Red Wedding Invitations

Red is a powerful color, often associated with seduction, poison or passion. Rainer Maria Rilke captured some of these feelings in the following verses: “ As one would press a handkerchief / against a wound from which life, all in one spurt, is trying to escape—I held you close till you were red with me.”

Even nature gives red an important place among the palette of colors: red is the last color you get to see at twilight, it is the longest wavelength of light and the highest arc of a rainbow. Red stimulates the body energy, increases enthusiasm, the number of heartbeats, the respiration, the blood pressure and the pulse rate, provides self-confidence and acts like a protective shield or aura against anxieties and fear. Some beliefs about the significance of the red color are shared by many cultures of the world. For example red symbolizes beauty not only in Europe and Russia, but also in the Far East. In some other cultures, red amulets were said to prolong life. In Chinese culture, red is associated with fortune and good luck but also with the south direction, the season of summer and the primary element, fire. The walls and the decorative objects found in the Chinese emperor’s wedding chamber were all painted in red. There is also an interesting and old folktale which tells the story on a man eating beast known as Nian, who resented loud noises and the red color; when people found out about this they began to wear red clothes for protection against evil.

In India it is said that the red mark on the forehead will bring fortune but the Hindu also associate this color with energy, life and creativity. In Japanese culture, red is regarded as the color which expels demons and illnesses. For example, Housou kami or the god of smallpox is often associated with the red color. An old Greek belief says that when two people say the same thing at the same time in the near future they’ll have an argument so to avoid this situation they have to touch the first thing they see as red and say the expression “piase kokkino” or touch red. For the Christian church, especially the catholic, red signifies the feast day of the martyrs. As you probably noticed, the symbolism of the red color is associated with the feeling of good. In the Hindu, Islamic and Chinese cultures the tradition is for the brides to wear red on their wedding day. The red will probably make perfect choice for your wedding invitations, but also as the color theme for your wedding. These wedding invitations come in all different shapes, sizes, designs or color combination probably because wedding card manufacturers know that their buyers search for something inexpensive but unique. The simple red wedding card with beautiful hand written calligraphy can always be replaced by a red patterned wedding invitation with an engraved or written text, since you probably know that thermography is the cheapest modality of printing the wedding invitations. The ink could be white or black, to create an interesting contrast. The wording etiquette may have a long history but is less strict nowadays, since people can choose either for a formal and traditional wedding ceremony or an informal or less conventional one.

You may get away with everything just by writing the basic information about the wedding: the name of the wedding hosts, only if you want to, the name of the bride and groom, people have to know to who’s wedding their attending, the name of the parents, the time, date and location of the important event and always add the details you consider as important. Let your guests know is if there is an after-party or reception to follow after the religious ceremony or if you are waiting for an attendance response by adding a simple RSVP. Use a double red envelope or a single one, to mail the wedding invitations and deliver them by fast mail if you have little time on your hand to make the rest of the arrangements for the wedding. Red will make a great choice for the wedding invitations since its symbolism is so outstanding and like Eugene Delacroix, the famous painter, once said: “Everyone knows that yellow, orange, and red suggest ideas of joy and plenty. I can paint you the skin of Venus with mud, provided you let me surround it as I will.”