Cutture

The laser-cut wedding invitations and stationery created by Cutture are miniature works of art. Its 3D creations come in many forms, from invitations through which a couple’s personal story is brought to life in tiny folds of intricately cut paper, to inventive place cards, table plans, menus and signage for the day itself. Founded in 2009 by the husband-and-wife design team Dominic and Helen Sharland, Cutture is all about crafting something truly bespoke, which means sitting down with the team at their London studio to discuss ideas. They’ve crafted some out-of-this-world invitations, from a pop-up bronze Great Gatsby-themed piece to a fairytale-inspired book for an event hosted at Balmoral.
POA; cutture.com

Smythson

When it comes to classic wedding stationery, Smythson is the grande dame. Established in 1887, the heritage brand has counted everyone from Grace Kelly and Katherine Hepburn to Winston Churchill among its fans. The royals love its classically elegant work too — in 1890 Smythson was commissioned to produce the stationery for each of Queen Victoria’s residences, and over the years it’s been granted four royal warrants.

Book an appointment with one of Smythson’s bespoke stationery consultants and you’ll meet its team of in-house artisans, who can add the final flourishes to your invitations and place cards, ranging from gilt edging and intricate engraving to tissue lining and custom-ink colours. Once you’ve chosen your look, everything is then hand-printed in Wiltshire.
Prices from £439 for 50 classic engraved invitations with matching plain envelopes; smythson.com

Cartalia

This brand was founded in 2012 by a London College of Fashion graduate, Domenica Francesca Goode, who comes from a family of printers. She’s been hot-stamping and die-cutting since she could walk, and combined her love of the craft with a keen eye honed while working for the Liberty, Selfridges and the like.

The stationery suites that Cartalia creates are handmade from scratch, ranging from one-of-a-kind laser-cut art and foil prints to elegant letterpress techniques. The brand is particularly well known for its work for destination weddings, for which it can make the blue domes of Santorini or Provençale châteaux come to life in vivid 3D form. It has three studios to visit around the world: one on Kings Road in Chelsea, one in Newport Beach, California, and its latest outpost in Milan.
Prices from £25 per invitation; cartalia.com

Louise Richardson

If you’re looking to inject a bit of personality into your wedding stationery, Louise Richardson is your woman. A quick scroll through her Instagram feed reveals colourful striped menus for a wedding in the Peloponnese, a floral stationery suite for a Bollywood-themed event in Lake Como, and a playful laser-cut bride and groom wearing lederhosen for a traditional Bavarian wedding. Basically, anything goes — as long as it looks great and tells a story.

Founded in 2000 after stints creating design and packaging for clients including Selfridges and Fenwick, Richardson has a sharp eye for creating idiosyncratic wedding stationery, from a Glastonbury-themed stationery suite to a save-the-date with a pop-up cathedral.
Prices for invitation suites start from £3,000 (not including bespoke illustrations); louiserichardson.co.uk

Gee Brothers

The family-run business opened in 1975, after the founder Andrew Pearson-Gee’s father gave him a small Adana printing press for his seventh birthday. What started out as a hobby turned into a thriving business and the company is now run by a team of ten, who still print at the same site in Battersea.

It is passionate about preserving traditional print processes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be creative. Its stationery suites range from the ultra-classic and minimal to bespoke creations, for which they’ll collaborate with an artist or illustrator to create a one-off design. Choose from its range of ready-made wedding invitations or go for a bespoke foiled or engraved option instead. Gee Brothers is one of a few remaining specialist printers that still offers a hand-engraving service for wedding invitations.
POA; geebrothers.co.uk

Fin Fellowes

The London-based artist and illustrator specialises in hand-drawn invitations and pays extraordinary attention to detail with her designs: she only uses hand-mixed inks to create her swooping calligraphy, and personally hand-stitches every booklet and hand-dyes every ribbon. No wonder she’s become the go-to choice for many of the world’s chicest brides, including Collagerie co-founder and former Vogue director Serena Hood and Gabriella de Givenchy. The former is actually Fellowes’s best friend, and it was through designing all the stationery for her 2013 wedding that Fellowes got her first big break.

Due to the intricate nature of her work, Fellowes only takes on a handful of commissions each year. Working exclusively with a family-run printer in London, she has also worked with prestigious clients including Chanel, Cartier and Tiffany & Co.
Prices from £15,000; finfellowes.com

Lilac & White

Founded in 2015, the brand has as its motto the Leonardo da Vinci quote “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”, so don’t expect bright colours or whimsical illustrations here. Instead, the emphasis is on creating clean, precise designs printed on the highest-quality paper.

Its wedding stationery is split into two sections: Before the Day and On the Day. In the former you’ll find invitations and save-the-dates, which can be embellished with elegant wax seals and vellum jackets; in the latter, everything from table plans and welcome signs to orders of service and personalised menus. There’s also an emphasis on sustainability here, with all the papers and cards used being FSC-certified, transparent vellum made from natural tree fibres rather than plastic, and wax seals crafted from natural resins or beeswax.
Prices from £80 for ten invitations; lilacandwhite.com

Pale Press London

This London-based stationery company, founded in 2016, was born out of a love of hand lettering and a curiosity about old-age printing methods. Pale Press has worked with brands including Hermès, Dior and Harry Winston. All of its designs are hand-crafted in its Kensington studio and range from personalising existing templates to fully bespoke creations.

The brand is best known for its beautiful letter-pressed and hot-foil invitations, which are printed on handmade paper, as well as its calligraphy. If you want something one-of-a-kind, the team will sit down with you to craft custom-made lettering. As well as its elegant stationery suites, it can also handle details like fabric signs and natural confetti pouches.
Prices from £5 per invitation; palepresslondon.com

London Scribes

If you coveted the exquisite handwritten invitations that were sent out for King Charles’s coronation in May 2023, you’re in luck — they were inked by the talented team at London Scribes, who also make beautiful wedding stationery. The calligrapher’s studio was established in 1992 by Craig Poland-Smith, and has worked for the royal household for more than 15 years after being granted a royal warrant in 2009.

The focus here is on traditional italic calligraphy, which is spearheaded by the director Jenny Collier (one of the two calligraphers who put the finishing touches to more than 2,000 personalised invitations for the coronation). Collier combines classic calligraphy with playful illustrations and an exacting eye for detail. If you want to emulate the regal look, ask for your invitations to be written in New Royal Blue, the ink they created especially for the King.
Prices from £250 for 100 placement cards in italic hand calligraphy; londonscribes.com