Gone are the days of all-white wedding invites with the same tired script fonts. More and more couples are thinking outside-the-box and choosing creative wedding stationery that better reflects their personality.
Meet three bespoke stationery designers who are pushing the envelope (sorry, we had to) when it comes to color, texture, and typography: Paper Stories Co., Both Wedding Invitations, and Bodega Press.
How did you get into designing wedding invitations & stationery?
Paper Stories Co.
I have always loved being creative and spent most of my life designing in one way or another! While working as a nurse, I spent a number of years teaching myself graphic design to scratch that creative itch on the side. My love of design, hosting, and weddings gradually evolved into me creating wedding stationery full-time, and I’m now proud to have a healthy business doing what I love!
Both Wedding Invitations
We’ve always been drawn to design and paper. As digital designers with over two decades of experience, we spend so much of our time in a screen-first world, and we realized how much we missed the tactile side of design. Stationery brought that back for us. Weddings felt like the one space where people still truly appreciated the beauty of paper, so it was a natural fit. We love love, and we love paper, so for us, it was the perfect combo.
Bodega Press
I’m a graphic designer specialized in publishing, which is why I went to school for design in the first place. I’ve always loved print and was very anti-digital—a true print nerd through and through. After years of working behind a computer, I was missing the hands-on part of creating. I’d been wanting to learn letterpress for years but kept finding excuses not to until I finally committed. Pulling that first print changed my trajectory.
Letterpress gave me the perfect balance. I get to design, print, and have a direct connection with my work. Seeing it come to life in my own hands rather than relying on outside printers is incredibly satisfying and rewarding. Funny enough, it was through letterpress (and a few friends asking me to design their invitations) that I found my way into wedding stationery. I never imagined myself here, especially since I didn’t think my aesthetic “belonged” in wedding invitations, but I like to think I found my crowd. I love how much creative freedom I have compared to the strict brand guidelines I had to follow in the corporate world.
We’re absolutely in love with your designs! How would you say you maintain your own brand/aesthetic while also meeting customer expectations?
Both Wedding Invitations
We’re strong believers that the designs we share on our website and social media naturally attract the right couples. Because of that, we rarely meet clients whose vision is completely different from ours. They already love our style and trust us to bring it to life. So for us, the “win” has always been that the work we show is what draws in the couples who connect with it.
Bodega Press
I think the key is understanding my couple’s style while staying true to my own design sensibilities. Couples come to me because they connect with my aesthetic, and my job is to shape their stationery in a way that reflects both them and the wedding they envision through my design lens.
Working with clients is a bit like a dance. Their personalities and insight feed the process, and together we create stationery that feels authentic to them and still distinctly mine. Sometimes I don’t hit the mark right away, but their feedback pushes me to problem-solve and ultimately makes me a better designer. It’s a delicate balance, and I aim to honor both their vision and my approach.
Paper Stories Co.
I feel so lucky that the couples that come to me these days understand the vibe I offer in my designs, and we are usually on the same wave length! However, it’s so important to me that the stationery reflects my couples’ personalities and their individual stories so I really try to avoid ‘cookie cutter’ designs and lean into incorporating personal details that reflect who they are and how they envision their special day. I really like to try to encourage my couples to go a little outside the box with their colour choices, card shapes, illustrations, and patterns as I really believe a wedding day, while being one of the most important days of your life, should be fun and joyful, and this is what I like to represent in their stationery.
We love to see couples re-defining wedding traditions and doing things their own way. Are there any projects you’ve done recently that really stood apart from the rest?
Bodega Press
Completely agree! One of the things I love most is seeing couples break away from traditional norms and embrace their personalities. Recently, I worked on a wedding where we leaned into old-school Florida retro vibes, played with digital collage, and brought in a playful mix of color and type. The goal was for it to feel like a day of pure fun with their loved ones, and I think we set the tone just right through their stationery for what’s to come.
I also had a Brooklyn couple who came to me with one simple request: to make it typographic. They wanted the type itself to be art, and it remains one of my favorites to this day.
I love when couples trust me to push the boundaries of format or presentation, whether that is through bold palettes, unexpected layers, or distinctive typography. Those are the weddings that stay with me, unique and unapologetically themselves, exactly how I think a wedding should be.
Paper Stories Co.
I recently had a couple get married in a London town hall and then have their reception in their favourite restaurant. I loved this because it’s so personal to them, somewhere they can continue to visit to relive their special day, and I just think the whole feeling of a restaurant reception is very cool and intimate! I think there’s something about the backdrop of the restaurant that is very vibey, and I loved leaning into the restaurant/cafe aesthetic in their stationery designs.
Both Wedding Invitations
One project that really stood apart was a menu we created for an event called Planners Dining Club, organized by Jove M. We hand-weaved 50 menus using three different card stock colors, with bronzed foil running through the design. The result looked like a piece of textured leather, with layers of color and shine intertwined. They turned out absolutely stunning, and it was such a rewarding project to bring to life.
What stationery trends have been popular requests in 2025?
Paper Stories Co.
I think the stand out-trends in 2025 have been fabric signage (not just white linen, I’ve loved all the patterns and textures and different ways of displaying them), playful illustrations (think sassy cats holding champagne, wearing a pearl necklace!), and metallics (one of my favourite projects this year involved an aluminum welcome sign, which was just so cool and unexpected).
Both Wedding Invitations
Couples are really drawn to unique shapes: die cuts, and the way the three main pieces, the invitation, RSVP, and details card, are layered perfectly. Bold colors have always been part of our aesthetic, so we love seeing couples embrace that too. And typography has gotten more unconventional - people are choosing fonts with strong personalities, the kind you might see in luxury magazines, rather than the classic cursive or traditional wedding fonts. It’s exciting to see couples making choices that feel very personal and unexpected.
Bodega Press
Hands down, die-cuts.
Can you describe your process for custom orders? How closely do you work with clients?
Bodega Press
For most of my custom orders, I start by getting a sense of the couple’s style through a questionnaire and have them create a Pinterest board with everything and anything that inspires them. My only request is that they exclude other stationers’ work to keep the design original. While they’re working on their board, I create my own, then pull together a mood board and develop a color palette based on where we meet in the middle. Once that’s approved, I begin conceptualizing designs. After sharing initial concepts, clients provide feedback, which guides refinements and finishing details.
Paper Stories Co.
My designs are all entirely bespoke, and I take on a limited number of couples each year. I get to know my couples, their story, and their wedding aesthetic before designing completely from scratch every time. I create mood boards including their flowers, wedding tables, dresses, etc. to really build a picture of how the stationery and signage will work on the day. From this point, I work closely with my couples to make the amendments and tweaks needed to make sure it matches their vision perfectly. I then use the very best printers, with whom I have a close working relationship, to ensure the highest print quality.
Both Wedding Invitations
We usually take on a maximum of three fully custom wedding stationery projects per year. It’s also a big investment for couples, and for us, it’s about building something meaningful together over several months, usually around eight.
We see it a lot like designing a brand. Couples have their own love story — the way they met, what they care about, what they like and don’t like — and we dive into all of that first. From there, we start shaping what we’d call their “couple brand identity,” translating their story into cohesive visuals that work across the whole wedding suite: save-the-dates, invitations, day-of materials, and even thank-you notes.
It’s very collaborative. We share mood boards, discuss ideas, and as we get to know them. Then, there comes a point when couples trust us completely and let us run with it. That’s when we can do what we do best: design a wedding experience that truly reflects who they are.
Do you have a favorite wedding stationery/invitation you’ve made? We’d love to see!
Paper Stories Co.
I think some of my favourite stationery I’ve designed recently has been for a wedding in Provence. We leaned into the colours from the area, like mixed blues and zesty greens. I loved how we created this sun shaped logo to repeat throughout the stationery, especially with the sun cutouts we used for the place cards. I thought it was really different to the shapes I’ve been seeing lately and thought it looked super cute used as a background on her signage too. I hand wrote their menus in a loose, scrawly style to give a casual ‘I just quickly wrote out these menus before my friends and family came over for a delicious feast’ vibe, and I think that whole look is super cool!
Both Wedding Invitations
It’s always hard to pick a favorite because every project has its own story. But one that stands out is the save-the-date we designed for Jove and Kyle. Jove loves a modern and contemporary vibe, while Kyle leans more classic. What they shared was a love for art, and that inspired the piece. We 3D-sculpted a frame for the save-the-date, and in the center is an illustration by a great French artist they both loved. It was one of our favorites to design, and they loved it too. It really set the tone for their wedding and was a joy to bring to life.
Bodega Press
I feel like I have a favorite every other month, but I’ll share a recent one so I don’t go down the rabbit hole. It was for Morgan and Ryan, who held their wedding at the bride’s family generational lake house, a place full of memories. It was also the same lake where the groom spent his childhood summers, which made it even more special. Designing their invitations felt natural and effortless, and my emotional connection to their story made the process even more resonant. It wasn’t my most labor-intensive suite, but it carried so much heart, and I’m very proud of it.
What’s the best way for customers to inquire about starting an order with you?
Both Wedding Invitations
The easiest way is through our website form, or by emailing us at hi@both.nyc. It’s helpful if couples already have a few details ready, like their quantity (counting households rather than individual guests) and a general budget. Knowing a budget guides us in creating a proposal that makes sense: which finishes to include, whether to use foil, letterpress, die cuts, or digital options. It helps us give a thoughtful first proposal that works for both the couple and for us.
Bodega Press
The best way to reach out is to fill out the contact form on our website, or email us directly at info@bodegapress.co :)
Paper Stories Co.
The best way to enquire with me is via my website enquiry form. Tell me as much as you can about your special day and I’ll be in touch to chat about next steps!
Questions? Give us a shout at help@hiholden.pro or a ring (pun intended) at 646.722.6817.