The Loveliest Watercolor Wedding Invitations

birds and blooms watercolor wedding invites
Dana Fernandez Photography

What's more welcoming than a soft, hazy color palette? A soft, hazy palette translated with watercolor paint—on your wedding stationery. Watercolor invitations are as beautiful as they sound; send them out to your guests and they're sure to bring a smile to every lucky recipient. Splash your paper goods with the romantic, whimsical design, and rest assured your guests will have an invite worth saving.

Though the stationery style often preludes springtime and summertime celebrations, the method can be applied to any suite, whatever your big day's season. The following stationery suites are proof. Wintry colors and autumnal designs look just as gorgeous in watercolor, and formal and casual weddings alike can work with the romantic (and often whimsical!) look.

Ultimately, though, this painting method looks prettiest when its used to convey unique details about your specific event—and these accents don't necessarily need to speak to your celebration's seasonality. Take this Nib and Pixel paper set, for example. The stationers incorporated a slew of hand-painted details, from birds to blooms, that were inspired by the couple's wedding locale (the bright pink-and-blue color palette also spoke to the shades that would later appear on the actual big day). If you're tying the knot somewhere special, copy this approach: Dotting your invitations with elements native to your venue will get your attendees excited to mark their calendars. Here, discover more of our favorite watercolor wedding invitation suites, created for the most special of days—they just might inspire your own.

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Locale Motifs

lemon mediterranean watercolor wedding invites
Oliver Fly

Watercolor illustrations are often a stationery add-on or accent, so use them to highlight something specific about your upcoming wedding. This couple enlisted calligrapher Veronica Halim to polish off their suite's envelope liner with a few lemon motifs, painted over a Mediterranean tile-inspired pattern. The goal? To showcase details native to their big-day locale: Italy.

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Abstract

modern splashes of paint watercolor wedding invites
Nguyen Takeba

Though watercolor details are most often seen on romantic, classic-leaning suites, the style works just as well on contemporary paper goods, as evidenced by this abstract iteration by Loren Smith from Farmette Press & Paper Company. Splashes of paint, ranging in shades from blush to navy, added a punch of color to the modern set.

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Subtle

blue wave watercolor wedding invites
Erich McVey

Looking to add this detail to your suite in an understated way? Copy Veronica Halim and integrate a single concentrated wave of watercolor to your invite card and liner; carry the motif throughout the rest of your set by opting for paler interpretations of the same accent.

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Tiny Dancer

ballerina illustration watercolor wedding invites
Elena Eliseeva

If you're going the full-blown illustration route, choose a subject that matches the rest of your suite's design and plays into your big-day theme. This Irina Klimova suite nails both: The streaky, inky dancer looked right at home on the set's deckle-edged paper and signaled the ballet-inspired event to come.

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Venue

venue painting watercolor wedding invites
Christine Donée

Alternatively, include a watercolor painting of your wedding venue—like Chez la Marieé did here on this Minted stationery—to get guests excited about their upcoming travels.

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Crests

calligraphy crest watercolor wedding invites
Brklyn View Photography

You've hired a calligrapher to create a custom watercolor crest to dress up the top of your invitation card. While that's all well and good, take it one step further by translating that personalized motif onto the rest of your day-of paper goods; Flax and Wool Designs created this coat of arms, which appeared on both the invites and the fan-style ceremony programs.

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Crest Components

monogram colorful blooms watercolor wedding invites
Brittany Jean Photography

Here's another way to translate your hand-painted crest across all parts of your paper suite: Note how Boarding School Collective surrounded this couple's monogram with a colorful string of blooms. Those blooms reappeared on the RSVP card envelopes and on the detail card for a cohesive effect.

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Emerald

ombré green leaf frame watercolor wedding invites
Morning Wild

Who says the only way to translate watercolors is through pastel colors? Fall and winter couples, take notes from this emerald-themed suite, created by One + Only Paper and calligraphed by Samantha Terhune, which involved splashes of ombré green and a hand-drawn leaf frame.

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Floral

colorful florals butterflies watercolor wedding invites
Jose Villa

Looking for perfectly-pretty invites that skews a bit whimsical? Bookmark this suite by Mon Voir, complete with colorful florals, a girlish crest, and butterfly details—all done in watercolor.

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Gold Leaf

marbled gray swirls gold leaf watercolor wedding invites
2brides

Luckily, watercolor plays well with a myriad of other wedding stationery trends, including gold leaf. Elins Art Studio melded marbled gray swirls with the metallic accent on this paper set, seamlessly transitioning between the two.

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Involved Crest

detailed tropical watercolor wedding invites
Jenny Quicksall

As far as watercolor crests go, this East Six Design creation is one of the more detailed we've seen. Note the tropical trees, bushes, and blooms native to the wedding's locale; the monogram was topped with a domed structure, which referenced the couple's future ceremony spot, which was designed by A Good Affair.

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Monochrome

monochrome gray smudges watercolor wedding invites
Erich McVey

Need more proof that watercolor stationery design can feel modern? You've found it in this Idyll Paper set, which involved monochrome gray smudges.

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Vantage Point

envelope liner scene water color invitations
Josh and Dana Fernandez

We love an envelope that plays with perspective. Enter this Nib and Pixel set, complete with a one-of-a-kind envelope liner: The watercolor scene painted onto the triangular space seemed endless, thanks to the drawing's vantage point.

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Whimsical Botanicals

blue and white stationery with floral liner
Caroline Logan Photography

Another way to use watercolor details to elevate your envelope liner? Ask your illustrator to paint on flowers from the card line up, so it looks as if the blooms have grown straight from the paper, like Amanda Day Rose did here.

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Watercolor Everything

Elegant watercolor floral wedding invitations with blue lettering
Amy & Jordan

Vehement watercolor enthusiasts will gravitate towards this Simply Jessica Marie suite. Every detail of the set—from the invite's blooms (note how they frame the text!) and bow tie RSVP cards to the hand-addressed envelopes—was created using this painting style.

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Botanical Anatomy

rustic save the date
Rebecca Yale Photography

Bespoke Strokes drew inspiration for this hand-painted save-the-date from vintage botanical anatomy posters. Do the same if you plan on hosting an Old-World garden soirée—and want to work a little watercolor onto your paper goods.

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Next-Level

cathleen and winston wedding amazon themed invitation stationary suite
Minerva House

If you're invitation design motto is "Go big or go home," bookmark this Embossed Graphics of Texas suite, which showcased incredible animal illustrations and a romantic de Gournay-inspired print (all done in watercolor).

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Booklet

lauren josh wedding invitations
J. Harper Photography

Sending out booklet-style invites, like these by Emily Rose Ink? You'll likely have some extra room (sans the bulk!) for an illustrated map. Use yours to highlight the sites of your wedding weekend's many events or make like this couple, who included their respective hometowns for a personal touch.

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Delicate Vines

stephanie joe wedding invitation and envelope
Charla Storey Photography

Your suite's watercolor illustrations don't have to be over the top. Just take this The Wildflowers invitation card, for example. The delicate, romantic vines dressed up the simple white notes and foreshadowed the upcoming flower-filled event.

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Wedding Scene

destination inspired wedding invitations illustrated snapshots
Karen Hill Photography

Preview scenes from your celebration by enlisting your illustrator to paint snapshots of your venue's prettiest spots onto your set, like Wide Eyes Paper Co. did here.

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Sunset Smudges

paige zack wedding pink and yellow invites
Lauren Kinsey

Tying the knot at golden hour? Nod to your impending nuptials by choosing an envelope liner bursting with sunset-inspired watercolor smudges. The Idea Emporium was responsible for this suite's design.

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