Marigold Template — Complete Guide

Marigold is the third ultra-premium template in the Fotify library. Where Atelier draws on letterpress stationery and Cinematic on movie posters, Marigold borrows from 1970s wedding magazines — warm cream paper, deep burgundy ink, condensed slab serif headlines, italic body text, and signature hand-drawn line illustrations.

This guide covers how Marigold looks, the customization knobs unique to it, how to unlock it on your event, and the bespoke treatment it gives each section of your invitation.

For an overview of the standard template library and the picker UI, see How to Customize Your RSVP Invitation.

What makes Marigold different

Standard templates control colors, fonts, and effects through CSS variables — they all share the same underlying layout. Marigold is different: it replaces entire section layouts with hand-crafted editorial treatments, ships its own typography (DM Serif Display + Lora), and exposes template-specific customization knobs beyond the standard color and font controls.

Signature design elements

• Floating cream-card cover — Full-bleed candid event photograph with a cream paper card centered over it, carrying the headline ("It's Our Wedding Day"), a hand-drawn line illustration, the date / venue, italic body copy, and an RSVP pill button
• Hand-drawn line illustrations — Four motifs (champagne flutes, wedding rings, vintage car, floral wreath) appear in the cover card AND the closing footer. Configurable via the customization panel.
• Condensed slab serif display — DM Serif Display for every title; warm and editorial, with the personality of a 1970s wedding magazine
• Italic Lora body — A warm humanist serif with strong italic support for taglines and notes
• Cream-and-ink alternation — Most sections render on the cream paper background; the Gifts and Countdown sections invert to a deep ink band (burgundy / olive / terracotta / navy) to break the rhythm
• Marquee section headers — Optional repeating banner ("GIFTS & WISHES 🎀 GIFTS & WISHES 🎀") that scrolls horizontally with hand-drawn bow ornaments between each repeat. Adds a strong editorial-magazine feel.
• Pill buttons everywhere — Rounded pill CTAs (cream/ink outline reverses to filled on hover) replace the standard branded calendar chips and RSVP submit
• Soft warm shadows — Cards and tiles cast a subtle warm shadow (color-matched to the ink) for depth without breaking the print feel
• Parallax photography — The hero backdrop and Story spread photos use cinema parallax (background-attachment: fixed); images stay anchored to the viewport as the cover scrolls past
• Closing card footer — Three-column footer with a centered hand-drawn illustration + monogram, event details left, ceremony details right, all on the inverted ink band

When to choose Marigold

Marigold is built for events where the warmth and bohemian sensibility matter as much as the elegance:

• Modern weddings — particularly garden weddings, vineyard weddings, mountain or lakeside weddings, where you want the page to feel like a 1970s film-photographed wedding rather than formal stationery
• Vow renewals — the celebratory, lived-in feel suits anniversaries and renewals beautifully
• Intimate weddings (≤80 guests) — the personal scale of the floating card reads warmer than the dramatic posterity of Cinematic
• Anniversary parties and milestone celebrations — the Story section becomes "From One Message to a Lifetime" — perfect for a 10/25/50-year anniversary timeline
• Engagement parties — informal but elegant
• Bridal showers and garden parties — the cream-and-burgundy palette and floral wreath illustration suit garden gatherings
• Restaurant openings, gallery openings, atelier launches — anywhere with a strong creative/editorial sensibility

It's less appropriate for highly formal black-tie galas (use Atelier for letterpress formality), modern corporate events (use Cinematic), or events where you want a fully traditional stationery look (use Atelier).

Applying Marigold to your event

1. Open the Customize tab of your event dashboard
2. Scroll past the standard template gallery to the Premium section at the bottom
3. Click the Marigold card
4. The picker reveals the customization panel — set the knobs (see below)
5. Save

Switching back to a standard template at any time is non-destructive; your event content stays exactly as you entered it. Premium-specific knobs are stored separately, so if you switch back later your Marigold settings remain intact.

Note: Marigold is in beta alongside Atelier and Cinematic. We're shipping more premium templates in upcoming releases.

Premium entitlement (who can use Marigold)

Marigold is a premium-tier template and is only saveable on events with paid entitlement:

• Paid (credit-cost) events — events using your event credits are entitled automatically
• Subscription events with an active subscription — events on your active or grace-period subscription are entitled
• Free events — the picker shows Marigold locked with an upgrade hint; you can browse it but the server rejects the save with a 403

The lock is enforced both in the picker UI and on the server.

Customization knobs

Marigold exposes seven template-specific knobs beyond Fotify's standard color + font controls.

1. Monogram

Up to 4 characters — typically the hosts' initials (e.g. "C&R"). Shown in the closing footer card as a centered display-size monogram.

2. Cover headline

Three-line headline in the floating cover card. Leave blank to use the default "It's Our Wedding Day". For non-wedding events, set something like "Anna Turns Fifty" or "Welcome to the Atelier Opening".

3. Cover tagline

The small italic line in the upper-right corner of the cover card. Examples: "Camille & Rowan are getting married", "Anna turns 50", "Welcome to the atelier opening", "A summer to remember".

4. Color palette

Cream + deep accent. Four palettes:

• Burgundy & Cream (default) — classic 1970s wedding-magazine
• Olive & Bone — garden / countryside / autumn
• Terracotta & Sand — Mediterranean / summer / dusty rose
• Ink & Linen — modern editorial / minimalist / neutral

5. Illustration motif

Hand-drawn line illustration shown in the cover card and the closing footer:

• Cheers — two champagne flutes clinking
• Vows — two interlocked wedding rings
• Journey — vintage convertible with "JUST MARRIED" banner and cans tied behind
• Bloom — circular floral wreath with eight blossoms

6. Cover card position

Where the floating cream card sits over the hero photo:

• Center (default) — reads as a poster, balanced composition
• Left — more of the photo visible on the right side
• Right — more of the photo visible on the left side

7. Marquee section headers

Toggle the repeating marquee bands ("GIFTS & WISHES 🎀 GIFTS & WISHES 🎀") for major sections. On by default. Adds the editorial-magazine drama from the cover into the section dividers.

How each section is treated

Cover

The Marigold cover replaces the standard header wholesale. It renders as a full-bleed event photograph with cinema parallax (the photo stays anchored to the viewport as you scroll), then a floating cream paper card on top containing:

• Top-right corner: the tagline in Lora italic
• Center: the headline (DM Serif Display, 3 lines, in the ink color)
• Center: the hand-drawn illustration (your selected motif)
• Center: subtitle line ("Ceremony & Reception, Late Afternoon") + date / venue in Lora bold
• Center: italic body copy
• Center: RSVP pill button (solid ink)

The card position is configurable. If no event photo is set, the cover renders a soft gradient backdrop.

Story

Each milestone becomes a two-column spread — a 4:5 portrait photo on one side and a cream card with chapter eyebrow, italic date, DM Serif Display title, and Lora body on the other. Spreads alternate left/right placement for visual rhythm. Photos carry cinema parallax.

Countdown

Renders on the inverted ink band with soft cream tiles. Each unit (Days / Hours / Minutes / Seconds) gets a rounded paper tile with the DM Serif Display value and a Lora italic small-caps label below.

RSVP

A centered cream paper card with a "Kindly send your reply" italic eyebrow, the deadline as italic body, then the standard RSVP form re-skinned to fit Marigold (hairline-underline inputs, pill submit button that reverses on hover).

Gallery (Carousel)

A vintage photo album — sprocket-free grid with a 16:9 hero, then a 3-up grid of additional photos. Every image gets a warm color filter (slight saturation pulldown + contrast bump) and a "PHOTO N° 03" italic caption.

Location

An establishing-shot plate: the map renders inside a hairline-frame card beside a cream card with "WHERE WE GATHER" eyebrow, a DM Serif Display address, and the directions block.

Save the Date (Calendar)

Three pill buttons (Google / Apple / Outlook), each in the ink-outlined treatment. Reverse to solid on hover.

Itinerary

A weekend programme schedule — each day gets a DM Serif Display day heading, then individual events list with a 1.5rem display time on the left and the event title + location + note on the right. Hairline rules between rows.

Gifts

Renders on the inverted ink band with the "GIFTS & WISHES 🎀 GIFTS & WISHES 🎀" marquee header (when enabled). Three blocks (Registries / Monetary / Charity) appear as cream cards with paper PillButton CTAs.

Event Details

Production notes stack — dress code as a centered italic pull-quote between hairline rules. Accommodation as soft cream cards with rounded corners and warm shadows. Transportation as call-sheet rows. FAQs as a script-style Q & A with italic answers indented under a hairline left rule.

Message

The host's invitation copy renders with a "A Word from the Hosts" small-caps eyebrow and a DM Serif Display drop-cap on the first long paragraph (≥80 chars starting with a letter). Body in Lora.

Closing card footer

A 3-column closing band on the ink-inverted background:

• Left: "EVENT DETAILS" eyebrow + date + location
• Center: the hand-drawn illustration + monogram
• Right: "CEREMONY & RECEPTION" eyebrow + venue + reception details
• Below: a paper-on-ink "RSVP" PillButton

Sections that inherit (don't get a bespoke layout)

Some sections still render through the default kit and inherit Marigold's polish layer:

• Photo Upload — pill-style upload button, hairline-underline inputs
• QR Code — ink-bordered QR plate
• Table Assignment — pill-style search/CTA button
• Custom sections — DM Serif Display headings, Lora body, hairline rules

The polish layer makes them feel on-template without requiring a full layout rewrite.

Beta status

Marigold is shipping in beta alongside Atelier and Cinematic. What that means:

• Stable for production use — we've tested it across all 10 bespoke sections and the inherited ones
• Likely to evolve — we may refine the illustration set, add more palettes, and tune the marquee speeds based on usage data
• More premium templates coming — Riviera (coastal art deco), Onyx (speakeasy noir), and Maison (hand-lettered watercolor) are next

If you spot something that should be polished, send feedback through the dashboard's help widget.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I use Marigold for a non-wedding event? A: Yes — set the Cover Headline to your event ("Anna Turns Fifty") and pick the Bloom illustration motif. The eyebrow / tagline keys are also configurable. Marigold works for vow renewals, milestone birthdays, anniversaries, and intimate parties.

Q: Does the parallax effect work on mobile? A: It's automatically disabled on touch devices and viewports under 900px wide (iOS Safari historically had inconsistent support for fixed backgrounds). On mobile, the photos render with normal scroll behaviour.

Q: Can I upload my own hand-drawn illustration? A: Not in beta. The four motifs (Cheers / Vows / Journey / Bloom) are hand-authored SVG line drawings tuned for the palette. We may add custom illustration upload in a future release if there's demand.

Q: Will the marquee bands annoy guests? A: They pause on hover (so guests can read), respect prefers-reduced-motion (zero animation for users who request it), and you can turn them off in the customization panel via the "Show marquee section headers" toggle.

Q: How do I get the warm 70s photo feel? A: Marigold applies a subtle filter (saturation pulldown + contrast bump) to every photo to give them the 1970s-film-camera warmth. For best results, use photos taken in golden-hour natural light. The filter works with any photo style but flattering results come from candid documentary photography rather than highly retouched portraits.

Q: Can I use a different color than burgundy? A: Yes — switch the Color Palette knob to Olive, Terracotta, or Ink. Each is hand-tuned to read against the cream paper while keeping the warm bohemian mood.

Q: Does Marigold work with custom RSVP form fields? A: Yes. Any custom fields you've added (file uploads, dietary restrictions, song requests, etc.) inherit Marigold's hairline-underline input treatment and pill submit button automatically through the polish layer.

Next steps

• See How to Customize Your RSVP Invitation for the picker UI and how to enable premium templates on your event
• See the Atelier guide if you want letterpress formality, or the Cinematic guide for film-poster drama
• Compare premium template pricing on the pricing page
• Read more about Fotify's wedding-photo-sharing app if you're planning a wedding

Need help? Get in touch through the in-dashboard help widget.