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Wedding Invitation 101, Part 3: Printing Methods

Wedding Invitation 101, Part 3: Wedding Invitation Printing Methods / Fine Day Press for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Hi guys, Ashley from Fine Day Press  here! Welcome back to our Invitation 101 series, all about wedding invitations. Today’s post covers the different wedding invitation printing methods. Be sure to check out our first post, about how to get started, and the second post, about when to send.

When it comes to printing wedding invitations, the options really are endless. Your budget will likely play a role in what printing method(s) you choose. If your stationery budget is on the smaller side, digital or 1-color letterpress could be the best option. For a no-holds-barred affair, on the other hand, you might combine a few different printing methods, like letterpress, foil stamping, and edge painting. If these terms have you scratching your head in confusion, read on!

FLAT PRINTING

These days, the vast majority of invitations are flat – or digitally – printed. Digital printing has revolutionized the way we print invitations. It’s much more affordable, and the technology has come so far that the quality is very high. Plus, you can print with an endless amount of colors! You can even print on cotton stocks and heavier papers. Personally, I love the unlimited color capabilities that flat printing allows – it’s what gives our watercolor invitations their textural details. This look wouldn’t be possible with letterpress printing or screen printing. You can find examples of beautiful real wedding invitations that use digital printing here.

LETTERPRESS PRINTING

It’s hard to beat letterpress printing for sheer beauty; it has an amazing tactile quality that no other method conveys. Letterpress printing is a centuries-old technique in which ink is applied to a raised plate design and then pressed into paper – today often a thick cotton stock – resulting a wonderfully textured impression. Blind letterpress printing, or de-bossing, is created by stamping the impression onto the paper without using any ink and can be incredibly stunning. However, letterpress printing can be limiting in some ways. Because a new plate and press run is required for each color in the design, adding a second or third ink color can make already pricey letterpress printing exponentially more expensive. And because the design must be created from line art, you won’t get the subtle color changes and design variations that you can achieve with digital printing. You can read more about the letterpress printing process here.

Wedding Invitation 101, Part 3: Wedding Invitation Printing Methods / Fine Day Press for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Clockwise from top left: Marble watercolor invitations by Fine Day Press; Two-color letterpress by Cheree Berry Paper; Gold foil on navy stock by Megan Wright Design Co.; Blind letterpress designed by Kate Holgate via this post; Edge painting by Ladyfingers Letterpress; Screen printed foldout map by Jessica Roush via this post.

SCREEN PRINTING

Screen printing is one of the oldest printing techniques and involves pushing thick, opaque ink through a fine mesh screen, resulting in a bright, tactile design that sits on the surface of paper.This method is great for using special inks like fluorescents and metallics, or for printing with opaque white ink onto a dark background color. As a result, screen printing can be a wonderful choice for vibrant and colorful modern wedding invitations. Screen printing also allows for printing on a variety of surfaces – like fabric or super-thick chipboard – so the possibilities for creativity run high. Budget-wise, it’s comparable to letterpress printing but can vary widely depending on the size of the screen and the number of inks. Each color requires its own separate screen so, like letterpress printing, a more colorful design means a higher overall cost. You can read more about the screen printing process here.

ENGRAVING

Engraving is the most classic of all wedding invitation printing methods – and most likely the method that your parents and grandparents used to print their wedding invitations! Engraving has fallen somewhat out of favor in recent years with the return of letterpress printing and improvements in digital printing, but it’s still one of the best options for a classic invitation design or black tie affair. Like letterpress printing, the engraving process transfers ink from a metal plate to paper by using intense pressure. However, unlike letterpress printing, with engraving the type and graphics are raised and create an embossed result. Engraving requires two metal plates etched with an image or text, which are then aligned on the press. Once aligned, ink is applied to the top plate and each piece of paper is then hand-fed through the press, receiving two tons of pressure and creating an embossed image with startling clarity, color purity and depth. You can read more about the engraving process here.

FOIL STAMPING, DIE CUTS, EDGE PAINTING, AND MORE!

Special printing and finishing techniques include things like foil stamping, die cutting, perforations, edge painting, and duplexing. Foil-stamping adds a high shine factor and adds a super special touch – it can be used on its own to beautiful effect or combined with digital printing for an extra shine. Want your invitations in the shape of a heart or another funky shape? You’ll be needing a custom die cut. Duplexing is when 2 sheets of thick stock are glued together to give a double-thick result. If you are printing on a double-thick stock, consider edge-painting to add a bright or metallic color to the edges of the card. So pretty! You can also use duplexing to combine a two different colors of card stock, like ecru and navy, to create major impact on both the front and back of an invitation. You can read about edge painting here, die cutting here, and foil stamping here.

DIY

Yes, it’s possible to print your invitations by your own bad self! Going this route takes some gumption, design savvy, and a willingness to be hands on. If you and your fiancé are both crafty, this could be a really fun project to tackle together. For example, you might take a letterpress printing class and then rent time at a studio to print your design. Or you could have screens made and silkscreen the cards yourself. Keep in mind that, with these options, you’ll need to supply your own paper stock and take care of trimming the paper as well. You can take your printed invitations to a local print shop for trimming if you don’t own a paper cutter.

I’ll be back soon with a post about Wording & Etiquette – stay tuned and happy printing!

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations

Well, hello there! Last week ended up being a bit more of a rollercoaster for me than I had originally expected – first, with a trip to New York for the NYNOW trade show (did you follow along on Instagram??), and second, we ended up having to replace our car! We’re a single car family here in DC, but we use our car every day for school drop offs and the commute to the military base where my husband works. Our poor 13-year old car decided to call it quits on us the day after I got back home. We’re super happy to have a brand new car sitting in our garage, even though the whole process took us about three full days. Anyway! I thought we’d start off the week with these colorful Mexican fete-inspired wedding invitations from Erin of BerinMade! I’m loving the bright illustrated florals and pretty gold foil details!

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Erin: Alison and Andrew were a dream couple to work with! They approached me last year with a few inspiration images, and wanted their wedding stationery to be loosely based on a colorful Mexican fete, with illustrations of flower, nature, and foil details. The goal is to have these elements as a nod to their fun, playful celebration, without necessarily being too “themed” or feminine.

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

I pulled some inspiration images of Folk art, drawing inspiration from symmetrical patterns, very bright intricate floral patterns as well as papel picado, the art of paper cut flags.

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

I wanted these to be subtle influences, so we decided to have the symmetrical illustrations take centre-stage and to make a separate enclosure pocket with a scalloped edge as an elegant nod to Mexican paper flags.

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

We went for a color palette that was bright and happy without being garish, and set it against the navy background to ground all the colorful elements together. It was after finalizing the illustrations and layouts that we decided to also lift a bit of the illustrations to foil alongside their names and the invitation text!

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Erin!

BerinMade is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Erin’s beautiful work right here or visit the gallery for more real wedding invitation inspiration!

Photo Credits: BerinMade

Wedding Invitation 101, Part 2: Timing is Everything (aka When to Send Wedding Invitations)

Invitation-101-Timing-Is-Everything-Title

Hi guys, Ashley from Fine Day Press here! Welcome back to our Invitation 101 series, all about wedding invitations. Today’s post is all about timing: when to gather inspiration, when to order your wedding invitations and save the dates, when to send wedding invitations, and more!

Wedding planning the one time in life where we combine an incredibly joyful event with the complicated logistics of running a small army! I recommend keeping the invitation process stress-free by allowing yourself lots of time. This is also super helpful for your guests so they can make travel plans and other necessary arrangements to be there on your big day.

 

A YEAR IN ADVANCE

Start thinking about your invitations as early as possible in your wedding planning process. This could be a year or more in advance. Last-minute invitations would not be fun, not to mention the rush charges alone could blow your budget.

You can begin by envisioning your dream invitations with an inspiration board and identifying a few possible stationers to work with – see my first post for more details on getting started.

 

6-9 MONTHS IN ADVANCE

If you’re mailing a Save the Date, especially for a destination wedding, this is the time to get those in the mail. Our previous post covered Save the Dates in more detail.

If you’re working with a local paper shop, this is a great time to schedule an appointment to review the ins and outs of their ordering process and timeline. If you’re working with an online stationer, go ahead and order a few samples to get an idea of the products and papers you might like to use.

 

WHEN TO ORDER

For ready-made invitations, I recommend ordering your invitations 3 months in advance for local weddings or 6 months in advance for destination weddings. This will allow time for design, proofing, production, assembly, and mailing your invitations, while providing ample notice for your guests.

If you’ve decided to go the custom invitation route, this will usually add anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks on to your invitation process, so it’s important to consider this from the get-go and factor this in to your timeframe.

We’ve created a handy cheat sheet of important dates! Click here to download a printable PDF.

 

PRINTING & PRODUCTION

For digital printing, also known as flat printing, you can expect a production time of up to 2 weeks. Letterpress or specialty printing typically takes 3 weeks. Production can usually be expedited, but there is usually a charge associated with this. We’ll cover print and production methods in more detail in the next installment of this series.

 

CALLIGRAPHY

Planning to have beautiful calligraphy on your envelopes? Calligraphers generally require 2 to 3 weeks for addressing envelopes. Your stationer may be able to provide blank envelopes in advance so that this can get started while the invitations are printing.

 

WHEN TO SEND

A general rule is to send out invitations 6 to 8 weeks before the wedding. If it’s a destination wedding, at least 3 months ahead is the standard to allow time for travel plans.

Don’t forget to save a few days (or at least a weekend afternoon) for assembly. This could be as simple as putting the invitations in the envelopes and adding postage to the envelopes. but may require additional steps if such as assembling liners into envelopes (note: many stationers can assemble liners for you and may offer invitation assembly as well) or stamping a return address if you chose an address stamp instead of a printed return address.

This is the time to call in your troops. Grab your besties and ‘maids to lend  a hand; bribe them with pizza and wine post-project. Or this is could be a for you and your fiancé/ée to tackle together – put on some Netflix and make it a date night. Finally, tack on a few more days for mailing. International invitations can take anywhere from 6-10 days to arrive. We’ll cover mailing and postage in a later post.

 

AFTER THE BIG DAY

Once your wedding is over and you’ve had a blissful, relaxing honeymoon, it’s time to send out thank you notes to guests and loved ones! If you like, you can keep your thank you notes in the same design theme as your invitations and usually get them printed at a lower cost than your invitations – At Fine Day Press, we offer returning clients a 10% discount on day-of and thank you note orders – I’m willing to bet other stationers might do the same.

Stay tuned for our next Invitation 101 post; it will cover one of my favorite topics – printing methods.

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats

Hi Everyone! We have another fantastic guest post from Nichole of Coral Pheasant coming up in just a bit, but first I wanted to pop back in to share a quick DIY project that I’ve had brewing in my head for the past couple of months. I thought these DIY Shibori-inspired watercolor placemats might be fun for outdoor celebrations over the long Labor Day weekend – or even for the holidays once we’re forced to move things back indoors. I love Shibori patterns, and I also love dyeing fabric, but the fabric dyeing process can be kind of intense and I wanted a bit more control over the results. So! I decided to break out my 30-color Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Box and see what I could do with watercolor paint and placemat-sized watercolor paper. These placemats would be a fun and unfussy addition to an informal dinner party (when you don’t necessarily want to bust out the fancy linens) or put a few together to create a colorful table runner!

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

I made two placemat designs: one inspired by the traditional Shibori triangle fold technique, and another striped design loosely inspired by the rubber band resist technique. The triangle fold pattern was actually inspired by my Shibori-inspired shower curtain that I picked up from Target a couple of years ago (of all things), and the striped pattern was inspired by the pattern on this chair. The two patterns work really well together, and I love the mix of cobalt and indigo blue. Also! This is a first for me, but I thought it might be easier for all of you to watch the actual painting process rather than try to photograph each and every step – so I made a video tutorial! Please forgive the video quality (it was just me and Hyperlapse on my phone), but it was so fun to put the whole process together, so hopefully I’ll be able to do more of these videos down the road!

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Supplies

12″ x 18″ watercolor paper

30-Color Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Box

Size 6 Round Brush (I used this one)

3/4″ or 1″ Flat Wash Brush (I used a 3/4″ flat brush from this set)

12″ Ruler

18″ Ruler

Pencil

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

To Make the “Triangle Fold” Placemats

Step 1. Using a pencil and the 12″ ruler, draw very light straight vertical lines at 3″ intervals along your paper. Then, starting in the top left corner and continuing across the page, use the 18″ ruler to draw very light diagonal lines to connect the vertical lines. Once all of the lines have been drawn, the paper should look something like this (I highlighted my lines in lavender so you could see them more easily):

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step 2. Using the brush provided in the Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Box or a Size 6 round brush, paint the lines a deep indigo color. Use a lot of the indigo pigment and very little water to achieve a deep, saturated watercolor paint color. I recommend working in small sections from left to right (or right to left if you’re left handed) – you’ll see why in the video, because I made a mistake and smudged the wet watercolor paint after painting too far down one of the diagonal lines! Apply different levels of pressure along each line to create wider and thinner sections of each line. Let everything dry completely, about 10 minutes. You can use the drying time to paint more placemats.

Step 3. Use the round brush to add a small amount of indigo pigment to a small cup of water. Once the placemat is fully dry, use the tinted water to go over each line to create a diffuse dye-like effect. Finally, add an extra dose of indigo pigment where the lines intersect. Let the placemats dry completely and they’ll be ready to use!

To Make the Striped Placemats:

Step 1. Using a pencil and a 12″ ruler, draw very light straight vertical lines at 3″ intervals along your paper.

Step 2. Using a 3/4″ flat wash brush, paint varying horizontal widths (mine were between 1/4″ wide and 1″ wide) along each vertical line and alternating between cobalt and indigo on every other line.

Step 3. Use the thin edge of the brush to connect the horizontal sections along each vertical line. Add a layer of tinted water over each horizontal width to blend and create a more diffuse dye-like effect. Let the placemats dry completely and they’ll be ready to use!

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Shibori-Inspired Watercolor Placemats / Oh So Beautiful Paper

These placemats could easily pull double duty as place cards by writing the name of each guest in a visible location. Or, if placemats just aren’t your vibe, put a few together to make them into a custom table runner! I could totally see them providing a much-needed pop of color between a wood table and a wood or slate cheese plate. Or on top of a console table serving as a temporary bar or dessert station! So many options!

Photo Credit: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Unique and Memorable Save the Date Ideas

The ring has been picked, the question has been popped, and the answer has been exclaimed: YES! Congratulations on your engagement! Now it’s time to make sure your nearest and dearest know about your upcoming wedding – assuming you have a venue and a date, of course. Small details people. You need a Save the Date of course! Here are a few unique and memorable Save the Date ideas to help get the inspiration flowing. –Nichole of Coral Pheasant

Often there is a push to get Save the Dates out as soon as pos­si­ble and it can be over­whelm­ing to make a quick deci­sion. A tried and true option is to use a favorite photo – and that’s great! Your friends and fam­ily will cer­tainly know whose wed­ding is com­ing up. But if there’s time to put a lit­tle more thought into your Save the Date, the result can be unique and mem­o­rable. Con­sider favorite mem­o­ries and past times. Maybe you met in col­lege or the two of you love sam­pling wines. Or if you have a solid sense of the cel­e­bra­tion you are plan­ning, take inspi­ra­tion from that. Below are a col­lec­tion of Save the Date ideas that break the mold and truly set the stage for a wed­ding not to be missed!

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_1_navy_laser_cut_tuxedo

It’s always a treat when a cou­ple has enlisted the help of a sea­soned event plan­ner. Bren­dan and Ryan hired Diana at Jubilee Events to design and coor­di­nate their upcom­ing wed­ding. Diana learned that Ryan, who works in fash­ion in NYC, was hav­ing a cus­tom navy blue Tom Ford tuxedo made. A light ­bulb went off and they had the idea to cre­ate a Save the Date inspired by the tux. When they shared the con­cept with me, I thought it would be a fun guest expe­ri­ence to be able to inter­act with the design. Here, the tuxedo is laser cut out of navy blue stock and the “shirt and bow tie” insert slides out to reveal the details of their day.

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_2_gold_foil_hollywood_regency_hip_hop

Sarah and Mike might just be the fun­ni­est clients I’ve had the plea­sure of work­ing with. Sarah’s vision for her wed­ding was a gor­geous affair inspired by Hol­ly­wood Regency details with lots of shim­mer­ing gold. And hip-hop. The two of them love their music and cer­tainly didn’t take them­selves too seri­ously. Their Save the Dates fea­tured a strong typo­graphic design with Regency details and slightly inap­pro­pri­ate language.

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_3_circus_carnival_illustration

When your wed­ding is inspired by a vin­tage car­ni­val, what bet­ter than to “announce” it with an illus­trated pull tab Save the Date?! The cus­tom illus­tra­tion by Myr­tle and Lloyd incor­po­rates the wed­ding col­ors and a small slit in the mega­phone allows for a tab that, when pulled, reveals “Save the Date!” The enve­lope was flipped upside down so that the cir­cus tent above their return address fit sweetly onto the flap.

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_4_trifold_preppy_connecticut

The first three exam­ples of Save the Dates were clearly derived from the couple’s indi­vid­ual wed­ding designs – but that’s not always the case. It’s per­fectly fine for your Save the Dates to be unique and sep­a­rate from your actual wed­ding. Megan and Mike wanted to use their engage­ment pho­tos and I – always lov­ing the chance to engage the guest – cre­ated a fold out card that showed sev­eral of them. The enve­lope was sewn in half to cre­ate two pock­ets. The photo card slipped into one side while the other pocket held a small card with their wed­ding website.

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_5_gold_foil_new_years_eve

When your wedding is on one of the most festive nights of the year, you werk it. New Year’s Eve, gold foil, festive language, fireworks. You get it. AmIright?!

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_6_yellow_blue_college_university_pennant

Kacie and Chris met and fell in love while stu­dents at Quin­nip­iac Uni­ver­sity. A cus­tom pen­nant in the university’s col­ors serves as their Save the Date. The pen­nant was rolled and mailed to guests in a mail­ing tube with a coor­di­nat­ing label and postage stamp.

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_7_lobster_clam_bake_nautical

This casual clam­bake lob­ster fest wed­ding was announced with step-by-step instruc­tions on how to chow down. Their upcom­ing nup­tials are cer­tainly claws for cel­e­bra­tion! (See what I did there?!)

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_8_purple_plum_art_deco_magnet

A new take on a mag­net Save the Date. The announce­ment was printed on double-thick stock and the mag­net was mounted within a printed frame.

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_9_blush_pink_marsala_rustic_vintage_trifold_confetti

Jor­dan and Mike’s rus­tic vin­tage wed­ding will be held at the bride’s fam­ily home in Sep­tem­ber. Their tri­fold Save the Date unfolds to reveal the details and a lit­tle glas­sine enve­lope filled with coor­di­nat­ing con­fetti and a card with their wed­ding web­site. A vin­tage flo­ral pat­tern in their event col­ors appears on the reverse (that’s the flo­ral pat­tern seen in the back­ground) and hints at the event design dreamed up by Diana of Jubilee Events.

coral_pheasant_save_the_date_10_boozy_wine

When Britt described her ideal wed­ding as a “big fun boozy party” I knew we would have some fun with her Save the Dates. For these oenophile’s (aka wine lovers!), wine rings and splat­ters announce their wed­ding at Jonathan Edwards Winery.

Photo Credits: Coral Pheasant