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!

New Gift Tags Available In Etsy Shop

Some new floral letterpress gift tags are now available in the Sunlit Letterpress Etsy shop. Printed in lime ink on Crane Lettra 100% cotton cardstock, punched and tied with brown raffia. Enjoy!

Happy letterpressing!

Letterpress Gift Registry Cards

A question many brides often have for me is "should we put our gift registry information on our invitation?" This is a tough one, and the subject of much debate amongst etiquette experts.

There is one school of thought that says brides and grooms should never include this information anywhere in their invitation materials. Instead, it is the responsibility of the mother of the bride or maid of honor to communicate the bride and groom's registry details to those who happen to inquire. Although this is the more traditional way of sharing your gift registry information with people, it is not a method that always applies today for a variety of reasons (people may not wish to or feel comfortable contacting and asking someone what the bride and groom would like as a gift, there may not be a mother of the bride or maid of honor to ask, etc.).

The other option is to just share your wishes with your guests yourself. However, call me old-fashioned, but I think some thought needs to go into how you go about doing this - otherwise you risk coming off as gauche. Here are my thoughts:

1. Don't put your registry information directly on your invitation card – that's a bit too forward. Put the information on a separate card or insert. Some stores can provide you with business card-sized registry cards to include with your invitations. Better yet, have your own registry cards designed and printed to go with your invitation suite (see photo above for an example of one of our client's custom-designed letterpress registry cards). Your recipient will still get the information they need about your registry, but by placing the information on a separate card, you are not indicating that the gift is equally or more important than your request for their presence on your big day.

2. If you would rather not include your registry information with your invitations at all, consider putting this information on a wedding website along with other details about your special day (i.e. schedule, map of wedding location, etc.). This is also a great option because you can include a link directly to your online gift registry if you have one – and your guests won't even have to search for your name! (p.s. Did you know that Sunlit Letterpress can design a wedding website to match your letterpress invitations? Contact the studio for more information!)

3. Whatever you decide to do, never include "cash only gifts" as a request anywhere (invitations, website, or other). In fact, it is considered somewhat bold to even have someone suggest this by word of mouth to your guests. It is quite common for wedding guests to give the bride and groom money as a wedding gift anyways, so asking for money specifically tends to look, well...a little bad.

I was once sent an email from someone whose wedding I was invited to and the email went something like this: "Please give us money as a wedding gift because this is what we want". Ok, I paraphrased a little, but that was the essential message. It sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. I was always going to give money, and still did, but it almost felt like the financial gift I was planning on has been cheapened a little bit.

So there you have it...my thoughts on gift registries and invitations.

Happy letterpressing!

Vancouver Wedding Show - Indie I Do 2010

Image © and courtesy of Indie I Do

Just a quick update to remind you that we will be participating in the second annual Indie I Do show here in Vancouver on January 23, 2010 (11am-5pm), at Heritage Hall. Ticket presales have already started, and are half-price ($10) if you buy before November 1, 2009 (tickets are $20 each after November 1st and at the door). And remember, there are only 70 gift bags to be had by early ticket purchasers, so don't wait!

I think one of the big reasons this show was so popular last year is that it is not overwhelming like some of the bigger shows and fairs that have thousands of people milling about – making it hard for brides and grooms to have a conversation with vendors about their specific needs. Indie I Do is more intimate and concentrates select vendors in a smaller area, making for (in my opinion) a more effective wedding show.

Please mark your calendars and be sure to come down and talk to us about your wedding stationery needs. We will have lots of samples to touch and design ideas for you to take a look at.

As a side note, we are currently booking into January 2010 for custom letterpress wedding orders - so if you are a bride considering Sunlit Letterpress stationery for your 2010 wedding, please contact us as soon as possible to be added to our printing schedule and avoid disappointment.

Happy letterpressing!

Free Notecards with Etsy Order

© 2009 Sunlit Letterpress

Hello friends! Here's a special offer for you, ending August 31st:

Buy any greeting card set, notecard set, custom monogram set, or coasters from the Sunlit Letterpress Etsy shop (http://sunlitletterpress.etsy.com), and we'll throw in two free letterpress bird ornament notecards with kraft envelopes for free. Not valid on single card purchases (i.e. single "Bun in the Oven", "Something Blue", etc.).

Just enter "FREEBIRD" in the notes to seller when you complete your purchase.

Happy letterpressing!

Custom Notecards for Local Photographer

Above is a photo of some custom notecards we recently printed up for Shona of Sweet Earth Photographics here in Vancouver. These cards - printed with brown ink on Crane Lettra Pearl with 100% recycled kraft envelopes - will be used for her photography clients. I think it's great when professionals use classic stationery to drop their clients a note or thank-you, it comes across as very professional and very personal at the same time. The photographer for our wedding did not send out notes like this, but it would have been a nice touch - especially considering that most clients are spending a fair bit when they hire a photographer for their big day.

This past week has been almost impossible to work for long periods of time - the temperature hovered around 38-40 degrees (Celsius) for most of last week. As you may know, letterpress printing involves a lot of physical work, so cranking out prints in such temperatures can make you feel like you are going to pass out. We don't have air conditioning in the studio, so besides a few fans and cold water, there wasn't much relief! I have also noted that when the humidity rises in the heat, the flywheel on the C&P develops a nice rust almost instantly. This means that before I can print, I need to clean all the rust off - otherwise if I handle a print after touching the wheel, my print gets an added embellishment: a nice set of rusty fingerprints.

Happy letterpressing!

Non-Traditional RSVP Cards

Hello friends! It's been a while, hasn't it? My personal life has been packed these last few months, so I apologize for the lack of new posts. Well, that and the office studio is way too hot right now for me to sit at the computer for any longer than I have to (we have a big window that the sun hits in the afternoon and no AC).

Above is a photo of some RSVP cards from an order for Jennifer in San Jose, CA. Jennifer wanted to do something unique with her reply cards, and not limit guests to just replying "Will attend" or "Sends regrets". In fact, I have seen photos of what people do with these "text box" reply cards, and it's actually very fun! Along with indicating whether or not they are going to attend, people draw pictures, write silly poems for the bride and groom, and I've even seen an RSVP where the guest sent back a collage within the text box. Pretty creative!

I always tell our brides and grooms to buy a nice folder to put their RSVP cards in once they come back so that a) wedding planning is made easier when everything is in one place, and b) even if you have a traditional RSVP card, people often write you a personal message, and it's nice to go back and look through them every so often. I remember a very touching RSVP note from one of my grandmother's friends who was too ill to attend our wedding, and I will keep it forever.

I've also seen RSVP cards get jazzed up a bit by changing the wording from traditional to non-traditional. For example, some people will substitute "Will attend" for something like "I wouldn't miss it for the world!" or other such expression. If your overall invitation suite is relaxed and fun, then playing with the RSVP card wording can carry the theme through.

Of course, if you are having a traditional wedding (like I did), there is nothing wrong with keeping your invitations formal, and sticking with the tried and true traditional style and wording.

So, that's my RSVP talk for today...

Next week we are printing some notecards for a local wedding photographer, designing a wedding suite for a couple getting married in Maui next year (at a gorgeous location in Wailea), and working on a promotional piece for a Calgary-based home furnishings boutique. It's great to have such a variety of projects to work on.

Last weekend I finally had a chance to watch "Seven Pounds" with Will Smith - which, as you may or may not know, has a character (Rosario Dawson) who is a letterpress printer. It was a pretty good movie (though I knew right away what the jellyfish was for, having learned all about them while traveling in Australia), and I was quite excited to see the presses in a major motion picture. If nothing else, at least now when I tell people what I do for a living and they give me a blank stare, I can say - "Hey - You know "Seven Pounds"? I do what Rosario did in the movie."

Yeah, it bugged me when she pulled a print on her platen with no ink on the disc, no set-up work, and it was miraculously what looked like a 4-color print, but we all know that directors have to take some creative license here and there with movies, or else they'd turn into documentaries about minutia.

Oh, and the idea that a printer would fall madly in love with someone who fixed her busted Windmill is not at all far-fetched!

And finally, I received a very nice call from Crane (see my mini-rant below about Lettra) to inform me that they have decided to keep making the 8x12 110lb. Pearl White Lettra, instead of getting rid of that size as planned. Thank you Crane, you have made my life much easier!

Have a great weekend, and happy letterpressing!