You know that feeling: that little “Ooh!” that goes off in your head when you pull that pink or lavender or seafoam-green envelope out of your mailbox. You can tell just by how it feels in your hand, can’t you? You know it’s not a bill, or even junk mail— it’s something personal. You rush inside, slit it open, and there it is: you’re invited, and it’s a bridal shower!

But what if it’s your shower? Of course you want your own bridal shower invitations to be perfect— they give your guests their very first hint of the upcoming celebration. But the invitations also need to reflect your personality and taste, and possibly a shower theme. So how do you create an invitation that will be impressive, but still uniquely you?

If you’re looking for some hand-holding during the invitation-design process, think about some unique personalized wedding invitations – InvitationBox.com has plenty of ideas for you. They have everything organized so that you can shop according to collections, themes, or color. Let’s say you’d like to start by exploring the collections, so you pick the “Signature” line. You can now choose from over 200 designs, from classically elegant styling to funky retro details, in a wide range of colors, all with beautifully designed typography and illustrations. (Think all this sounds pricy? The Signature collection starts at just $.99 each!) And once you’ve chosen the style you like, all that’s left to do is customize the text!

If you’d like to try creating your own invitation, choosing a color palette is a good place to start. If you already have your wedding color scheme settled, this should be as easy as picking a key color (for the paper) and a contrast color (for ink). And even if you’re planning a formal wedding, the shower itself will usually be more relaxed, so you may want to add an accent color just for fun.

Here’s an example. Say your main wedding colors are periwinkle and aqua. (It could happen.) Try a beautiful subtly-textured paper in the palest aqua you can find, then have the text printed with a deep version of the periwinkle; if you want an accent color to jazz it up a bit, perhaps your envelopes could be lined with a soft shade of gold, or strike a bold note with ebony-black borders.

You could also do this in reverse for a more dramatic look: Use the deep periwinkle color for the paper, with pale aqua type, and add some metallic bronze as your accent tone. Just be aware, though, that if you want to use a lighter text color on a darker background, this will affect your choice of typeface; a solid san-serif is a better choice than flowy, delicate script faces.

According to ColourLovers’ wedding blog, wedding color palettes for 2013 are focused on ranges of “dark pastels”: deep versions of usually-soft tones. (Periwinkle is actually a good example; it’s really a kind of lavender, just darker.) Palettes including these slightly smoky tones evoke plenty of romance, without being too little-girly-Easter-egg-sweet.

So whether you’re DIY or do-it-for-me when it comes to your bridal shower invitations, now you’re well on your way to giving your guests that little thrill when they open their own mailboxes.