Wedding wine is one of those gifts that people love to give and receive. After all, what makes a wedding more cheerful than a good bottle of tasty wine? Designing the label can be both fun and a challenge for couples who don't have a lot of graphic design expertise. Unless you're having your label professionally designed, these tips will help you make a wine bottle label that will be attractive and suitable for your special event.

Graphic Design Basics 101: Keep It Simple

Regardless of whether or not you want a wine label that's funny or clever or straight up classy, the best rule of thumb for designing a wine bottle label goes like this: keep it simple. Wine bottle labels are small. Packing in a lot of information on a small space like a label can be very difficult even for experienced graphic designers, because the message can easily become muddled. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Limit the colors. The more color you try to pack onto your wine bottle label, the harder it will be to read. Pick a few colors at most (ideally your wedding colors) and stick with those.
• Pick a straightforward graphic. Pick a graphic that people will easily recognize (such as a leaf, a flower or church) and try to limit the graphic to a silhouette of that object so the graphic won't become too busy or distract from the words.
• Choose a flat background. Avoid patterned backgrounds because they distract from the words and the graphic. Flat backgrounds help the images and words on the label pop out and keep the attention focused where you want it.
• Don't fill all the negative space. Negative space is the empty area around the words and graphic on the label. Some beginning designers and untrained artists struggle with the impulse to fill negative space, but on a small wine label, negative space is a good thing. It allows the eye to flow around the label and take in every detail. Do your best to leave negative space on the label for the viewer.

Limit Written Words to Critical Points

The message on your wine bottle label should be simple and concise. Include the names of each person getting married, the date, and maybe the location. If you have a message to convey, perhaps a line of poetry about the value of love or the happiness you feel, include that message in a smaller font to ensure that the first thing people read will be your main point: the date and purpose for the event.

Following these tips, your wine bottle labels will be eye popping and beautiful. Click here to continue reading more about labels.