for retailers, to get customers into the store, get new customers and keep them by having the right product mix.”