And… They’re… OFF!
August 5th, 2008 @ 5:40 pm by Mrs. Cupcake
Our invitations, that is!
After months of obsessing over the design, then changing it, then finally reaching something I truly love and feel proud of, our invitations are in the hands of our guests. Which means not only is this wedding really happening, but it means that I can finally share the final product with the hive! Without further ado, our invitation suite, designed by yours truly (click on the photos to zoom in a bit):
The whole shebang, my pride and joy!
Close-up of the envelope liner and the invitation. The top teal layer of the invitation is die-cut with the scroll shape, and layered on top of the white layer with our actual wedding info
The top left corner of the invitation with our wedding date engraved
Engraving is a really amazing printing method. Basically, it is the only process that allows the ink to sit on top of the paper, creating both crisp ink definition and a raised texture. The back side of the paper is “bruised” from the pressure of the engraving process, giving it a delectable hand-touched feeling (which is illustrated in a photo further down in this post). Thermography is also raised printing, but it creates a shiny effect (which, personally, I am not a fan of), and does not create bruising. The raised effect of thermography is a result of a resin powder that is applied to an offset printed piece, rather than the pressure of the engraving process.
Some people mistake engraving for letterpress, simply because they haven’t seen it before and they are only familiar with the texture that results from letterpress. The main difference here is that with letterpress, the ink is actually pressed into the paper, creating a relief texture. This results in a beautiful piece, but does limit your ability to use dark or colored papers. With the aforementioned pressure used in the engraving process, the ink sits on top of the paper, allowing for some amazing and crisp contrast. The green and white ink on the teal paper would not be so crisp and bold if I had used letterpress. (And don’t get me wrong — I love me some letterpress, but this particular design would not have worked with letterpress.)
I have to thank my friend and co-worker, Maggie, who let me borrow her fabulous camera to capture these detailed photos for you (thanks, Maggie!). Below is a bit more invitation eye-candy that resulted from my little glamour shoot and hopefully these photos will help you see what engraving allows you to do.
I used Albemarle Swash for our names; the rest of the type is ITC Souvenir (it pains me to blur out our last names because I love the type so much…. I wish I didn’t care about privacy!!)
I love how the envelope liner ties it all together! The vector art pattern was purchased on istockphoto.com and I modified the colors and tiled the seamless pattern in Adobe Illustrator. The envelope liner was flat printed (also referred to as “offset”), because engraving would have been a little ridiculous and the amount of coverage would have made it extremely difficult for my engraver.
I am in love with our reception card
My absolute favorite detail…. I put an asterisk after “dancing” and added this line at the bottom. I think it’s charming, if I do say so myself!
This close-up really illustrates the texture of engraving. See how there is actually some dimension to the word “celebrate” sitting on top of the paper?
And here is what the back of the reception card looks like. I had it duplexed with teal stock to add a little surprise element of color to the back of the card, but what I really want to show you is the bruising that occurred from the engraving process. You can see the indentation of the scroll shape as well as where all of the type is. Isn’t that neat?
Our reply set
This differs from my original RSVP layout that I had included in my invitation teaser post a while back; my engraver advised that the criss-cross dotted lines might not look great when engraved, because some of the dots met up with each other and would create a little bit of a blobby effect when engraved. I took their advice and revised my layout to be what you see here.
I couldn’t bear the thought of mismatched stamps after all of the work I put into the invites, so I bit the bullet and ordered custom stamps from Zazzle. I requested expedited service since I had put off getting my stamps — I ordered them at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and received them at 10 a.m. the following day, from California! Not bad for $18.99 extra, and totally worth it to get these in the mail a little quicker.
A detailed look at the response envelope
I printed our directions and accommodations on a high-quality laser printer at work. I made it a tri-fold to include every ounce of information our guests could possibly need!
If you ever doubted how committed I am to details, I’m sure there’s no denying it now!
The back of our outer envelope, complete with our wedding date
Engraved thank you notes to correspond with our invitations
I love the envelope for our thank you cards!
So, there you have it! I fully admit that I would not have been able to pull off these invitations if I didn’t work for a company whose business is producing invitations and stationery. I have resources for engraving that most people don’t have, and I have wonderful colleagues who helped make my vision a reality. However, I think and hope that the designs themselves can still inspire brides to think outside of the box, and I also hope that they give you a glimpse into the amazing world that is the craft of engraving.
If you have questions that weren’t addressed in what I explained here, PLEASE ASK! I am planning to do a follow-up post to go into a bit more detail about how the actual invitation was printed and assembled, since it was a multi-step process, and to answer all of your questions. Please leave any questions in the comments and I will do my best to answer all of them soon!
A final shot of the full set taken with my much crappier camera
PS - If you use any of these images, please credit them to Miss Cupcake. 
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92 Responses to “And… They’re… OFF!”
Exquisite! The envelope liner is my favorite element.
i love them…. they’re so beautiful and i love the color scheme! the engraving is awesome!
OH MY GOD. These are to die for! they are elegant, fund and modern, but they still look substantive. I love the engraving! question- how do you get the die cut on the teal layer for the invite? are there vendors that do that for you? or can you purchase some sort of implement to do it yourself?
OMG - Invite porn. These were worth the wait to see these beauties! You did such a fantastic job - your guests will love these!
these are seriously the prettiest invitations i have ever seen!
The invitation suite is stunning. Each piece is so beautiful.
i remember when you gave a little tease and i thought they were amazing, and now i’m totally envious, they’re gorgeous! everyone will be blown away when they open them, kudos to you!!
OMG those are AMAZING!! Major pat on the back for Miss Cupcake!!!
Can’t wait to read more about the process.
I am also loving the detailed info in the tri-fold. What all info did you put in there? Is that all directions and hotel info? (if so - WOW you have some uber informed guests!!)
You did good girl! Those are fantastic!
Holy wow. They’re absolutely gorgeous!
These are amazing, Miss Cupcake! I am blown away.
Wow. These are fantastic. You are amazing. Absolutely amazing. All the detail is simply marvelous.
This has to be one of my favorite invitation suites ever, and I’m a total invitation nerd! Invitations are the one element of my wedding that I’m most looking forward to planning. Your guests will be delighted when these land in their mailboxes!
What’s the font you used?
Those are absolutely incredible– you should be so proud of yourself! Your creativity, vision, and charm shows through in every lovely detail. Your guests are going to love these!!!
WOW, Miss Cupcake. Just … WOW. Those are just breathtaking. I adore the font (and just may steal it and the colors and the envelope liners and … WOW. Thank you so much for sharing!
Those are beautiful! I love the colors and well, everything else about them!
Cupcake — These are magnificant! Mouth open. In complete awe! You are one heck of a designer! Kudos to you!
Quick questions: Is you envelope a die cut? And who assembled the envelope liner?
sooo amazing!
Wow. REALLY impressive Miss C! The extension of all the details across all the elements, without being too matchy-matchy, is great. Congratulations
Wow. Just wow. I am amazed. I never thought that paper could render me speachless.
*Sits motionless, staring at monitor, jaw on the floor*
those are mango approved. holy smokes i love the color palette you chose. beautiful.
Where/how did you get those envelopes? I love the shape of their flap.
Eh. These are okay…. sheesh woman, every single guest will fawn over these - even those who have never noticed an invitation in their lives!
OMG gorg!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your suite! I mean, they make me SWOON! I covet these and will now dream of your beautiful inviatations in my sleep. Color palette is gorgeous, and inspires me to dream big when I try to design my own.
they are even more beautiful in person!! i can’t wait till your guests see them.. !
I was curious what font you used for your names and titles?
BTW absolutely amazing invitations!
Wow Miss Cupcake. REALLY REALLY beautiful. i like the image of the istockphoto that you have–do you know if i order it, whether i can use that in Microsoft Word? (i don’t own adobe illustrator)
What beautiful colors and gorgeous design! Your guests are sure to be impressed:)
oo sorry, one more thing, do you the name of that istockphoto image u used? thaanks!
ohmigoodness! i love your invites!! i second sara’s question– where/how did you get “scroll” die cut form the teal paper? i love how that looks… maybe i’ll have to steal that idea myself!
AHHH! I don’t even know what to say that hasn’t already been said…except that I want to hire you to design my suite! And I’m a graphic designer myself…teach me, oh wise one! You and your work are just fabulous!
WOW! i dont think i can say anything else that anyone hasn’t already… but you just made my day — there are TEAL envelopes out there somewhere!! I’m doing a black/white damask and teal… and was beginning to get discouraged.
Now, please, please, tell me where you got them and what company you work for that does printing like that?
*high five* those are beautiful!
Oh! ps. i’ve always wondered how non-pocketfold invitations hold the extra cards? Do you just place the rsvp and the trifold in the big envelope?
stunning! you should absolutely think about a second career in invitation design!
Amazing. Quite simply amazing!
i think you must start a side business. I can honestly I don’t see anything amateur about these. Good luck convincing others you did these!!
Thank you all for your wonderful comments! They give me warm fuzzies I still plan to go into more detail and answer some questions in a follow-up post, but I’ll answer some of them here, too, for those of you still reading:
@mdarrah: the 3 inside panels of the tri-fold have directions to the church (from several points) and directions to the hotel/venue from several points. Yes, people can use Mapquest, but as a professional wedding guest myself, I always appreciate directions with clear landmarks to ensure that I’ll get there on time!
@Arvee and
@Jenae: the “curly” font is Albemarle swash, which Miss Tiramisu also used on her invitations! I’m not a huge fan of how our names looked with initial caps in this font, so I kept everything lowercase.
@Miss Cookie and @misssweetart: the envelope flap that has the curve to it is actually the trademark custom font that my company, Louella Press, uses. We use it for all of our invitations and stationery. And, the envelope liners came die-cut and scored, but I lovingly (and annoyingly!) inserted and taped them all into place.
@puffykins: I am pretty sure you need a vector-image editing program to make use of iStock images, but perhaps someone else can correct me? I think the iStock website tells you somewhere, and I know that there are other (less expensive) options than Illustrator out there! The image file number (if you do a search) is 5490598. The edges line up so you can copy and paste the image multiple times and make a seamless pattern, and I (obviously) adjusted the colors, as well!
@Nada: I actually had the envelopes custom cut (sorry to disappoint you!!!) but the paper is Basis brand and the color is called Teal. I am sure Basis makes envelopes, but I am a little nuts and I wanted the curved flap that my company specializes in, hehe. I’m crazy like that. My company is called Louella Press. Also, I placed everything in the envelope from largest in the back to smallest in the front. I will post a photo to show you the way this is done!
@d: Thank you I actually don’t need to make it a second career, because invitation design is my “first” career! This is what I do for a living, hence going a liiiiiiiitle overboard 
@AHotPinkPetticoat: See my response to d above…. and I promise, I really did design these!
For those of you who asked about the die-cut, the short answer is that any printer should have someone who will create a custom die for you. I will try to go into more detail in terms of how this is done in my follow-up post.
PS, Miss Cookie and misssweetart, I meant custom “flap” not custom “font”
Also, Nada — Envelopments has a color called “Tartan” that is pretty much an exact match to the Basis Teal that I used for the envelopes and all the other teal pieces. Envelopments has envelopes, but I’m not sure if they offer them in this color.
These are spectacular. I positively love the die-cut on the invitation. What a wonderful touch! The engraving is amazing. But I really love the colors and the envelope lining. Fantastic job!
Absolutely stunning and classic Miss Cupcake! It’s quite obvious what an amazing designer you are. Job well done!!!
Are you kidding?! These are phenomenal!! I love love love them! My question is, I love that design around all of the writing. Is that a vector image also? Thanks!
WOW. I am in love. Mostly with your f-ing AWESOME invitations, and also quite a bit with your insane attention to detail. And not only did you do an AMAZING job, but strangely enough, your invitations look a LOT like what I have in mind for mine, albeit in very different colors. I am going to have to send you an email to pick your brain about this, hope you don’t mind
W - O - W!
I am in Awe…BEST invites I have ever seen. Your HARD work is going to pay OFF…..
They are ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!!! Mod, Chic and Totally Whimsy at the same time….Kudos!!!
These are AMAZING! I’m so in awe of your talent…simply stunning. I think my love for all things paper means that I must post about this — these are the most gorgeous invitations I’ve ever seen (I will definitely credit you)!!!
These are truly beautiful. A great work of art. Kudos to you and your vision.
un-fuh-reakin’-real! except… real! 
I am salivating over your invites! They are beautiful!!
Wow! These are absolutely beautiful. If I was going to get married again… I’d hire you!
those are super fly!!! love it
I am w/ Mr. Mango…loving the colors.
Wow! These are absolutely stunning!
We’ll make sure we tell all of our new customers about these!
AMAZING!
Do you have a cost break down of how much everything cost?
I love these
Wow. Wow. Wow. You have truly raised the bar, Miss Cupcake! They are beautiful and inspiring! Thank you for sharing!
So vibrant! It’s a small detail, Miss Cupcake, but I really like that you have your first, middle and last name on the actual invite. I’m not such a fan of the “proper etiquette” way of listing only the bride’s first and middle, but the groom’s full name. You go, girl! 
@MagPie518: Since my mom is hosting the wedding and she recently got married, we no longer share the same last name! So, it only made sense to include my last name But I like that it’s the more “modern” way of doing things, too!
Um, WOW! Just PERFECT! I love them so much.
What a talent you have, missy! You should be so proud of yourself. I know we’re all very proud of our cupcake.
Congrats! That’s so exciting 
Broke-Ass Bride
so so so so soooooo gorgeous!
Stunning!
Fan-fracking-tastic Miss Cupcake! I love them!
I absolutely love that you included your wedding date on the return address of your reply cards. Those small details are what makes it YOUR day and they are worth the extra time and effort. Love, love love!
hollllllllllly smokes! those are on fire!
WOW those are awesome! I have invite envy.
gorgeous!
[...] am definitely no Miss Cupcake (her invitations are incredible), but I’m very happy with how our invitations turned out, considering our wedding has been the [...]
wowww, those are gorgeous!! =)
Just catching up on my reading from last week and wanted to let you know that I LOVE your inviation suite!
Question: Who is your printer/engraver? Are they local to the Philly area? I’m in S.Jersey and have been looking for a reputable printer who does engraving.
wowzers! Just gorgeous!
Miss Cupcake…absolutely love your invites. Any chance you would be willing to do mine…for a fee of course? You have a great talent!!
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[...] Weddingbee reader, one who has seen gorgeous DIY invites come from the likes of Miss Shortcake, Mrs. Cupcake, and Miss Pomegranate comes to the computer [...]
[...] I slaved over these in the week before the wedding. I used the die-cut pieces left over from our invitations as front and back covers (go, recycling!), Gocco’d the covers with silver ink, and attached the [...]
Mrs. Cupcake,
Expect a call in about 5 years (or something like it), because I’m going to pay you to recreate these for my wedding.
I’m in love. I need these. And I could never make them as well as you.
Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 7, 2007
Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA
About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
Wow….those are absolutely gorgeous.
*wanders away in a daze–pretty things floating before her eyes*