Invitation templates / Christening invitations
Ink Wash Scroll: a christening invitation template
A hanging scroll in sumi ink: it unrolls down the screen, the ink spreads into the paper under the child's name, and a red seal is pressed beside it.
The design
The whole invitation is one hanging scroll (kakejiku): a turned wooden rod at the head, silk mounting borders down the sides, and a long field of absorbent paper between them. Everything on it is made with water, one stick of ink and a single brush, so the page has only five tones and a great deal of unpainted mist. Headings are written in one loaded stroke that runs from dark to dry flying white; passages are divided by a bamboo joint put in with one mark; a small vermilion seal stands wherever something is affirmed. It opens by unrolling: the rod drops, the silk and the paper unfurl behind it, and then the ink spreads into the fibre under the child's name until the letters have drunk it. As the guest reads, the roll still wound on the rod thins and turns at the top of the screen: the scroll is unrolling under their thumb. They can grind the ink stick on the stone until the pool is black, drag a dilute wash into the paper and leave the mountains where their finger went, press the stone seal onto the ceremony card, put in each godparent's plant (plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum) in single strokes, lay the bamboo culm joint by joint along the order of the day, change the silk of the mounting to the colours of the day, and wake the crane standing in the reeds at the foot. A reply is entered at the end and sealed in cinnabar.
Colours and type
Ink Wash Scroll comes in 4 colourways: Sumi & cinnabar, Indigo mist, Plum blossom and Tea green, with 2 type pairings: Scroll mincho and Antique brush. The colours and type change in the editor at any time; the layout stays its own.
Who it suits
Made for christening / baptism, baby dedication and naming day, in the Minimal & editorial style.
What is included
An invitation website with the church and the celebration after, the godparents, your photos, a song if you want one, and the RSVP with the number of adults and children coming. You write your own words and add your photos in the live editor, send every guest a personal link by email or any messaging app, and follow the replies as they come in. Free for up to 20 guests, with the full design.
More christening templates
- Painted Tiles: A wall of hand-painted blue-and-white tiles: the panel is set tile by tile, the name goes in last, and guests turn crooked tiles, fire the glaze and repaint the frieze.
- Christening Bells: Two polished brass handbells tied with satin ribbon on white linen: tap one to ring it and the name appears, then polish the tarnish off the brass to reveal the engraving.
- The Christening Cake: A three-tier christening cake in white fondant and sugar roses on a porcelain stand: turn it with a finger, watch the name piped onto a sugar plaque, and cut a slice at the close.
- Written by Hand: A calligrapher's desk: the child's name is written live in pointed-pen copperplate, and the guest changes the nib, blots the ink, tests the colours and tries the pen.
- The Certificate: An engraved baptismal certificate on a leather writing desk: press the brass stamp into the molten wax to seal it, and watch the godparents sign in ink.
- Blind Dove: A thick white cotton card with a dove pressed in without ink: the light rakes across as you scroll, and the dove rises out of the white.
- The Favour Table: The bomboniere table on the christening morning, seen from above: one satin ribbon unspools down the table as you read, threading every favour and tag of the day, and ends tied to your own.
- Fresco Under Plaster: An old chapel wall: a fresco of a May sky and olive trees comes out from under the whitewash, patch by patch, with the child's name painted in the band beneath.
All christening invitation templates