What trend are you giving in to on your big day?

We love these wedding trends over at Best Wedding Sites! Ombre cakes, confetti and chalkboard menus are all things we’ve seen pinned on Pinterest, and we just can’t get enough.

Two of my favorite trends on the list were invites with hand-drawn illustrations and signature drinks!

Invitations with Hand-Drawn Illustrations

Hand-drawn graphics are an especially excellent touch for letterpress wedding invitations. The drawing is actually impressed into the paper, adding definition and charm to the art.

Signature Drinks

Everyone has a signature drink! Whether it is a virgin margarita or a whiskey sour, your signature drink is an expression of your personality, and everyone enjoys the way they taste. ; )

What are your favorite 2012 wedding trends?

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Written by Katie

Having a huge party after your intimate ceremony?

“My fiance and I are having trouble wording a reception only invite that does not include reception immediately following ceremony. We are having our ceremony in one city and our reception in another!! With the ceremony just close family and friends at the reception everyone else we know LOL Please help thank you! We are hosting this ourselves!”

We received this cry for help on one of our wording posts and we’re here provide a few different ways to word a reception-only invitation!

Here’s a casual way to word that invite:

The newlyweds
Kristen and Jack Smith
invite you to join in the celebration
of their marriage
Saturday, the thirtieth of June
two thousand twelve
at six o’clock in the evening

St. Francis Winery
Sonoma, California

Here’s something a little more formal:

Bethany Marie
and
Thomas Smith
are pleased to announce
they will be married
on Friday, December fourteenth
Two thousand twelve
during a private ceremony
at San Francisco City Hall

Please join us for a
celebration when we return as
husband and wife
on Sunday, December fifteenth
at six o’clock
at the San Francisco Ferry Building

Hope this helps! Feel free to contact us if you want to come up with something even more creative and personalized, we’d be happy to help!

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Written by Katie

Affordable letterpress and digital invites for everyone’s budget!

Are you and your love obsessed with letterpress printing but in your research have found that it is entirely out of your wedding planning price range? Look no further! Invitations by Ajalon has an awesome letterpress wedding invitation deal just for you!

Place your order by April 30, 2012 and receive 100 one-color letterpress printed wedding invitations with 110 blank envelopes, and 100 one-color letterpress enclosure cards for only $559!

This is an awesome deal not to be missed. Even if you have more than 100 guests, the price of adding on a extra cards STILL seriously beats the competition’s high prices!

And if you haven’t yet been charmed by time-old tradition that is letterpress printing, perhaps our digital wedding invitations will strike your fancy!

Place your order by April 30, and receive 100 one-color digitally printed wedding invitations with 110 blank envelopes, and 100 one-color digitally printed enclosure cards for only $350!

The crisp, clean aura of our digital wedding invitations will be adored by guests, while our letterpress is truly a sight to see. If you are having a bit of trouble deciding which print method is best for you, be sure to order samples!

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Written by Katie

We love printing non-English invitations!

Even though Invitations by Ajalon is located in Sonoma County, California, we have found ourselves working with brides and grooms all over the world! We love designing and printing culturally-inspired wedding cards, and nothing excites us quite like the look of a language other than English letterpress printed on a piece of Crane’s Lettra. ; )

Our bilingual invitations have been quite popular, but lately we’ve been seeing more and more wedding invitations printed in one foreign language. It really reminds you how much culture we have right here in America.

Even our digital wedding invitations look amazing printed in languages like Spanish, Hebrew, German, and more.

What language(s) will you speak on your wedding day?

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Written by Katie

Tropical Palms for Summer 2012 Weddings

Are you a Summer 2012 bride preparing for a tropical destination wedding celebration? A palm tree motif within your wedding invitation design is sure to get your guests excited about your upcoming big day!

Here are a few of our invitation designs that we think would be perfect for a Summer 2012 tropical wedding ceremony:

Robin

Perfect for unforgettable destination wedding celebrations, the Robyn letterpress wedding invitation card is both elegant and playful. A classic monogram is the focal point of the invitation’s wording, letting guests know whose big day is approaching fast.

Send Me My Free Samples of Robin

Oasis

This letterpress wedding invitation card design features a beautiful palm tree next to elegant, contrasting fonts that clearly lay out event information. Perfect for destination weddings, the Oasis tropical letterpress wedding invitation design will make your guests feel as if they are being invited away on vacation.

Send Me My Free Samples of Oasis

St. Croix

This elegant letterpress wedding invitation invokes thoughts of gentle tropical breezes and soft, warm beaches. Whether you’re planning an exotic destination wedding, or want to create a beach themed wedding, St. Croix is just the ticket.

Send Me My Free Samples of St. Croix

Which tropical region will you be saying “I do” in? Whether it is Maui or Malibu, palm trees are the perfect addition to any summer wedding!

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Written by Katie

Brighten up your wedding celebration with neon!

Neon is everywhere right now—and don’t you just love it? A few years back, neon did nothing but remind me of tacky ‘80s windbreakers. I must admit I now see these bright hues in a whole new light!

Photo Credit

This Brooklyn Bride post is what really convinced me that neon is do-able in the wedding world. In no way are those bright neons overpowering or tacky; in fact, quite the opposite! There’s no doubt in my mind that a bold bride can make neon work for them in chic, luxurious ways.

Even our most vintage and traditional wedding invitation designs look amazing when printed with neon inks. Check out our Vintage Lace design printed in bright green, pink and orange hues:

Do you love or hate the neon trend?

The Bachelor has taken over Sonoma County!

Never before have I enjoyed reality television so much! What I love most about this season of The Bachelor is that it takes place right here in Sonoma County, California. I don’t have cable, so most of my interest involves looking up the filming locations after episodes have aired. ; )

Photo Credit

I love hearing about Ben and his contestants hanging out in the Sonoma Plaza, eating it up at the girl & the fig, and roaming around the outskirts of Windsor (my hometown!) for romantic picnics. Who else gets excited when they see something familiar in the media?

I only wish the writers of the show would have written in a trip to Invitations by Ajalon, in between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol! hehe The girls could have picked out their dream invitation design, and Ben could’ve gotten his hands dirty in the Windmill… ; )

Here are some Wine Country wedding invitation designs we think would be perfect for the Bachelor and his lucky lady:

Send Me My Free Samples of Micaela

Send Me My Free Samples of Caballero

Send Me My Free Samples of Zinfandel

Send Me My Free Samples of St. Helena

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Written by Katie

Wording wedding invitations when the bride’s family is hosting

We have a few posts on proper invitation wording, but we thought we’d provide some visuals so you can see the real deal.

There are two ways to go about wording your wedding invitation when the bride’s family is hosting the affair: formal and casual.

Formal

You can tell that the invitation is a formal one just by reading the first few lines.

If someone has requested the “honor” or “honour” of your presence, the ceremony will take place in a house of worship.

Casual

Using poems, short phrases and other clever wording will really get guests excited about your upcoming big day.

There’s many different ways to word your wedding invitations, whether you are aiming for a formal or casual tone. Be sure to discuss these little details with your invitation consultant!

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Written by Katie

The Last Letterpress Deal of 2011!

If you are searching for exquisite, affordable letterpress wedding invitations, you have found the right place! Order or place your desposit by December 31, 2011, take advantage of 100 one-color letterpress invitations with 110 blank envelopes, as well as 100 one-color enclosure cards for only $559!

Your wedding invitation set will impress your guests and get them excited about your upcoming celebration. Whether you are throwing an intimate garden wedding or a lavish Indian affair with hundreds of guests, a letterpress invitation is sure to impress your guest list.

If you haven’t caught on to the wonder that is letterpress printing, let me offer you a few reasons why it is the preferred printing method of choice by brides all over the world:

The Impression

Deep impressions will have guests ogling your invites for days!

The Sustainability

Soy-based inks and tree-free paper will keep your conscious feeling good about your invitations’ impact on the planet.

The Hand-Crafted Aura

Most brides love the vintage, hand-crafted ambiance of the letterpress printing process. We print our wedding invitations on our Heidelberg Windmill, a machine that has been around for centuries.

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Written by Katie

Add some color to your letterpress invitations!

If there is one custom element I could choose to add to a wedding invitation, it would definitely be edge painting! Edge painting is a glorious customization trend that is super hot right now.

Only the edges of your thick paper are painted, adding a pop of color and a luxurious tone to your wedding invitation design. Color choices are up to you! Choose a coordinating color from your wedding color scheme, or go bold with bright pinks, blues or yellows.

We used a dark green color to edge paint our Thanksgiving greeting cards.

Gold is an excellent option as well!

No matter what color you choose, your edge painted invitations are sure to impress your guests.

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Written by Katie