Watercolor Wedding Invitations | Established 2012

wedding invitation

Hand-Painted Invitations, Real Wedding
Whimsical wedding inspiration for an outdoor wedding
- January 29, 2016
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- by Allison
There was just too many dreamy wedding details in this styled shoot to fit into one blog post, so today I’m featuring more of the wedding accessories such as the stunning lace BHLDN wedding dress, the beautiful ring from Trumpet and Horn and bridal jewelry from BHLDN, the boho floral crowns by Emlily Floral, and of course, the watercolor wedding invitation set by yours truly. By the way, the Mystical Forest watercolor wedding invitation is available in the Hand-Painted Weddings Shop.

I was lucky enough to join my friend at a BHLDN dress appointment in NYC last summer, and let me just say… I’ve never seen such beautiful laces and unique, delicate touches. Every dress was a work of art. BHLDN is truly inspiring to the wedding market.

I’m in love with the lush flowers in the bride’s bouquet….oh, if I were to get married again, I’d have a bouquet just like this.

I’m also swooning of the casual, wispy wedding hair the bride and bridesmaid have with their floral crowns. It is so delicate and effortlessly beautiful. The color of blue in the bridesmaid dress is perfection. It has a hint of earthiness to it, while still be classically blue, which is apparently the most popular color for bridesmaid dresses in the U.S.

I’m still in awe that I was able to contribute to this dreamy wedding in California. I hope it was as inspiring for you as it has been for me!

Photographer: Katie Ricard Photography @katiericard | Florist: Emlily Floral @emlily_floral | Wedding Dress and Bridal Jewelry: BHLDN @bhldn | Engagement Ring: Trumpet and Horn @trumpetandhorn | Cake/Desserts: Just Baked SLO @justbakedslo | Cake Topper: Lovely Grain Studio @lovelygrainstudio | Invitation/Save the Date: Hand-Painted Weddings @handpaintedweddings | Calligraphy: Letters from Lindsey @lettersfromlind | Hair Stylist: Rece Evans @receevans | Models: Bride – @allycevans | Groom (also photo and styling assistant) – Emerson Ricard @emerson.ricard | Bridesmaid – @colleenricard

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Hand-Painted Weddings, Real Wedding
Dream, ethereal wedding inspiration with effortless, boho touches
- January 27, 2016
- Comments Off on Dream, ethereal wedding inspiration with effortless, boho touches
- by Allison
A dreamy wedding styled shoot which came together in such a magical way. I responded to a request for a wedding stationer on one of the creative entrepreneur Facebook groups I’m on, and was chosen to be a part of this amazing group of vendors organizing a styled shoot in the Oak Forest in California. The wedding shoot took place amongst the most gorgeous, mystical trees with Spanish moss hanging from them. The Spanish moss and the weaving trees were the inspiration for the mystical wedding invitation set I painted and designed. The Mystical Forest wedding invitation is now available in the Hand-Painted Weddings Shop.

The wedding inspiration is full of dreamy light photography featuring ethereal, boho crowns, whimsical flower arrangements full of texture, gold brushed french macarons, and a textured buttercream cake with beloved cake topper. These elements all come together as an effortless, lovely, and nature-inspired wedding look.

Tomorrow I will be sharing more dreamy wedding inspiration focused more on ethereal wedding fashion details.

Photographer: Katie Ricard Photography @katiericard | Florist: Emlily Floral @emlily_floral | Wedding Dress and Bridal Jewelry: BHLDN @bhldn | Engagement Ring: Trumpet and Horn @trumpetandhorn | Cake/Desserts: Just Baked SLO @justbakedslo | Cake Topper: Lovely Grain Studio @lovelygrainstudio | Invitation/Save the Date: Hand-Painted Weddings @handpaintedweddings | Calligraphy: Letters from Lindsey @lettersfromlind | Hair Stylist: Rece Evans @receevans | Models: Bride – @allycevans | Groom (also photo and styling assistant) – Emerson Ricard @emerson.ricard | Bridesmaid – @colleenricard

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Real Wedding
Rustic, gold foiled wedding at Front and Palmer
- January 14, 2016
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- by Allison
Jill and Poya were one of my favorite couples from 2015. I met them at last year’s Lovesick Expo and worked closely with them throughout the year on their custom save the dates, custom wedding invitations and wedding day paper. This couple was unique for me because while Jill managed the stationery process, I worked with both the bride and groom during the design. This clearly shows what a great team the two of them make.

Jill and Poya’s wedding in so many ways felt like my own wedding because along with the bride’s mom, the couple DIY’ed a lot of the decorations for their autumn wedding. I could definitely empathize with the amount of work that was to take on. But it is that effort and personal touch that truly made their wedding unique. The warmth exuding from the photos is clearly from love.

Jill and Poya were also my first clients to add gold foil to their wedding invitations, which added a lovely, antique look to the rustic design. Gold foil is so trendy right now, and for good reason—it’s lovely. They were also the first that decided not to add watercolor to their invitation suite (it was on their save the date). In my opinion the meaning of hand-painted can be taken literally or it can be taken as a couple who makes their wedding their own by painting it with love, and that is surely what this couple did.

I was fortunate enough to get the bride to give us some personal behind the scenes of her wedding, which are sprinkled throughout this post. Enjoy!

Allison: How did your wedding invitations tie into the look of your wedding?

Jill: “What Allison designed for us was perfect and just the look we were going for. We wanted something simple, a little rustic, and at the same time a little catchy, and I think Allison achieved all of those objectives with her design. The layering in of gold in particular was somewhat important to us because gold was one of the colors we featured throughout our décor. We were also able to incorporate Allison’s invitation design into the décor – both in our escort cards as well as our table cards. We really liked the consistency and clean feel that created.”

Allison: What was your favorite detail at your wedding?

Jill: “While I was so pleased with everything, I think the venue was my overall favorite aspect of the wedding. It was exactly what we wanted, and we knew that as soon as we saw it! We wanted something rustic, but still classic, and I think Front and Palmer definitely strikes that balance.”

Allison: Favorite moment at your wedding?

Jill: “My now-husband had a wonderful surprise for me – he hopped on stage and played a few songs on his guitar! Not only was seeing him in action such a treat (I generally only hear him playing in our apartment when I am trying to go to sleep!), but seeing everyone dance and sing along was wonderful.”

Photographer: LoveMeDo Photography | Venue: Front and Palmer | Gown: Sarah Seven gown from Lovely Bride | Florals: Beautiful Blooms | Videography: Lovesick inc.
Hand-Painted Invitations, Real Wedding
San Diego Wedding Inspiration – Part 3 – Wedding invitation
- December 3, 2015
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- by Allison
Today’s blog post discusses one of the main inspiration aspects I use as an artist for couple’s invitations. To avoid a spoiler alert, I will just go right into my question for the bride…

Allison: “How did your wedding invitations tie into the look of your wedding?”

Kara: “They were a direct reflection of the venue itself, which was so unique and special. I wanted to present something different to my guests that they hadn’t seen before. It was almost a preview of the night to come. Allowing my guests that “sneak peek” seemed to create a sense of growing anticipation.”

A couple’s wedding venue is usually the very first big wedding decision the couple will make together. The wedding venue usually says a lot about the couple’s tastes and interests, so it is a great way to incorporate these personal aspects into the wedding invitation. Using the wedding venue as the art on your custom wedding invitation also sets the scene for your guests and as Kara says creates “a sneak peek” of what to expect on their wedding day.

Kara and Taylor had a lot of beauty from their Stone Gardens Events wedding venue to choose from to feature on her wedding invitation. We decided to use the lake with the palm trees in the background from the first photo below as the feature for the invitation and the bridge with the curving ironwork as the artwork on the RSVP card. I love how the final invitation set was sunny and represented some of the unique beauty of their wedding venue.

Photos by Happy Endings Photo.

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Real Wedding
San Diego Wedding Inspiration – Part 2 – Favorite Moment
- December 2, 2015
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- by Allison
In my opinion, the most important thing to remember on your wedding day is to be present to all the special moments. There are so many emotional moments on your wedding day that you will experience on that day only, so it is so important to put aside any of the worries or tiny details that may have taken over your mind leading up to your wedding, and to just be present and soak in the moments. It truly is the most important part. I can’t say it enough…and this is coming from someone who specializes in the details 🙂 This belief is rooted in my favorite question to ask couples after their wedding…

Allison: “Favorite moment at your wedding?”

Kara: “Definitely when my dad handed me off to my husband. It was such a special moment and you could just feel it. I have always been so close with my dad so the “giving away” moment was so special. Lots of memories flashing through my mind as it happened.”

Photos by Happy Endings Photo.

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Inspired by
Literature Themed Wedding
- July 2, 2015
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- by Allison
A literature themed wedding has touches of antique and looks lovely amongst a rustic or historic wedding venue. In general a rustic wedding exudes a casual vibe to it and an antique, historic wedding exudes a more refined vibe, but don’t feel limited to pick just one look. Use your wedding venue as a guide and feel free to mix and match different elements from a rustic and antique literature theme. The books can be the glue that holds the look together.

Be sure to shop at flea markets, antique stores and yard sales to collect your classic hard-bound novels to possibly read and use in your decor. I personally love the look of really old books…you know, the type that is so worn that the pages have yellowed and the spine has signs of wear. There has also been a trend in the redesigns of classic novel covers which would be a really fun way to make the antique literature theme more modern and unique. Loose bouquets with lots of texture look lovely with this look. Also antique gold pieces like picture frames, antique keys, and gold rimmed glasses and chargers work really well with this theme.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Literature Invitation is now available in the Hand-Painted Weddings Invitation shop.

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Hand-Painted Weddings, Inspired by
Rainbow-inspired LGBT Pride wedding
- June 25, 2015
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- by Allison
Rainbow-inspired LGBT Pride wedding is super fun and joyful! I love that a couple can go all out and incorporate many rainbow ideas into a wedding, or they can pick a bright color (or white) as their dominant color and then add rainbow accents such as a rainbow cake or cascading rainbow flower centerpieces. A white wedding with rainbow accents would be stunning!

This rainbow-inspired LGBT Pride wedding style is perfect for the same-sex couple that is looking for a lighthearted, happy wedding…the kind where the brides (or grooms) are wearing colorful Converse shoes as in the first inspiration photo above.

I also love the rainbow cakes I have been seeing…they vary from a colorful rainbow candy coated cake masterpiece to a white cake with rainbow cake layers inside as a surprise!

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Pride Invitation is now available in the Hand-Painted Weddings Invitation shop.
Hand-Painted Invitations
Pride Invitation in Celebration of LGBT Pride Month
- June 23, 2015
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- by Allison
I made this invitation in celebration of National LGBT Pride Month. As a firm believer in same sex marriage equality, I believe that all of my invitations are made to be appropriate and unique to the couple, no matter the gender or sexual orientation. That said, I also wanted to design an invitation that specifically celebrates the Gay Pride movement, so I created this hand-painted watercolor rainbow invitation commemorating LGBT Pride month.

The rainbow art is bright and happy with a nod towards Gay pride which is more subtle than using gender graphics or symbols. I am really proud that I am in the generation where gay couples are receiving equal rights to be legally married. It actually blows my mind how long this government process has taken but it warms my heart every time a new state passes a law in favor of same sex marriages. This invitation is a design of celebration and pride, as well as a small prayer that we as a people will be accepting and welcoming of same sex couples.

Pride Invitation now available in the Hand-Painted Weddings Shop.
Hand-Painted Weddings, Real Wedding
Cartagena Wedding Reception
- June 5, 2015
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- by Allison
It’s party time! As the sun sets in Cartagena, the string lights and the dance floor light up! This poolside Cartagena wedding reception looks like so much fun! I love the little white party dress the bride changed into after her first dance! Super sexy and fun! Here is one final question for the bride looking back on her wedding day…

Allison: “Favorite moment at your wedding?”

Liliana: “LOL! I think my favorite moment was when ALL jumped to the dancing floor and dance. I was amazed seeing everyone get along so well and in spite of the difference in culture and language, everyone was able to communicate, enjoy and know each other. We felt truly loved that our families and friends came to celebrate with us no matter the distance or the difficulties.”

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of Liliana and Ryan’s Cartagena wedding and are inspired for your destination wedding planning. I loved working with Liliana to create her destination wedding invitations. Check out their custom destination wedding invitation here. And if you missed it earlier this week, check out their wedding day portraits and ceremony here and here.

Have a beautiful weekend friends!

Sources: Cartagena Invitation by Hand-Painted Weddings. Photo by Pedraza Producciones.
Hand-Painted Weddings, Real Wedding
Cartagena Wedding Portraits
- June 3, 2015
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- by Allison
Today I’m sharing with you some of the gorgeous wedding day portraits taken around the beautiful city of Cartagena. As I said in yesterday’s post, Cartagena has become a popular destination wedding site for the last decade or so. Cartagena is widely recognized as the most romantic city in Colombia, with its mix of historical sites and beautiful beaches.

But I wanted to know what attracted this couple to have a destination wedding in Cartagena so I asked the bride, Liliana, and here is what she had to say:

Allison: What made you choose to do a destination wedding? And why Cartagena?

Liliana: “We decide for a destination wedding for two reasons: one, Ryan and I love to travel. Our love story has been always around travel and knowing different places. We got engaged in Rome, so we wanted to get married in another amazing place. We wanted to celebrate our wedding while traveling and visiting places. In fact, we took off to Machu Picchu (Peru) after our wedding day. Second reason. I’m from Colombia. My family lives in Bogota which is 1 hour flight to Cartagena. So we picked Cartagena because it was going to be a fun trip for everyone. Ryan’s family is from California and Kansas City and my family is from Bogota. It was going to be the first time for them to meet.”

Stay tuned tomorrow for ceremony photos from this lovely Cartagena wedding.

Sources: Cartagena Invitation by Hand-Painted Weddings. Photo by Pedraza Producciones.
Hand-Painted Invitations, Real Wedding
Real Destination Wedding in Cartagena
- June 2, 2015
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- by Allison
This week you are in for a real treat! I am so excited to share this real destination wedding all the way from Cartagena, Columbia. I had noticed a popularity in Cartagena weddings since this wedding, and have recently learned from someone who is getting married there next February, that it started becoming popular in 2002 when Juan Pablo Montoya, the Formula 1 car driver, who then became a NASCAR driver, had his lavish wedding there. After that, one of Colombia’s ex-president’s sons got married in Cartagena, as well as, the son of the richest man in Colombia. With all that press, of course Cartagena became a popular destination wedding site.

I worked with the couple on their custom wedding invitations based on a photograph of this iconic street in the center of town. Recently, when I received this photo of the couple on their wedding day walking in that same street, I literally beamed with excitement! It is so exciting to see the artwork alive in their wedding photo!

I am a pretty sentimental person, so when the invitations are complete, I often find myself wondering how the wedding came together and how wonderful their big day went. That is why I love posting couple’s wedding photographs! It is just so exciting to see how couple’s Hand-Painted Wedding invitations relate to the big picture of the entire wedding.

Tomorrow I will be sharing more photos from this gorgeous wedding in Cartagena, as well as some words from the beautiful bride, so be sure to keep your eye for it!

Sources: Cartagena Invitation by Hand-Painted Weddings. Photo by Pedraza Producciones.
Announcements, Hand-Painted Weddings, Press
Megan and Mike’s Wedding on The Knot!
- June 1, 2015
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- by Allison
So happy to start this first day of June with news that Megan and Mike’s beautiful wedding was featured on the The Knot Real Wedding section this past weekend!

Just to reiterate from my previous blog post featuring their lovely wedding, Megan and Mike did such a great job seamlessly incorporating natural and calming elements into their wedding, while still leaving room for fun details like the bride’s green shoes and their travel themed postcard guest book. I’m actually not surprised at all that this wedding is being featured for other couples to be inspired by, because it is quite inspiring. I’m so happy that I could be a part of it and create their custom watercolor invitation set as well as their escort cards.

Featured on The Knot. Photographs by Stephanie A. Smith Photography. Paper by Hand-Painted Weddings.
Hand-Painted Weddings, Inspired by
Damask Ombre Wedding Inspiration
- May 28, 2015
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- by Allison
The Damask Ombre wedding brings together two unique trends, the bold, high contrast damask pattern and the soft painterly ombre effect. I like finding balance between opposites, and the strong edges of the damask and the soft painterly effect of the ombre really allows for this interesting look.

One idea to incorporate the Damask Ombre look into your wedding is to have your cake design paint a damask pattern on top of a watercolor, ombre painted cake.

Another idea is to use blue and torquoise uplighting around your reception and using damask table linens. I can’t say enough good things about investing in lighting for your reception location, if it is an indoor location. For the money, uplighting makes such an impact for the entire environment (and for your photos) that a centerpiece really can’t beat.

For my wedding which was mostly DIY, my mom and I worked together to sew damask clutches for the bridesmaids. I still see my dear friends using the clutches at our friends’ weddings….it is really fun to see how versatile the damask look is. Also, there are a lot of artists on Etsy who have damask clutches in their shops.

I encourage you to consider this unique take on two wedding design trends, by colliding them together and finding a balance between the two. The Damask Ombre wedding is formal yet dreamy, bold yet soft, and for sure, lovely.

Sources (left to right, top to bottom): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Damask Invitation is now available in the Hand-Painted Weddings Invitation shop.
Hand-Painted Invitations
Butterfly Wedding Invitation
- May 19, 2015
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- by Allison
It is so exciting to be building up this year’s collection of Hand-Painted Wedding Shop Invitations! This brand new Butterfly Wedding invitation is inspired by one of the most beautiful creatures in nature, the butterfly.

I was surprised to notice that there aren’t many butterfly wedding invitations on the market right now, so I’m excited to offer this unique option for couples getting married in the spring, summer, or maybe even the early fall season. This design features an elegant calligraphy font along with a modern, classic headline font. This butterfly has a beautiful jewel toned color palette and is on top of a simple yellow and orange flower branch.

I am often inspired by nature for wedding invitations because there is so much untouched and pure beauty in nature. The butterfly in particular is an animal that flutters in such a pure way that attracts even the most distracted attention to it. The Butterfly Wedding Invitation is down-to-earth with a calm, pretty nature to it.

Butterfly Wedding Invitation by Hand-Painted Weddings.
Inspired by
Vintage Purple Feather Inspiration
- May 14, 2015
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- by Allison
I’m excited to share with you this pretty, soft purple wedding inspiration board with touches of vintage glamour inspired by the Vintage Purple Feather Invitation by Hand-Painted Weddings.

What is so unique about this inspiration board is its soft take on the vintage Art Deco theme. Oftentimes this vintage wedding theme’s sister theme, “the Great Gatsby wedding” is full of high contrasted white and black combinations with geometric Art Deco patterns and strong edges. This inspiration is very different than that aesthetic. It is feminine and whimsical and flows with the grace inspired by the delicate ostrich feathers. A neutral palette along with a heavy amount of lilac or lavender details also set this vintage wedding inspiration apart. I love how the wisteria (photo top right) and the purple feathers work together in this wedding inspiration board.

Soft feathers are so easy to intermingle into the design elements of your wedding. They look lovely in hair fascinators, as accents in a belt or band, and as accents on a small purse or clutch. They bring a unique touch to centerpieces and bouquets amongst flowers as well as a cake topper.

Image Resources – Top to bottom (left to right): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Purple Feather Invitation is now available in the Hand-Painted Weddings Invitation shop.
Hand-Painted Invitations
Vintage Purple Feather Invitation
- May 13, 2015
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- by Allison
Inspired by the elegance and glamour of the 1920s era, this vintage purple feather invitation features soft lilac ostrich feathers in the background. The typography in this invitation set is inspired by the Art Deco era.

I’m excited to offer this glamorous watercolor wedding invitation in the Hand-Painted Weddings shop. I think the Great Gatsby wedding trend is timeless, and maybe not as popular as it was when the Leo film was launched, but I think that is a good thing (because you’ll be more unique if you go with this theme for your wedding). Ostrich feathers are dreamy and dramatic. Purple is also still such a popular wedding color, and I love how the feathers are portrayed in the watercolor with their graceful brush strokes.

Throughout the remainder of the week, I will be sharing with you an inspiration board for a vintage 1920s wedding theme, as well as a special bridal portrait inspired by the Vintage Purple Feather Invitation.

Vintage Purple Feather Invitation by Hand-Painted Weddings.
Hand-Painted Invitations
Earth Day Wedding Invitation
- April 22, 2015
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- by Allison
Inspired by Earth Day, I have created this wedding invitation that seconds as art making it a green way to send your paper invitations. This double-sided Earth Day wedding invitation features a painting of a landscape with lush green grass and tree on one side which your guests can frame as art. The other side features the traditional wedding invitation art.

I love the saying “Our Story Begins Here” because I truly believe that the wedding starts with the invitation, making it one of the most important visual decisions of your wedding.

I’m very excited to offer this invitation to be printed on 100% Recycled Paper with an option for 100% Recycled White envelopes.

Earth Day Wedding Invitation by Hand-Painted Weddings.
Real Wedding
Real Wedding: Megan and Mike’s Unique Bucket List Themed Wedding
- March 18, 2015
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- by Allison
I am so excited to share a glimpse of Megan and Mike’s gorgeous wedding at the Phoenixville Foundry, right outside of Philadelphia. This wedding is chockfull of inspiration and pretty, little details that I’m sure you will find inspiring if you are planning your wedding.

Megan and I went to college together and were sorority sisters, so I was lucky enough to be a guest at Megan and Mike’s beautiful wedding, as well as create their invitations and escort cards.

Megan is a yogi (girl after my own heart), health coach, and the blogger behind Simple.Savvy.Self, so a natural, organic look flowed throughout their wedding. The couple also incorporated a unique bucket list theme to their wedding because of their engagement story. Mike proposed to Megan as they planned their bucket lists, and of course, romantically spending their lives together was top of their lists. The bucket with M&M for their initials adorned their invitations.

As avid travelers (they went to Cape Town, South Africa for their honeymoon!!), travel locations were very much on their bucket list, and intermingled in the details of their wedding. I love love love how they found this vintage map mural to take a wedding photo in front of! To keep with the theme, they also had travel postcards and a suitcase at their guest book station, so that guests could write little tips on each postcard and place it in the suitcase.

Megan is also one of my more fashionable friends, and I can’t get enough of how beautiful her dress and super fun green shoes were!

Photos by Stephanie A. Smith. Paper by Hand-Painted Weddings.
Hand-Painted Invitations
Vow Renewal Invitation set based on the Cinderella Invitation
- January 26, 2015
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- by Allison
Customized projects come in all shapes and sizes. This one was a variation on the Cinderella Invitation set in Hand-Painted Weddings Shop. This invitation was for a happy couple who was going to have their vow renewal in magical Disneyland. The colors in this invitation changed from light blues to pinks, and the cards were printed on a pearlescent paper giving it a very ethereal shimmer. The outer envelope was also a beautiful pearlescent envelope to match. I love how this invitation came out!

Custom Cinderella Invitation set by Hand-Painted Weddings.