Healthy Obsession I
October 12th, 2006 @ 2:11 pm by Mrs. Orange
I have a number of obsessions. One is stationery, paper products and an assortment of paper-related goods. So I developed a healthy obsession over invitations and more specifically, letterpress printing.
A few months into our engagement, we went to Invitations and Beyond in Oceanside, Long Island. The drill was to go in the store and browse through volumes after volumes of wedding invitations. They were all very nice invitations, but I never found THE ONE. A few months later, I went to Kate’s Paperie on Broadway. Went through the drill again only to find that the ones I love are all letterpress and are not feasible within my budget. Lastly, I visited Lion in the Sun (in Park Slope, Brooklyn; there is another store in Long Island). Same drill same result.
It was clear to me that I love letterpress. I love the feel of thick paper, the indentation that is created by the letterpress and the artsy feel to it all. But, the price tag did not like me, and vice versa. Lion in the Sun actually offered to flat print an originally letterpress invitation (see William Arthur invite below). But that wasn’t just right for me.
I started looking at online vendors that could possibly offer letterpress for cheaper than brick ‘n mortar stores. This is what I found.
- Marsville Press - Located in Canada. They were featured in Martha Stewart Weddings in 2004. The price is competitive - 100 invitations on Stonehenge paper, reply cards, and envelopes with return address is $636 Canadian Dollars. US residents pay in USD$.
- Superior Letterpress - Located in Wisconsin. No price information on the website, but pictures of samples available.
- Mercurio Brothers Printing - Located in California. 100 invitations on 110lb Strathmore white paper is $208, response cards are $150 (single color), matching envelopes are another charge on top of that. They are not letterpress designers -just printers. They’re great if you plan to design your own invites.
And then I found this one-man letterpress company called Parklife Press in North Carolina. Travis is the owner, the manager and the star employee there! I got my artsy sister to design a pink paper crane for me to go with our theme. Travis just sent me the first draft. I can’t show you what they look like just yet, but here’s a pic of the layout I demonstrated by cutting invitation wording by lines, and lining them on a sheet marked as A6 size and A2 size (for RSVP postcard).
To feed your letterpress obsession, here’s a directory of letterpress companies…by another letterpress obsessed gal ;).
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10 Responses to “Healthy Obsession I”
I requested samples from Marsville on their web site twice and never received them either time. I thought that was strange given their popularity after the MS feature.
I’ve worked at Kate’s Paperie a few years back and I can tell you that they’re highly overpriced as a middleman of things. Based on the way they treat their employees alone, I vowed never to shop there again. If you want a great alternative, visit Lee’s Art Shop on West 57th Street. They just opened a printing boutique that specializes in wedding stationery. Also, I’ve apprenticed at Sesame Letterpress out in Brooklyn and they’re run by a really cute married couple by the name of Matt and Breck who are completely passionate about letterpress.
FB: Thanks for the tip on Lee’s Art Shop & on Sesame Letterpress.
D: I vaguely remember waiting FOREVER for Marsville Letterpress. And thought to myself whether I want to go through the same wait to receive my invites! 
Kate: Yes, Paper Source is fantastic! But, I knew if I did it myself (as in DIY), I would drive myself insane with detail. So, I let that one go. Great price for Letterpress though!
thank you so much for the information! I love letterpress and I’ve been driving myself nuts trying to figure out a cost savvy alternative.
Sigh…..I love this website….you Bees and Flowers and Fruits and Veggies are so soo helpful. Only one drawback; I’m begining to become weddingbee addicted ARGH! but is that REALLY a drawback?
yay for letterpressing!!! it’s so gorgeous.
I used Travis at Parklife! He was WONDERFUL to work with and everything was on time. You can see our invites on his website.
My only issue was with the RSVP postcards. Be careful if you use them. The postal service’s cancellation stamp went right over the line where folks wrote their names. Thank goodness I’d numbered the postcards or we’d have no idea who was responding.
Good luck!
Ronna: Oh no —- really? I’ll make sure to number my RSVP postcards as well. Which one is yours?
I love the paper crane idea. I used Hello Lucky for our invites and they turned out wonderful. The price was a little steep but well worth it.
Hi! To answer your question, our postcard isn’t up on the web. Just our invite. We’re one of the ones with the vertical overlapping lines.
As for the postcards, I do not in any way blame Travis. He did a great job and did exactly what we wanted.
I’m actually kinda sad the invite process is over. I had such fun designing and picking out colors!
Mrs. Orange, New York
Age and Occupation in 06: 29, Librarian
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Academic
Engagement Date: January 25, 2006
Wedding Date: March 2007
Venue: Nassau County, Long Island
About Me: Mr. Orange and I met thanks to my college friend and Mr. Orange's dad in Feb. 05. I love to eat, cook, watch Dog the Bounty Hunter, Without a Trace, L&O, and MTV Hits as well as chill with my cat Illie, work on little DIY projects for the wedding, do extensive wedding related searches on Google using my "skills." Ha-ha. We are having a 150+ ppl wedding incorporating his Jewish background and my Japanese heritage.
Paper Source did the letterpress on our invites, for I believe around $2 per. We only letterpressed the main invitation piece and then used thermography for the RSVP and direction cards. Pretty reasonable if you’re willing to do some DIY.