Unique Wedding Invitations | A Guide from Birdhouse197

Weddings can feel like there's a set of rules you're supposed to follow. We don't believe that. Your wedding should fully represent you, your life and the things you're passionate about, not a template of what a wedding is meant to look like.

Our designs aren't your classic, floral white stationery. That's beautiful, and it's right for certain people, but we're here for the couples who want something genuinely different. This is our guide to unique wedding invitations: the unusual shapes, folds and ideas we make, and why your guests will love them more than you think.

The Victorian Folding Letter | An Invitation That Unfolds

This is the most unusual format we offer. A love letter folded from a single square of paper, which closes into a neat little square and opens in stages. It reminded us of the paper fortune tellers we all made at school, except this one holds your wedding details.

It's slow on purpose. Your guests have to stop, sit down and open it properly, which is more attention than most post gets. The Candle and Key design is an all in one wedding invitation, with your order of the day and a QR code for RSVPs on the same sheet.

See the Victorian Folding Letter collection or read the whole story in What Is a Victorian Puzzle Purse?

Your Own Silhouettes on the Cover

A gatefold opens from the centre, folding outward on both sides. It's a bit of extra theatre before a guest has even reached the details inside.

On our Candle & Key silhouette gatefold we draw your two profiles on the cover from a photo, so when the invitation opens the portrait parts like a pair of doors. No two are ever the same. See the custom silhouette portrait invitation.

A Tarot Card That's an Invitation

Receiving one of these should feel like pulling a card from a real deck. Not tarot-inspired. Not tarot-adjacent. Actually tarot, in shape, in format, in illustrated detail.

Our 3-Card Tarot Spread lets you present your wedding details the way a reader lays out a reading. Three cards, artwork on the front and your details on the back, chosen from 18 tarot designs.

“We ordered our wedding "tarot card" invitations and they are absolutely amazing. We love them!”
Luca M. | Read all our Google reviews

Circles and Arches

Not everything has to be a rectangle. Our circular and arched designs give your stationery a distinctive silhouette before anyone has read a word.

The kraft brown Sun has become one of our most recognised pieces. Both are made as save the dates and can be ordered as an evening invitation too. There are more shapes in our unique save the dates.

The Little Details

Our RSVP cards are inspired by the ouija board, so guests can mark their answer ouija-style or write their reply by hand. Some of our gatefolds can have your own photograph printed inside. And every design can be printed in any colour or gradient, which is often the easiest way to make something unmistakably yours.

Will Our Guests Get It?

Almost universally, they do. What guests respond to isn't the aesthetic, it's the feeling that this wedding is genuinely, completely the couple. Not a template. Not a trend.

If you love a design but feel slightly nervous about the reaction, printing in off white, ivory or kraft brown rather than black brings the drama right down.

Ready to Start?

Explore our wedding invitation suites or tell us about your day and we'll take it from there. If you'd like to see the card and print in person first, our sample packs are the easiest way to hold a few of our real designs in your hands.

George & Joshua