One of my favorite inspirations in Wedding Planning is finding the perfect invitation suite that goes with a particular style or theme of an event.  So every Monday, I’m going to share invitation suites that I like, popular styles, and then how you can incorporate all of these into different elements of your wedding day.

My first spotlight is on Valerie Metrejean, a wedding planner and invitation designer in Lafayette, Louisiana who owns Southern Fete and Southern Fete Creative.  She has great vision when it comes to planning events; she can knock out amazing inspiration boards for brides, create invitations, AND basically run three different businesses under the Southern Fete umbrella at one time.  Valerie is making things happen and so I asked her to share a little bit about why she started Southern Fete Creative and to share some of her new designs and inspiration with us!

I’ve always been big into design even before I became a planner (Pre-wedding planning, I was a designer for magazines and newspapers). When I went to invitation shops with clients, I noticed most of the creative designs my brides wanted were out of their price range. I saw an open market for affordable fresh and modern designs and I knew I could provide it! Brides shouldn’t have to sacrifice style no matter what their budget.

Butterscotch Collection – Inspired by Candy – “Pixie” Invitation Suite

Where do you find inspiration in your life? I know it’s sounds cliche but EVERYWHERE! Interior design, product branding, magazine layouts, fonts and patterns. Each of our collections are inspired by different things: candy, nature, etc. Some are pretty abstract and others literal. But I am very inspired by weddings I see or plan. It shows me what today’s brides are looking for or need.

Magazine Collection – Inspired by Covers – “Teen Beat” Invitation Suite

What is your favorite invitation trend? Coordinating stationary. I say it all the time, an inexpensive but effective way to carry a theme is in your paper products. When little things like your food signs or favor tags all coordinate, it pulls together your entire wedding theme and wows guests with the details that helps guests distinguish a bride’s wedding from the 4 others they’ve been to that summer.

Flora Collection – Inspired by Nature – “Vineyard” Invitation Suite

All images by Jason Cohen Photography

What I love about Valerie’s invitation suites is how modern and unique each of her new invitations are.  Not only that but she offers a variety of colors which really do change up the look of the invitation.  For example, the Vineyard Invitation can be more dramatic and colorful in the Pom and Stone photo shown here versus the one in the picture above.  Both are equally beautiful, but one will speak to a bride’s style more than another might, which offers great options for every bride looking for invitations.

Since Valerie just recently got engaged, I won’t share too much of what type of invitation she will be working on for her and her fiance’s big day, but here’s a snippet from Valerie of what a good invitation for her and her fiance would be- “My dream invitation would include the perfect blend between a fresh cursive font and a clean masculine font. My fiance owns his own logo, print and web designing company so fonts are a big part of both of daily lives so I think a mix of both masculine and feminine fonts would really represent our personality.”

You’ll just have to look out on Valerie’s blog for more tips as she plans her own wedding, and take a look at each of her invitation options on her etsy shop here!  I can’t wait to see more from Valerie in the future!