"One of my favorite wedding invitations was a wall calendar with the date of the wedding highlighted and a big arrow pointing to the day saying 'Don't Miss It', says Sara Ali, an advertising account executive who's been invited to her fair share of weddings. A few years ago I remember receiving a big colorful lollypop that looks like something out of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . At first I was confused, until I looked more closely and realized that the cartoon at the front was of a couple I know In the past few years, this country has seen some of the wackiest invitations. From DVD boxes with titles of famous romantic comedy's like "The story of us replacing the cast with themselves, to M&M chocolates with the details on the wrapper transformed into wedding info. Some people go all out, sending gifts like bracelets for female guests, which costs a fortune. These out-of-the-box ideas may seem over the top, but they give the couple space to reflect their personalities and the guests a heads up on what the wedding is going to be like. Mirale El Baz, who has been designing wedding invitations for five years, thinks this new creativity is because "people had stopped caring what invitations look like because they were all the same, all designed at Khatab, so they were thrown away and not appreciated. Well not anymore. El Baz, a graduate of the American University in Cairo, meets with the couple and they brainstorm the ideas until they find something they are satisfied with and she makes it happen. One of her most inventive ideas was a pack of eight playing cards, replacing two of the kings with pictures of the fathers of the couple, and a queen and jack with pictures of the bride and groom. She used the numbers to say the time and date of the event. The Joker was a picture of the groom carrying the bride. For one couple who are both doctors, El Baz made a medicine box calling it "Love Potion Day and Night where she wrote all the details on the "prescription . She also playfully added symptoms like "heartbeat and "overwhelming feelings to and replaced pills with chocolate. While some people go for eccentric, others go for practical. "A very original idea was a best friend of mine s invitation. A small light grey booklet with their name engraved on the front and the details of the wedding on the first page, the rest of the booklet is empty. I ve been using it ever since and remember their wedding every time I use it, says Nour Khaled, a literature student at AUC. Some ideas are not made to be practical, but simply memorable. When designing his wedding invitation, one groom who is an airline pilot, came up with the simple idea of a boarding pass that has the venue listed as destination, and time of venue as departure time. The boarding pass comes in a glossy envelope with a picture of the couple, as if it is the logo of the travel agency. With all these options, some still opt for the conventional card. White card board and gold engraved calligraphy are still common amongst all age groups, especially more classical couples. "You know how they say don t judge a book by its cover? Maybe in the near future we ll be judging weddings by their invitations, says Khaled laughing.
