In a bid to catch the eye of recipients and ensure attendance invite treatments include gilt-edging, eye-dazzling colours and staggeringly thick card. The more high end the brand, the thicker the card.

Supporters of the new luxury stationary include Fendi, Mary Portas, Harper Collins and Missoni with invites costing around £6-£8 per invite, depending on the finish and the envelope.

"It's not just a utilitarian item now. There's an emotional connection. Whereas you could send off an email, the old-fashioned invite is more special. It's more likely to make people respond, too,” Emma Woolley, Head of Communications & Marketing of luxury stationary company, Smythson, told the London Evening Standard.

Two clear trends are emerging. There is the sleek white, unbendable kind such as HarperCollins sent out for a Victoria Barnsley party.

Meanwhile, to promote a preview of her new fashion collection, Mary Portas opted for an extra weighty vivid orange and purple creation.

Essex-based Empress Design & Print, which created the Portas invitation, told the Standard the vogue for weighty invitations was gaining in popularity.

"The Portas one was extra-long so it was tricky but it looked good. If a standard card weighs 400g, that was around 1,200g and we had a wedding order last week for 300 invites of 3,500g, which is five whole layers - the biggest yet. We are seeing a lot more now," revealed an Empress engraving specialist.

Fendi recently issued a gold and yellow heavyweight invitation to lure guests to celebrate the launch of the brand's new fragrance, Fan di Fendi.

Double the thickness of the Portas giant, Fendi said that "this relocates the standard of the brand which is about luxury" and that weeks of preparation went into its design, taking into consideration everything from edging to foiling.

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