“Ready To Love” Letterpress Wedding Invitations: Sneak Peek
If you love letterpress as much as we love letterpress ~ then we have some great news for you today. Cathy, the creative genius of Love At First Invite, is giving Style Me Pretty readers a chance to preview her new Spring 2009 collection. The Ready To Love line is a suite of affordable, pre-designed wedding invitations that are, as the name implies, ‘ready’ to be customized with your own wording and your own colors. For the bride on a tight schedule or a tight budget, these couldn’t be more perfect! The designs are so flirty, so stylish and so contemporary that we know you’re going to love them. These invites are going to be available in different print styles (letterpress, thermography or digital), but as we said, Style Me Pretty readers are the first to see them. To preview the complete collection of the Ready To Love invitations, click {here}.
The best part is that Cathy is giving one Style Me Pretty reader a suite of 100 letterpress invitations from the RTL collection! Your choice, your colors, your words. You have to go to her site to see the full collection, and then come back here and leave us a comment with the name of your favorite invitation. You know the drill, though … you have to say why.
If you love ‘em, but you’re not selected, do go back and take another look … Ready To Love … because they really are a super way to get that luxurious feel of a fine letterpress invitation quickly, and at a great price. Samples are available for purchase. Click here for your official SMP sneak peek of the Spring 2009 Collection. We’ll keep the lines open until Monday at 6pm and announce the lucky winner on Tuesday afternoon.
Love At First Invite has lovely custom invitations that fit every couples style and budget … and Cathy is a dream to work with!
Thanks so much, Cathy for this great opportunity for Style Me Pretty readers!
The Bird Watcher invitations are perfect! My fiance's dad passed away recently, and he was a very talented bird watcher. It means so much to both of us to include him in our special day, so we've tried to incorporate subtle birds in unique ways in our wedding, without having them overpower everything (ex. a tiny bird hidden in each bouquet). I've been looking everywhere for sophisticated yet subtle bird invitations--and I think I've finally found them!! These will be the perfect touch. Love!
Really like the Two Hearts design. 1 part whimsy, 1 part elegant.
I love the damask invitations from this Spring 2009 collection! They are so elegant, but add some fun to a classic invitation and fit the theme of my wedding so well!
The design of what I suspect are calla lilies looks very elegant and would be a lovely homage to my mother's wedding to my stepfather - she had an arm bouquet of huge white calla lilies and they were gorgeous.
I love the "destination" invitation! It will suit our garden wedding perfectly!It is both formal and modern!
I really love the "two hearts" invitation. The swirl has just the right amount of flair, and the two hearts sitting on one of the lines is just adorable. Perfectly personalized, yet not too showy.
The Destination Invites are amazing. The design is brilliant, fresh, fun and they have a luxurious and unique look. This design would compliment my seaside/spring destination wedding!
When I look at stationery, I'm always drawn to understated pieces where the decoration and text coexist without one overpowering the other. For that reason I really like the lightness and subtlety of the 'Dotted' design.
The "Dotted" design would be perfect for our August garden wedding. It is elegant but understated, subtle and chic. I especially love how the all-caps text pairs so well with the flower background.
I LOVE "Park". It reminds me of sitting in a tree and K-I-S-S-I-N-G. So sweet.
The dotted design (bottom row, second from left) is gorgeous! It would look great in navy and fuschia and it's just so fresh and summery! What a great find!
I love Bird Watcher -- the muted color palette and quiet elegance would pair beautifully with our southern plantation wedding!
I love the Bird Watcher design. We're planning to get married outside, and both of us adore nature. That and it's absolutely adorable!
I love love love the Regal style invite. Our whole wedding theme is in glamourous golds, champagnes and ivory so this style would really set the mood for our guests!
I absolutely LOVE "Two Hearts." The swirly design is so whimsical and elegant. But the best part is the two hearts that sit next to each other. It's a great metaphor of two people beginning the rest of their lives by each other's side...so romantic!
I'm loving the 'two hearts' invitation. We're struggling to find an invitation that says to our friends and family both 'formal event' and 'remember us? we're the fun friends! please come enjoy the day with us!'. The casualness of the hearts with the formal look of the flourish is the perfect combination!
I love the bird watcher invitations. The location of our wedding is very rustic and warm. The ceremony which will take place in an art gallery is filled with paintings of birds. The bird watcher invitations will add the perfect touch!
I love the bird watcher. It is subtle and sweet.
In the past year of engagement my wedding “theme” has evolved into “English Garden with subtle chic touches”. The “Destination” invitations definitely have that organic feel that I love, but yet seem so classic and chic at the same time. I feel as though they may have been custom made for me!
Waaah! Why wasn't LAFI around when I got married! These were exactly what I had in my head. They're perfect! It would be so hard to choose!
I love the park invitation! We are doing a trees and apples theme and this would go along perfectly!
The Diamond Tuft invitation is beautiful. I love its simplicity, and the mood can be totally altered by the colors you choose!
All of these designs are beautiful, but as I came to the end, I immediately knew my choice. The "Dotted" invitations would be perfect! My dress is all-over lace with beaded detail throughout. Also, we are having our fall wedding looking over Lake Winnepesaukee in NH. The design makes me hope for the perfect foliage colors and leaves floating through the air as we say our vows outside.
I absolutely love Swirled! (Am I the ONLY one?!?)
This is what I've been trying to find in my invite search... The colors are also amazing (my wedding colors) but what I love is the funky and a bit unusual approach to the design. It really conveys that you are invited to a fun and loving party!!
It would be perfect for my casual backyard spring wedding.
My favorite has got to be either Destination (because I love the flower graphic) or Dotted (because I love the names set off with a "plate" of sorts). Thanks for a great contest!
"Two Hearts" is definitely my favorite! I love the simplicity - a bit of detail in the design with a very basic font. It has a bit of a whimsical feel, but is also a bit earthy. i think it's perfect!
LOVIN' the two hearts and the swirled! Both of them definitely capture the spirit of our relationship and the type of theme we would like for our wedding!
I love the "Bird Watcher" invite! I have been searching EVERYWHERE for this kind of simple pretty design to tie into my "country chic" style wedding. It is PERFECT! Finally afforable and beautiful wedding invites!
Awwwe, these are beautiful! There's a certain level of simplicity to these invites that I love but they still maintain a romantic flair. That describes us PERFECTLY. The one we love the most is "Two Hearts". It's really sweet!
The regal one is my favourite. I would love to use these at our wedding - we are on a tight budget and I am proposing to handwrite all our invitations. The regal theme perfectly sets off the peacock imagery we have chosen to hold all the aspects of our wedding together. I would choose to change the colour to blue to match all our other accents but other than that they are perfect.
I really love Dotted! It has a wonderful old-world charm. I think it's very romantic and elegant, but the dotted design makes it slightly modern and unique. I would love to use that invitation design in brown and burgundy. It would fit perfectly with the look I am going for with my wedding.
I lovelovelove the Damask wedding invitations. They would be the perfect "sneak peek" into our old-world French-inspired wedding.
The Diamond Tuft design immediately won my heart over. They are simple and quaint, just like the historic bed and breakfast that we will be married at in September. It's a very charming design.
First, thanks so much for this post. I've seen so many posts about "affordable" letterpress, but this is the first time that I looked at the website and actually thought, "wow...that might actually be possible for us." I know so many brides would love to have gorgeous letterpress invitations, but they are just not in the wedding budget. Thanks, Cathy for finding a way to pass on this little luxury to us (and thanks Abby for telling us about it)! All that said, my favorite is Dotted. It's not only uniquely beautiful, but those tiny dots just scream for letterpress--the texture would be amazing!
These are all so beautiful, elegant and yet modern! But my favorite would have to be Destination. It would be perfect for our July wedding with a cranberry and ivory color palette, gorgeously displaying the vivid red color so as to look summery, and not like Christmas. And, perfect for us since we have a tight deadline with less than 6 months till our wedding!
I just KNEW I was going to love Bird Watcher the best because it's so contemporary and elegant. But then I began to scroll through and realized that I'm quite in love with SEVERAL items in this collection! I love Swirled because of it's quirky but still beautiful scroll work. And I love Dotted because it's so unexpected. I'm really having a hard time choosing my favorite. But truth be told I think I have to go with Regal, because it's just that! Regal, elegant and still very modern. This collection is very beautiful.
Hmm, I can't decide. I love Swirl - my fiance's family is South Indian and the swirl pattern reminds me of the patterns on the wraps I am sewing each of them out of beautiful saris! My second favorite is Dotted, because it's just so sweet and original. Like a hand-stitched program or something! They are all beautiful, great line.
Congratulations Cathy! I love the whole collection - they are are really fantastic. My favorite is probably the DOTTED... but I'm super excited to be working with Cathy for our custom invitations!
Super Job!
I am torn between the dotted and the damask styles. The dotted has that couture style with the header (like one I am picking out for my blog actually), but I am a sucker for damask printed anything! The damask is just so bold and catches the eye - absolutely beautiful. I'm going to say that the damask is my favorite!
I love the Bird Watchers invites! My wedding colors are actually navy, gray, and orange so the colors are perfect as they are. It would perfectly complement our winter wedding!
I absolutely LOVED "Park" invites. My wedding is outdoors in October and it totally captures the rustic feel we want. Gorgeous!!!
I love the "Regal" design. It has a vintage "art deco" feel to it, with the borders mimicking the ornate moldings of a vintage art deco syle ballroom. It would be perfect for my wedding style which is modern vintage. The pattern and font combo are "regal" but are not too serious but yet are very stylish!
Although the invites are all fabulous, I LOVE the Diamond Tuft invites they are able to mix traditional elements with a touch of modern preppy chic. The whole vibe to our wedding is preppy chic featuring lots of polka dots and I think that the Diamond Tuft invite would be perfect!
Dear Cathy,
Your designs are delightful and sophisticated. Thank you for the sneak peak preview of your collection!! I've been looking around at several letter press sites, but there wasn't anything affordable for my budget. I'm excited to have been introduced to your site and your newest collection.
I was initally absolutely split between 'Bird Watcher' and 'Two Hearts,' but I've made up my mind. My wedding is a back yard affair the first weekend of September in Bowling Green, KY. Our guest list is at 75 and we hope that with the intimate size we can throw a grand dancing party with bright colors and great grilled food served by the men of both familes! Much of the wedding will be pulled together by mothers, fathers, sibblings and cousins (in terms of all the flair and decorations). I feel that the whimsical curly-cues of the 'Two Hearts' design will perfectly capture what we are going for! The two mini hearts leave a smile on your face after you're done looking at the invitation and that's what we hope our wedding will do to our guests. Thank you again for sharing!
Alice
I LOVE the two hearts design. It reminds me of a tree with two little apples hanging from it - and the initials are so sweet! Just that bit of personalization makes the invites appear to have been custom made, just for you. Very modern but also whimsical - the perfect combo of playful and sincere. These would be perfect for my 'Picnic in the Park' wedding!
Wow! I think "Park" is my favorite design. It is so versatile! It would look gorgeous for a fall wedding in a palette of pale orange and brown or for a winter wedding (icy blue and silver) or a spring wedding (delicate pink and lush green) or a summer wedding(sunny yellow and sky blue) Absolutely gorgeous!
I am torn! I love all of the invites with branches and vines! I adore the sneak preview one with the birds and the one with green vines and two hearts! My soon to be husband is a woodworker and has "wood" in his (soon-to-be OUR) last name so we are working on a subtle wood theme for our May wedding. We need to send invitations ASAP and I couldn't imgaine how proud I would be to send ones this beautiful!
I LOVE the 'Dotted' design! It is romantic, classic, and modern all at the same time and it embodies the feelings and experiences we will have at our August 2009 wedding! I love the entire collection! Thank you so much for sharing it with us Cathy!
I love the regal design so much. It's elegant, classic and timeless, exactly what I want guests to say about our wedding. We are getting married in New Orleans in the historic St. Louis Cathedral and using a color palette of deep red, golds, and ivory. This invitation is perfect.
I love swirled! It seems to tell a person that the wedding will be fun and modern while still retaining some class! I like dotted too but swirled fits much more with our wedding!
I'm in love with the "Park" invitation. I'm having an autumn wedding, and I really like the tree branches with the bold colors. The contrasting colors are modern and really makes a statement about the wedding. What I like about a tree motif is that it represents growth and strength of the relationship. This invitation is a beautiful introduction to an elegant autumn affair for the modern couple.
Your line is beautiful and I think you have designs that speak to a lot of women. Best of luck.
Though they are all so beautiful, this decision was easy. When my fiance and I first started dating, we carved our names into the freshly laid cement near my house. Our carving? Two hearts with our initials, just like in the invitation! When I saw this, it was as if it were custom made for us! What a perfect way to announce our wedding!
My favorite was definitely 'Destination'.
Our wedding will be at my mother's home in the backyard, and I have been looking for an invitation that gives a casual, laid-back feel, but is still elegant, which is exactly what our wedding will be.
To me, this suite personifies casual elegance. The color scheme is equally breathtaking!
I love the Bird Watcher invitation because it really captures our site (outdoors in the Santa Cruz, Calif., mountains) as well as our personalities and style. We love nature, birds and whimsical, elegant design!
I love the Bird Watcher invitation -- it fits us to a tee. It captures our love of whimsical and fresh design. Not to mention it sets the perfect tone for our September wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I absolutely fell in love with "Two Hearts" invitation. It is so elegant and romantic. "two heart one love". This beautiful invitation would set such great feeling for our guests for our April 2009 wedding at Mt. Woodson. Cathy, your invitations are an absolute inspiration.
The "two hearts" design is gorgeous. I love the wispy design with the dainty two hearts hidden among the swirls. This invitation is sweet and graceful. Beautiful!
my all time fave is the "DESTINATION" invite -- it's the perfect shade of orange that i have been searching for, and it's got a romantic and elegant feel to it. Exactly what i've been searching for!
I CAN'T DECIDE! They are all so perfect and unique from designs I've seen lately in my search. I will have to go with "bird watcher" as it seems to fit our theme the best. The beautiful, whimsical design goes perfectly with our outdoor wedding in NC. The birds are an extra special touch and is making me reconsider our centerpieces to incorporate them as a design element! Thanks for such a great opportunity to see them ahead of time.
Bird Watcher. This beautiful invitation is something that my fiance would choose out of a line up. We share a huge love of the outdoors and he can name any local (to the Northwest) species of bird. The day he told me he loved me for the first time, we were on a beach watching herons. These invitations make you feel like you have snuck up on a nest of love-birds. And that is how I want my guests to feel at our wedding.
Thanks for posting this! We have a split - he likes "Calla Lilies" the best; I like "Bird Watcher"; we'll toss a coin to decide. Our wedding will be in a garden with a bonfire after-party... definitely nature-themed.
I love the look of Etched Orchids. I was planning on designing my own invitations and having them printed at a local print shop, but now that my semester has started I'm feeling severely overwhelmed! Etched Orchids is exactly the look I was planning on.
The "Dotted" invitations are romantic and chic with a hint of vintage. They would be perfect for my Southern garden wedding.
Our theme is "love birds" and the bird watcher invitation has stolen my heart. i love the natural, simple color scheme.
These are all really gorgeous! My favorite would have to be Two Hearts. I love the colors and intricate swirls on Two Hearts especially. It's really classy but not overly formal (I'm looking forward to having a small, but classy wedding). Letterpress always has such a nice texture/feel to it, that's pretty much all I've been buying for cards lately.
Aside from it being, as the name implies, Regal, it envokes that certian star-studded quality worthy of any grand celebration. I have yet to come across a post on a real wedding in Las Vegas, but that exactly where we will hold ours! A November wedding at the Bellagio, enriched with deep orange, yellow, and brown colors...The Regal invites encompass the vision of our wedding, down to the big band musicians we hired!
I am torn between 'Two Hearts' and 'Dotted.' 'Two hearts' is elegant, but the two little hearts with the initials make it so personal and romantic. However I love how different the dotted pattern in 'Dotted' is. It is very chic, yet the names in the middle with the box around them gives it an elegant, more formal feel. I think ultimately I would pick 'Dotted.'
I love the Two Hearts. The beautiful flourishes gives the invitation a romantic feel. The two hearts with the initials leaves a simple, heartfelt, yet strong impact on the invitation. I also love the modern font!
It is so hard to pick just one, but since I have to, I have to go with the Dotted line. I love how it features the bride and groom's names more prominently (because that is the reason and focus of the wedding celebration), while maintaining a subtle theme and elegance with the dotted background. Beautiful!
My Fiance and I really love the Park invitations. We are having a fall wedding and we have been searching for a while for the perfect tree graphic for our invitations. This one fits us perfectly and I appreciate that we can use multiple colors on the leaves to incorporate our colors of brown and orange. There is something elegant but fun about these invitations and that is exactly what we want our wedding to say.
My favorite is the Dotted design - absolutely elegant and so romantic, which exactly describes what I imagine my wedding to be! Love your new collection!
"Dotted" stands out immediately-- it is elegant and memorable, but the fact that the scrolled box containing the names sits _above_ the rest of the invitations gives it a layered look that is rich and unusual for invitations right now. Similarly, the choice to put the text directly over the design motif makes to feel lush, while the dots themselves ad the font seems spare-- a nice counterpoint.
They are all beautiful, but my favorite is Bird Watcher. I am getting married at the Audubon Naturalist Society, so this would be the perfect invite!
The bird watcher is perfect for the garden party we are planning to celebrate our wedding!
Through this process of planning a wedding I have often found that the picture I have in my head of what I want does not always match the product available. I have looked at a lot of invitations that didn't quite match the feeling we're trying to portray at our wedding. That is certainly not the case with Dotted. This invitation evokes the timeless romance and elegance we want our wedding to capture yet is still fun and contemporary. Dotted would complement our southern charm wedding perfectly.
You really can't go wrong with anything Cathy creates. I love the Regal design. Our wedding is traditional, yet young and romantic. I think the Regal invitation would go beautifully with our wedding.
It is so hard to decide on my favorite but the Bird Watcher is perfect for our venue. We are getting married at a garden for urban horticulture known as the best location to bird watch in the city. We are going to encourage guests to bring their binoculars and wander around the site before the ceremony and during the cocktail hour.
I love the Damask design! It would go perfect with my vintage glamour theme!We are trying to recreate Harlom in the 1930s! It's going to be great!
These look amazing! It's great that brides like myself on a budget could afford the luxury of letterpress. It was difficult to chose, but my favorite is "Dotted". Our wedding is navy and sand and I think those colors would pop on the invites. Plus, it's so unique and we have 12 weddings between May and Sept this year, so we want our invites to stand out. These will do the trick and not break our budget!
What a fantastic sneak peek and giveaway!! All of these designs are gorgeous and it is really difficult to pick a favorite, but I have to say that the "damask" design is exquisite!!! The design is traditional, with a twist. It gives off a timeless/elegant vibe that I would love to be able to portray to my guests!
it thrills my heart to see that simple elegance is not lost here. i LOVED the "dotted" invitations for it's unobtrusive elegance that carries a whimsy and romance as well. my colours are navy blue and gold and it's so perfect. although the "two hearts" design was a close second. =)
It is so hard to choose just one! I love the Damask design, and it would be a perfect introduction for our July wedding in Santa Barbara, CA! Everything will be very old Hollywood with tons of chandelier crystals and a more neutral take on the damask theme (no black and white damask here--we're using lots of tone-on-tone ivory damask accented with gold, with tons of ivory and white flowers and sparkle everywhere!) Both the Damask and Regal with a neutral or gold ink (or even the pattern in blind letterpress) would be so amazing!!
This collection screams to every vintage/modern bride! I absolutely love the vintage aspects of the Regal design combined with the halftone dot effect! I was planning on DIY invitations for budget purposes but this new collection may have changed my mind!
Two Hearts: you stole ours.
Your intriguing flourish gives way to the essence of the day -
the joining of two together suspended, timeless.
Happiness, hope and adventure abound in these joyful details. We cross our fingers that you will set the stage, welcoming the hearts of family and friends to share in our day.
These are gorgeous I love them!! I think the two hearts design is my favorite. The initials inside the hearts are a great way to casually put in a "monogram" without actually doing a monogram.
I love the "Dotted" invitation. We're getting married in Washington, DC this summer and the subtle floral design reminds me of the cherry blossoms.
I love Bird Watcher because it reminds me of my grandmother. She passed away last summer and was an avid bird watcher herself. I think it would be a great way to honor her and it would make me feel like I have her there with me.
The invite design is rustic and not too fancy which is just like us! It also matches the outdoor ceremony and reception we are looking for. The font is easily legible yet still formal. And the two colors work together without feeling forced.
I am a graphic designer and this is exactly the style I am going for!
I absolutely love the "Two Hearts" design. Classy and fanciful at the same time.
OOh! I love letterpress, but it is out of my budget so this is a fabulous opportunity thanks!
I really like the bird watcher because i have a sort of nature theme to my wedding...trying to keep it eco friendly..and my {current} plan for centerpieces has little birds in them! Oh an "dotted" is just plain adorable!
I love the "two hearts" design. I adore how these blend the formal feel of swirls with the whimsical little hearts.
I adore the "dotted" invitation suite! It's formal, but still has a whimsical flair to it, which I think is important. Sure, it's a serious and elegant day, but it's also YOUR day, make it fun and give it some personality!
I Luv the Birdwatcher invites! They fit perfectly into my vintage lovebird theme and they are still masculine enough that my fiance still loved them...and men are so hard to please =)
I have been searching for affordable letterpress invites with modern designs for forever. There is just no comparison to the craftmanship of letterpress. Thanks for the wonderful post!
Oh! This is so difficult! It's like being a child in a candy store! I think we would choose "Two hearts". I just love the little hearts! My fiance and I met 8 years ago in college and have since remained "young at heart". The cute little hearts add a touch of whimsy to a clean and modern design. Exactly the feeling we were hoping for our wedding this summer. We're having such a difficult time deciding on our invitations since we really wanted letterpress invites but could not fit it in our budget. This design would be perfect!!!
I absolutely love the Regal invitations. Our ceremony is in an old gothic chapel, and the wedding reception will be held in a converted 1920s department store-turned ballroom. This design captures both elements in one great invitation!
How appropriate that this company is called "Love at First Invite". My fiance, who is picky about design and hadn't seen a single invitation he liked absolutely LOVES Bird Watcher. Its quiet, monochrome scheme ("not too girlie) and elegant typography remind him of his late grandfather, an avid bird watcher and the perfect gentleman. What better way to honour one of his favourite people than choosing this invitation for our garden wedding?
These invitations are just stunning, in looks and price! My fiance and I found out a week ago that we are having to move our wedding date from August to May, or we will loose our site. So now we are faced with a heap of work, including invitations. We were going to design our own to reflect our woodsy and elegant wedding site. But now we wont have time. I have looked everywhere for something simple and elegant. I think that the Park invitations are perfectly sweet, with a touch of elegance and nature. It would mean so much to me to have these beautiful invitations and a little help with our whirlwind wedding planning. thank you.
I love all of them, but the "Two Hearts" design is my favorite. It combines classic elegance and romance with a little bit of modern simplicity. I think it is perfect for the bride who wants a traditional/classic wedding that is still chic, of the moment, and romantic. Loves.
I love the etched orchids, and the dotted design is fabulous too! They are all great options, and the Ready to Love collection was a wonderful idea that I probably would have strongly considered if it were available when I started looking. Although I'm extremely excited to get my custom invitations within the next month!! :)
Calla Lillies! I have an art deco wedding coming up and those flowers are very evocative of that era. There is remarkable beauty and timelessness in the simplicity of that look. Calla lillies will be prominently featured everywhere else in our wedding...I'm blown away! Beautiful work!
Hi love the blue flowers and brown writing selection! It is an original combination and it would look beautiful letterpressed! I love!!