Ahoy, matey! I'm not running off with pirates, but I am here today to show you how to style our nautical anchor wedding invitation in three different ways. This invitation has a classic nautical look, think Nantucket shoreline rather than Caribbean, and I've kept with this intention when styling the invitation. I left the anchor navy* in all examples, so no customizations are needed from us if you want to download this invitation, simply download and print. I did change the fonts and font color to show you a few different looks, and this is something you can do in your word processing program.
*The text and anchor looks black in my pictures, but I assure you when printed it is navy.
Here's how the invitation looks in our catalog. No additional styling needed here.
Read on for ideas to use watercolor, a backing card, and a luggage tag. No matter which way you style the invitation you are sure to start out the countdown to your wedding day in ship shape form!
1. Watercolor
I made no design changes to the invitation here, it would be as simple as downloading the template, adding your text, and printing. The fonts used in the sample invitation are Jane Austen and Copperplate. Once I had the invitation printed I added a watercolor background to the anchor. Now I am no painter (first time using watercolors here) and there is definitely no exact science to this, which I think is cool as all your invitations will end up looking a little different. As the name suggests, watercolor paints need water. I practiced on a few sheets of paper first by dipping my brush in some water, dipping it in the paint, and then lightly brushing up the page. It took me a couple of practices until I was happy with the result. This technique is very forgiving, so once you've done a couple it would be a quick process to watercolor a stack of invitations. Do note that watercolor paints dry lighter than they first appear, and a fairly fat, round brush will work best to achieve this haphazard look. I had no trouble with my ink running and the invitation dried flat despite having been lightly covered in water. This was fun to try out.
2. Red & White Stripes
In example #2 I added a red and white stripe backing card, it reminds me of a vintage life buoy. I changed out the fonts and picked out the red from the backer in the bride and groom's names. The fonts I used are Sail Away and Summertime. I cut the backing card to 5 x 7" and trimmed the invitation slightly smaller. The card I found at my local craft store had horizontal stripes and I wanted them on a diagonal. I was able to cut the backer on the diagonal but this wasted a lot of card. If I were putting together all my wedding invitations I would definitely seek out card that already had the stripes on the diagonal. I used double sided tape to adhere the invitation to the backer.
3. Luggage Tag and Rope
My final example is also quick and easy to print. The text and anchor are all in navy. The fonts I chose are Anchor Yard and Nautic. I didn't change the formatting of the text from the sample that we provide, but there is enough space on the invitation to add your parent's names at the top if they are hosting. In Word I made a 1.5 x 2" luggage tag template, and typed on the bride and grooms names in the matching font. I printed this on yellow card, trimmed, punched a hole, and tied one around the invitation using white polyester rope that I found in the jewelery section of my local craft store. I thought I'd be a little tricky and looked up how to tie a nautical knot. I think it looks quite tidy.
One template, three easy ways to create three different looks. If you'd like more ideas on styling a classic nautical wedding check out Anna's Nantucket Nautical Wedding board on Pinterest.
Now time for me to sail away...
