As a destination wedding planner with over 10 years of experience, I firmly believe that your wedding invitation is the first glimpse your guests will have into your wedding day, and it’s a perfect opportunity to choose a design that reflects the overall aesthetic of your vision.

If you’re planning a modern wedding, I’d recommend that you opt for invitations with clean lines, minimal embellishments, and a neutral color palette. Keep reading for more tips on how to choose modern wedding invitations and see some examples of our work that may inspire your own!

Choose a clean, simple design

Your invitations should be elegant and understated—think simple design with a sleek typography.

Oftentimes when I’m designing invitations for our clients I start with a single major focal point whether that’s your names in a bold font, or a graphic that sets the tone, and allow the rest of the pieces or elements to play secondary and background elements.

A design hack to remember is that your eye naturally wants to know what the main focus is, and that everything else is complimentary. If there are competing elements it gets busy, distracted, and we often miss information and it feels off, even if you can’t quite put your finger on why.

Use the age old advice that when things get too much, take out one or two elements (colors, a font, details, etc) and then re-evaluate.

All in all, my advice would be to avoid busy patterns, ornate details, and overly-fancy fonts—less is definitely more when it comes to modern wedding invitations.

Opt for a neutral color palette

Neutral doesn’t have to mean boring—a black and white invitation can actually be quite striking. Or leveraging contrast of a simple color combination (white + black + a single contrast color is always a favourite move of mine.) Another favorite tip comes from the world of architecture and interiors: layering different tones of the same color family creates texture and a cohesive experience, and you don’t have to worry about matching exact tones when they’re all the in same family.

(Also, metallic inks are always a good thing, and they often read as a neutral—especially in a modern invitation wedding suite.)

Use white space wisely

White space is your friend when it comes to choosing modern wedding invitations. The use of white space will help your invitations look clean and modern as well as to highlight certain elements of your design. White space feels like a museum gallery, and allows your eyes to “rest” while creating focus on the most important parts of the design.

If you pay attention to the invitation inspiration you’re most drawn to, or even just any design in general, you’ll start to notice that the most simple, relaxing spaces that make your brain say “ahhhh” usually use a good amount of white space for that very relaxing reason.

Choose bold fonts

Bold fonts are another great way to make your invitations look modern. When choosing fonts, however, be sure to use them sparingly. Too many different fonts can make your invitations look cluttered and busy. Sticking with one or two different fonts and use them throughout your entire invitation suite ensures that everything looks cohesive.

A graphic design hack is to pick a main “headline” font (think your names on your wedding invitations) plus a “body” text (the rest of the information) that looks good in both all capital letters, and lower case or in paragraphs. That way you end up having almost three different fonts but really you’re only using two.

Consider unique materials and shapes

Paper isn’t the only option for wedding invitations—there are plenty of other materials you can use to make your invite stand out. Try vellum, acetate, or even fabrics, or wood veneer for a unique take on the traditional paper invitation. And don’t be afraid to think outside the rectangle—square, circle, or curved invitations are always chic.

Finally, your wedding invitations are one of the first things your guests will see, and they’re an amazing opportunity to set the tone for your wedding day. If you’re looking for modern wedding invitations, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Clean lines, simple designs, neutral colors, while considering white space and bold fonts are key ingredients for the perfect modern wedding invitation. Get creative with materials and shapes to really make your invite stand out from the rest!

Did you find any nuggets here that were helpful? If you want more, be sure to follow us on IG at @thenouveauromantics where we post blogs, and in-real-time updates, as well as our Pinterest, especially our Paper Goods board!