Our Couture Silk Products

Our Couture Invitations are our high end custom invitations that are created using gorgeous and high quality embellishments. At Elegant Custom Invitations, our Silk invitation boxes are constructed from wood - not cardboard. In addition, we offer 100% hand woven pure silk or a lower priced faux silk for all of our silk products. Both include wood construction and premium grade padding that is thicker to provide a more luxurious look. The padding is included in all of the usual places and the sides of the inside of each box as well. They are truly heirloom quality. You know your family and friends will receive a special gift from your event that will last a lifetime!


Premium Gate Silk Box


Premium Silk Pad


Silk Gate Folio


Silk Pad

There are many overseas box manufacturers advertising that they sell "silk" invitation boxes of "exceptional quality" for a price of $10 - including shipping. These boxes are made with polyester. In addition, you get a significant bill for import duties & taxes into the US that is not included in their pricing. This should be factored in when comparing pricing. In addition to using polyester fabric, they use a thin cardboard as the base of the invitation box construction, and a thin layer of foam padding on the outside top of the box, and the inside bottom of the box. It is important to note that there are different levels of quality and craftsmanship.

When shopping around for your silk invitation boxes, be sure to obtain all important details and ask the right questions. Here is a list of questions that you can ask:
1. Is the fabric 100% pure hand woven silk?
2. What are your boxes constructed from?
3. What thickness of padding do you use and where specifically is it used?
4. How much extra will it cost me in import duties & taxes to import the silk boxes into the US?

For more information on our Couture Invitations, please visit the Couture section of our website.

Photo credit: Rhphotoarts for Elegant Custom Invitations

Internship position at Elegant Custom Invitations

Hi Everyone!
We're looking for a creative and outgoing intern for Fall 2011 and Spring 2012. If you (or someone you know) are interested in working in our creative, fast-paced and exciting studio, please email your resume to jobs@myelegant-invitations.com.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of the week!

Top 5 Wedding Invitation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them!

Whether you're having your wedding invitations custom designed or ordering from a catalog, purchasing invitations can be a detailed process. Between the timing, cost calculations and diction, it's hard not to lose track of something and make a mistake. Below are five things you definitely want to avoid:

1. Have Realistic Budget Expectations
Avoid the wedding invitation "sticker shock" with proper planning and research. Before you get your heart set on the "perfect" invitation, determine your estimated number of guests as well as your bottom-line budget. Also, don't forget to consider the cost of postage and any additional stationery you may need (such as thank-you notes, programs, menu cards etc) when making calculations. Most newly engaged brides are unaware of how much wedding stationery cost. Check out my post here on having realistic expectations for invitations.

2. Don't Procrastinate!
A very common mistake in the wedding invitation process is not allowing enough time to choose, purchase AND print the stationery. Wedding invitations should be mailed six to eight weeks in advance, and production often takes up to 4 weeks for custom invitations and 5 - 7 business days for catalog invitations. So when should you order them? We say no less than six months just to play it safe. You will also avoid last minute stress and rush fees by planning ahead.

3. Order the Correct Quantity
When placing your order, be sure to account for late additions to the wedding, lost invites and keepsakes. It's generally suggested that you order 10-15% more invites than you think you need. Quick tip: Avoid ordering too many invitations by organizing your guest list by couple and family rather than individually. There are so many guest list tools available on the internet eg. The Knot, GetMarried etc. Ordering fewer invitations can result in unnecessary stress and more money to get additional quantities. In most cases, it costs more to order invitations in smaller quantities than it does to order them in bulk. And it is almost inevitable that you would have last minute guest additions, lost invitations or forgotten guests. Make sure to start on your guest list early and order extra invitations.

4. Avoid Typos
Proofread, proofread, proofread! Ask your family members and friends to read over your invitation proof a gazillion times, and even when they have given you the thumbs up, look over it one more time. How embarrassing would it be to send out an invitation with your mother-in-law's name spelled incorrectly? (Can you say mortifying times ten?!?)

5. Use the Right Postage
This one seems like a no-brainer, but don't assume your invitations require the standard postage amount. Compile one complete invitation including any enclosures, and take it down to your local post office to have it weighed before placing postage on the envelope. You should also ask the post office about any upcoming postage increases as you may need to buy the Forever Stamp, which is good no matter how many increases are made through the U.S. Postal Service.

I hope this helps you as we prepare for the 2012 wedding season.

Detail credit: GetMarried.com and Elegant Custom Invitations

Exciting Updates

Hi everyone!
Happy Monday morning! I hope you had a wonderful weekend...

In more exciting news!!!! We received an invitation to join the Style Me Pretty Texas Weddings prestigious network of vendors! Style Me Pretty, an industry leading wedding website, receives over 12 million pageviews a month (and counting!). The Texas site provides SMP readers with gorgeous local weddings and content that is specific to the Texas area. This is an exclusive invitation so we are definitely honored to have been asked and we love Style Me Pretty!

Check out our post on the blog! (Click on image below)



Shop Catalog Invitations Online
I am happy to announce that we have partnered with eInvite to bring you more fabulous wedding stationery. You can now shop from the Checkerboard collection directly online. Click here to view the collection.
If you're in the Houston area and would prefer to stop by the studio, we have a few of the albums to look through in the office studio.

Do enjoy your week!

New Website, Julia & Michael etc

Hello Friends!
I hope you had a great weekend! The last few weeks have been busy in the studio; meeting new 2012 brides and working on existing projects for 2011 - 2012 brides.

Several weeks ago, we delivered some Couture Invitations. Below is a sneak peek at the Silk Invitation Pads with Pearl Rhinestone Brooches. More to come on these after the wedding.

Silk Invitation Pads


Completed Invitations in Boxes ready to go!

The New Website is up!
I am excited to announce that our new website launched earlier this month. Check it out

http://www.elegantcustominvitations.com/


Julia & Michael
Sometimes, we work with brides for a year for all their wedding stationery. Julia is one of those brides. I met Julia and Michael with her fabulous wedding planner, Alia Rdissi with Belle of the Ball. Michael's mom immediately loved the diagonal pocketfold and the couple loved it as well. They were such a lovely couple to work with and I was pleased with the way the stationery turned out. Below are some of the stationery we created for them. I say some because we're also creating invitations for a Mexican Themed after-wedding party the couple is throwing for guests most of whom could not attend their small wedding. I'll be blogging those after the event :).
Julia & Michael were married last weekend at Second Baptist Church with the reception at the lovely Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa. I received a text message from Alia the night of the wedding..."I have to say these were the prettiest programs I've done...ranks in the top 2. everything was gorgeous...including Julia of course. Thank you for all you did Christiana!"


Wedding Invitation was a Square Pocket with a Satin Ribbon accent. We used textured cardstock for all the printed materials to keep with Julia's rustic feel.



Inside the Invitation with the Enclosure cards neatly tucked in the Pocket



Tea Length Layered Flatcard Menu cards



I particularly loved these programs. I always like when brides entrust us to create something different for them and that was the case with Julia.



The tent Escort cards



Layered Flatcard Tablecards


Microsoft MGX Awards Dinner
For a second year in a row, we were contacted to create invitations for Microsoft MGX VIP Awards Dinner. The dinner was held late July in Denver, Colorado. Below are the invitations.


Layered Flatcard with Satin Ribbon and Pearl accent


The invitations were presented to the recipients in Boxes

Okay, that's all folks...have a great and productive week!

Work [in progress]!

Hi Everyone!
Happy Monday...I hope you had a lovely weekend! Mine was spent working on invitations and a website re-design. As if it's not busy enough, I have decided to re-design our website. I love the current website however as technology advances, we have to change with it. Amongst other things, the new website will have better mobile capabilities so that we ipad and iphone users can view the site while Apple works out their Adobe Flash issues. In addition, it will be more user-friendly and I love the new gallery. I'm pretty excited about it. There's still some more tweaking to be done then I'll be done with it. I hope to launch the new website by the end of the month (fingers crossed!)
Here's a preview



Below are a few of the invitations we've worked on. Since I don't like to post invitations until after the wedding and most invitations are completed several months before the event, I sometimes have a difficult time deciding what photos to post :(

Natalie & Bob
I met with Natalie, her mom and wedding planner, Alia Rdissi (Belle of the Ball) sometime last year (We worked together for over a year on all the stationery items). We began work on the Save the date cards. We pretty much produced all the stationery for this event from the Save the date to the Thank you notes. I also got to work with Natalie's [now] mother in law on the Rehearsal Dinner stationery. This was such a special family to work with. The couple were married last weekend at the Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa in Houston. I wish Natalie & Bob a very happy married life!

The Save the date card was a Double layer Flat card with the hotel accommodations at the back


Front and Back


The Wedding Invitation was a Pocket style with 3 enclosures.


The Enclosures - a custom map was done to detail the ceremony and reception locations as well as the hotels


Ceremony Program - Folded card with a Satin Ribbon accent


Table Card - Layered Flat card.


Tent Escort cards with couple's monogram


Signs for the different cupcake flavors for the Rehearsal Dinner


Escort Cards for the Rehearsal Dinner. Done slightly different from the Wedding reception escort cards


Circle Favor Stickers for the Rehearsal Dinner Crave cupcakes



Nicole & Rob
Nicole wanted to have a custom pattern created for her invitations and that's what we did :) We likes the damask pattern; which we incorporated into the invitations. Nicole and Rob were married last month at the gorgeous Bell Tower on 34th in Houston, Texas.

Her invitation was a Gatefold with the printed damask backing


The enclosures



Kelli & Diego
I met Kelli at the Bell Tower Bridal open house earlier this year. We later had a meeting with her Fiance, Diego. They are such a cute couple. She was a happy-go-lucky bride and was such a pleasure to work with! Kelli & Diego were married also at the Bell Tower on 34th last month

The invitation was a Layered Flat card with a Satin Ribbon and Rhinestone accents


We also created the ceremony programs


That's all for now; have a pleasant and productive week!

I apologize for the lack of blogging. It's that time of the year and we're churning invitations like butter (lol!).

Here's one from some months back.
Marcella & Troy Tiffany Blue theme invitations


Marcella wanted to keep all her enclosures together; so we incorporated a pocket into the box to keep them together.


The invitations were delivered to guests in boxes. We also created custom stamps with Marcella & Troy's logo. See our Zazzle storefront


Enclosures with custom map of the Downtown location



The National Stationery Show was last month. Although I did not attend, our work was featured :). We were contacted by one of our rhinestone suppliers several months ago. She requested us to provide her with some samples using a few of her jewelled embellishments. Because we were (and still are) in the middle of our busy season, we used some of our past work and embellished them. Below is the feedback received after the show:

They are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Thank you so much for your beautiful work!!!!! You obviously are very talented at what you do!!!

My favorite was the snowflake with that little bit of printing peeking out from under the brooch. Honestly, that sample brought a whole new meaning to that buckle. It was one of the most popular ones at the show!
From a technical standpoint, I loved the attention to detail you did wrhen you tied the purple ribbon on the bars of the pearl and rhinestone buckle. Great job!!!

This was my second NSS and probably my 50th+ trade show in the 4.5 years I have been in business. Hands down, this was the BEST show I have ever done.

We were busy from the moment the show opened until it was over. When I say busy, I mean we were blocking the entire aisle with people waiting to talk with us. They would wait 15+ minutes just to ask questions! It was insane!!! This show was a game changer for me.

I am sure your samples helped with that! Thank you so much!! I owe you big time!"
Below are some of the samples...















Enjoy your weekend!