Creative wedding announcements

It seems like no one puts out your standard wedding announcement (engraved single sheet, fancy font, one formal picture of the couple sitting against a nice backdrop) anymore. First the pictures evolved, to encompass the girl-behind-guy-grabbing-his-shoulders pose ("I got him!"), the holding-hands-down-a-sunlit-path pose, and even the girl-piggyback-on-guy's back pose.

Our wedding announcement wasn't traditional either. I wanted Sam to paint our picture, so he did one close-up portrait for the inside, and then two kind of Norman Rockwell-style paintings for the front and back of the invitation. I think I just wanted something that would be pretty, and stand out from all the other announcements people get, and also show off Sam's talents as an artist.

What are the other goals of a wedding announcement? I've seen some really weird ones that I think are also aiming for being "different"--or "expressing our personalities"--but is that a good forum to do so? I guess maybe it is, since what I want when I get someone's announcement, is to:
1. See what the couple looks like (that's why I don't like ones with 50 tiny pictures rather than 1 big one
2. Get some sense of what the fiance/e (whichever one I don't know yet) is like, and what the two of them are like as a couple.
3. See how happy they look. That makes me happy.

Still, I think announcements that are too "themed" or cheesy ("now the two of us are making music together . . . the music of love"), or that get self-indulgent with the number of pictures (do we really need to see the entire photo gallery of the two of you skiing, waterskiing, hiking, and fishing? Of course, some people probably thought the 3 pictures in our announcement was too many, so I shouldn't cast stones) are kind of tacky. I like things that are creative, but still simple, with a bit of elegance to them. And really, I don't see anything wrong with the "traditional" kind either--it seems like you shouldn't have to be "more creative" than everyone else, or feel like you are competing in some sort of "whose-announcement-is-best" competition!

Here are a few I like:

Hand-drawn-looking, and vine-y. It just feels happy to me! (see design*sponge)

This one was some kind of "urban" theme--announcements made to look like they were torn out of the newspaper, etc.

This collection was for two school teachers that got married--all their invitations, etc. had a school/report card theme.

I like this one (little bird) too: it's so clean and I like the kind of Japanese style.

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone getting married, so all my wisdom on this matter is going to go to waste. :)