You are cordially invited...

Time to pick out invitations!  This one's in my court, since Lance doesn't care (he says most people will throw them away anyway).  I'm not sure exactly what I'm after, other than I'd like to find something classic that looks decent in an invitation/photo frame, and I have no interest in printing or assembling them myself.  This is one of those times that it pays to have some sort of a theme or concept, since there are a ton of options out there.

Movie or theater themed

Farm themed

Indie urban chic

Rustic or glamping themed

Even so, our multiple-personality concept doesn't help us narrow it down much!

We could go St. Louis city-themed:

Fleur de lis are very Saint Louisan.

Or try for that intersection of nature-inspired and elegant:

Or base them off of our church or the quatrefoils in it:

Or Christmas-themed:

Or we could just go very simple and classic:

Outside of general aesthetics, there are some other considerations.  First, each line of invitation wording means something very specific, etiquette-wise.  We will be looking for one that starts "together with their parents," indicating that both sets of parents and the couple are contributing financially to the wedding (as opposed to Mr. and Mrs. B announcing the marriage of their daughter).  Then we would like it to say "request the honor of your presence" (indicating a religious ceremony) followed by "as they are united in Holy Matrimony" or something similar (indicating a specifically Catholic ceremony).  We also would like them to read "reception at 5 in the evening," because "reception immediately following" means that people may show up 2 hours before the reception venue opens.  Finally, we want the RSVP cards to say "X number of seats have been reserved in your honor," because we want to discourage people from RSVPing for people who aren't invited (it happens).  Second, we will need to order a suite such that we can print out custom cards with our website, since we are skipping the pocket invites and providing hotel information, maps, and other things on there.

Customization also lets you do fun things like this.  :)

Third, we need to avoid the invitations with the AEL style monograms, since I am not changing my name (A + L is okay).  Finally, invitations can get very expensive.  The cheapest I've found start at around a dollar each, but I've seen custom invites go for $15 each.  Prices vary by different shapes, die cuts, styles, printing types, paper qualities, and using multiple colors of ink.  Heavy or square invitations can require double postage.  Considering invitations weren't one of our agreed-upon priorities, I'm going to try to keep them on the low end of the spectrum.

Laser-engraved wood plate, anyone?

With all of that in mind, I've started looking around online (Minted, Wedding Paper Divas, Exclusively Weddings, Invitations by Dawn, Invitations by Ajalon, Anne's Bridal Bargains, Scriptura, Wedding Star, Paperless Post, Zazzle), at local St. Louis stationers (M. Haley, Unique Moments, Milk and Honey), and at the invitation books at our local newspaper.  We haven't picked a tux rental vendor yet, or that would be another option.  I've been bookmarking ones I like, but I haven't looked into the customization or pricing specifics yet.  Here's what I've found so far:

I haven't decided if this one is appropriate, or if it's more rustic than luxe.  I like it, though.

Something like this would look great in a Prussian blue envelope.  :)

Thoughts?  Anywhere else you would recommend looking?