Couples are now going to extraordinary lengths in a bid to make their wedding stand out – by sending invitations made from tea towels, CDs and even playable vinyl records. The bizarre efforts are part of an extravagant new trend, which sees couples turn their back on traditional paper invites. Laurence Manly, 44, and Elaine Waugh, 38, recreated the famous Abba Greatest Hits album cover complete with a CD for their invite.
They enlisted the help of their two children for the photo and the disc contained computer files with venue directions.
Cinematographer Laurence from Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, said: ‘Neither of us are big Abba fans, but it’s an iconic image from my childhood.
‘Everyone seemed to have a copy of that LP in their houses and I’d had it in mind for a wedding invite for years but thought Elaine would never go for it.
‘I’m sure it resulted in several raised eyebrows from some relatives.
‘Elaine wished she had smiled in the photo, but that wouldn’t have been in keeping with the original.
‘It prompted a remark from a friend ‘she doesn’t look too happy about it’!’
Perhaps the most unique invite is a vinyl record made by artist and designer Kelli Anderson for her friend.
The invitation transformed into a makeshift record player which the guest could spin with a finger to play an invitation song made by the couple.
Kelli, from Brooklyn, New York, said: ‘We started thinking about it when my friends Mike and Karen realised they needed an invitation to their wedding.
‘They love music so I thought it would be important to reference the role in music bringing people together.
‘We all fumbled around with all sorts of materials and eventually created something that produces sound and even audible lyrics.’
When Karen Wilson, 31 and Ben Brown, 36, got married in 2009 they wanted to create something that would last forever – they printed their invitations on tea towels.
Karen, from Ridgmont, near Milton Keynes, Beds, said: ‘When they arrived we were inundated with messages – the guests still talk about them now and it’s great to go over to their houses and see them in use or on display.
‘It also means they have no excuse to forget our anniversary!
‘The reaction was so incredible we’ve now set up our own website where couples can choose from a range of 17 designs and do the same thing.’
Heidi Atocicco, 31, and Chris Ryder, 34, asked friend and artist Tony Fleecs to draw their five page comic book invite.
The cover features cartoon versions of the couple under the words ‘Heidi and Chris True Tales of Wedded Bliss.’
Heidi, from North Hollywood, California said: ‘Our friends and family keep them in their car so they can show them to friends.
‘Chris is a comic book writer so he wrote the script and Tony did the artwork.
‘The process took a long time – likely longer than it takes to design most wedding invites – but it was worth it.’
For their invite, journalists Liam Sloan, 28 and his fiance, Helen White, 31, are clutching celebratory drinks while sat on top of the famous 110 metre long chalk hill figure, the Uffington White Horse.
Liam, from Uffington, in Oxon, said: ‘We can see the white horse from where we live, so it was the only place I could ever choose to propose and we thought we would include it in our wedding invite.
‘I took the photos and put the image together on the computer. After we sent the invites we had a fantastic response – we were inundated with calls from friends and family telling us it had raised a smile.’
Illustrator Carla Berrocal, from Madrid, in Spain, created an 80s Atari style invitation for two computer analysts in Chile.
Carla said: ‘The couple approached me and gave me all the freedom I wanted so I could be creative and make something personal to them.
Read More and get ideas for Cd Invitations
