Weddingbee Blog

We’re doing letterpress invitations, a fact that I’m pretty freaking excited about. I thought letterpress was going to be way out of our price range, but thanks to my beloved Boxcar Press, and the quote they gave Ribs, I found out that letterpress was 100% doable for us. She told me to stop whining, get a quote, and, well, I did.

We’re having…

• 80 A7 Invites
• 80 A7 Reception Cards
• 80 4-bar RSVP Cards
• 240 Envelopes (Inner, Outer, RSVP)

…pressed in 1-color for around $600. My custom design, which is what I was planning to do in the first place, but again, I thought it was way out of our range.

Now, insert some neuroses.

I had a mini freak-out about the fact that I was going to be designing for the ever-exalted letterpress. That was pretty silly, given that I have such a strong graphic design background, as well as the fact that I have extensive experience with doing intaglio printmaking. I totally psyched myself out. I couldn’t think in 1-color. Everything I kept sketching out was either too elaborate, not suited for letterpress, or just not my design aesthetic. Thankfully, some of my lovely fellow bees calmed me the hell down, and I took a step back. I could do this, right?

I closed and deleted all of my failed attempts, and started with a blank slate, some of my favorite fonts, and a clear head. (Said fonts are Gotham, an old standby, and Carousel, which was referred to me by dear Ribbons, who shares my love for fabulous type). I started with the main invitations, and then moved onto the reception cards.

I, of course, wasn’t a total fan at first, but was soon reassured by e’erybody. I think I like them now, which is saying a lot for me.

For our invitation suite, I wanted to use traditional wording, for a few reasons.

1. I’m going a slightly funkier route as far as the invitation design goes, and given that it’s a more formal wedding, I thought that it would set the correct tone for our wedding.
2. I’m a sucker for mixing tradition into our wedding.
3. My sanity. Less decisions to make? Yes, please.

Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “Um, black and white? I thought you loved color?!” Yes, yes I do, but that is another whole story, dears. You’ll have to stay tuned to see what wondrous things I have up my sleeve as far as color goes!

How did you decide on your invitation-printing-method? Did you freak out when beginning the design process for your invites? What do you guys think about these puppies?