Letterpress Wedding Invitations + Holiday Plans

Above are some photos of a recent custom letterpress wedding invitation order that we printed for a lovely couple getting married in one of our favorite vacation spots – Maui, HI. The couple wanted something elegant and simple, but also wanted to incorporate a Hawaiian floral (in this case a tree orchid) and a family crest. It took a bit of creativity to come up with something that wasn't too busy, as the family crest had many elements. What I ended up designing was an invitation suite that incorporated the latin from the family crest and the uppercase "H" within a circle, which when put together looked sort of like a passport stamp. Since most guests at the wedding will be coming from out of town, this passport stamp also addressed the fact that this wedding will be a destination wedding.

In the reply card, the couple also wanted the guests to indicate their meal and activity preference (tennis, golf, snorkel) for their time in Maui. Icons were used in the design to allow guests to respond with their choice.

This letterpress invitation suite included the actual invitation, a reply card, outer envelope, reply envelope, and an orange belly band with the bride and groom's names and the date of the wedding. If your invitation has multiple pieces like this, a belly band is a great way to tie them all together with a pop of color.

I really love the printing process for this kind of invitation suite - especially when using three colors as on the invitation and reply card. There's really nothing better than the satisfaction that comes from finally completing the last pass of the final color on a piece and seeing the whole design come together. In this case we printed the brown ink first (as it is easier to register text first, before moving on to images), then the orange ink, and then the blue. I always find it easier to register text first before anything else is on the sheet, because then you will know for sure if everything is square and aligned without any distracting images. I hate to say it, and maybe it's just me, but sometimes your eyes play tricks on you when registering your print - so the less distraction the better. If you have overlapping colors or complicated designs, printing the text first isn't always possible however.

If you are interested in custom letterpress wedding invitations for your 2010 wedding, please contact the studio as soon as possible as we are already booking orders for January 2010.

Next week I am planning to start printing off our holiday cards for this year. I always say I'm going to start in September or earlier, but that never actually happens despite my best efforts! The cards will be available for purchase in our Etsy shop.

Happy letterpressing!