Wedding invitation design is one of those niches where the brief sounds simple and the client management is anything but.
What I’ve learned after doing a lot of wedding stationery work:
Budget reality: clients underestimate print costs dramatically. A letterpress invitation suite with custom envelopes is not a $300 project. Managing expectations before you design anything saves enormous frustration.
The approval process is uniquely complicated: it’s not one client, it’s two clients who may have different aesthetic preferences, and often one set of parents with opinions and another. Get the decision-making structure agreed upfront.
Copy errors: the stakes on wedding invitations are higher than almost any print work. One misspelled name, wrong date, wrong venue is a complete reprint. Triple-check everything. Have the client sign off on a final proof that explicitly flags every name, date, and address.
Trends vs. longevity: couples often want current trends. The invitations will be kept for decades. I now briefly mention this to give couples permission to choose something they’ll still love in 20 years rather than what’s on Instagram now.
The rewarding side: this category has more genuine craft latitude than most commercial work. Clients care deeply and usually appreciate when the work is beautiful.
What’s your experience with this category?