The Stationers Guild

Over the last several years there has been a deluge of designers and printers introducing new styles of letterpress invitations.   Often considered a west coast phenomenon, letterpress printing has gradually displaced engraving as the choice of bridal couples for wedding invitations.

While some of the new letterpress designs and print quality reflect the standards of some of early pioneers in the letterpress revival, most letterpress designs fall flat.   As with any product, oversupply tends to lead to deterioration in quality and price competition at the lower end of the market.

Letterpress wedding invitations are not a commodity and there are huge differences in the quality of the end-product provided to the consumer.  This is not readily apparent when you see the many exaggerated claims of online printing companies hawking their latest letterpress wedding invitation designs.  In virtually all cases, these hyped claims fail miserably when compared to the mastery of letterpress printers who have plying their craft for a number of years.

For instance, if you compare the print quality, papers and tasteful designs of printers such as Julie Holcomb, Press New York, Oblation, Elum and Page Stationery (to name just a few) with most of the newcomer’s letterpress invitations, you will immediately see the difference.  Granted, these letterpress wedding invitations tend to be more expensive, but only the buyer can determine whether the print outcome is worth the difference in price.

The best way to experience the beauty of letterpress printing is to visit an experienced stationery store in your neighborhood to compare designs and feel the papers.    Frankly, color resolutions on the internet fail to capture the rich subtleties of letterpress printing.

Richard May
Thérèse Saint Clair

Scheduling a wedding ceremony demands vital organizational tools. Without careful and deliberate planning, this blissful event can turn into a nightmare of unnecessary aggravation and disarray. Countless couples have found that a well-prepared save the date card can significantly make easier wedding planning and help you to enjoy your wedding to the fullest.

Found directly below are several straightforward guidelines and suggestions on ways to use save the date announcements productively:

Make your wedding planning goals simple

The main goal of organizing a successful wedding event is getting your family and guests from one location to another with as little trouble as feasible so you can savor your wedding day. Lots of people think of this to be a mindless planning idea, but if you think about it and – more significantly – heed the advice, you will relieve much unnecessary aggravation for both yourself and your friends and family. Specifically, appropriate and helpful information provided to your guests prior to the wedding will reduce needless follow-up by a minimum of 80%. A well-timed save the date announcement is a great way to start implementing this strategy.

Precisely what is the purpose of a Save the Date Announcement?

Many people believe that a Save the Date announcement is just an expedient way to let friends and family know the big date of your wedding. While this is surely useful, a well-planned save the date announcement can contain additional information to aid your family and friends into making their travel plans. As you have already scheduled the wedding ceremony and confined where the wedding reception will take place, you can make full use of the save the date announcement to furnish even more travel details for your invited guests. For instance, lodging information, close by airports and other helpful travel advice will surely motivate many of your guests to schedule their travel arrangements as fast as possible.

What additional info is generally included with a Save the Date Announcement?

In a nutshell, you ought to include as much information as possible to encourage your guests to take action today. Most certainly, scheduling your airline reservations as early as possible may help to save money and assuming you have made arrangements with inns in the area to grant discounted room rates, this too serve as more encouragement to take action. Including a bit more advice on possible sight-seeing jaunts, activities and local sights can likewise be incredibly helpful to whet people’s appetite for an entertaining weekend.

When should the Save the Date Announcements be sent out?

While save the date cards aren’t a necessity for every occasion, lots of bridal couples see them as helpful particularly if family and friends are traveling from far off places. All in all, save the date cards need to be sent by mail anywhere from 6 months to 12 months in advance of the date for your wedding.

The primary job of the save the date card is to encourage guests to act now. Although it is simply not a replacement for the formal wedding invitation, your save the date card might include much helpful help and advice fashioned to persuade your guests to take action well before they receive a wedding invitation. Moving your friends and family from Point A to Point B effectively is most probably done with a well-thought out save the date card.

First indicators suggest that the 2012 wedding season shapes up as among the strongest in history. Although the overall economy remains weak, bridal couples who’ve deferred their wedding seem to be saying that the coming year is when they finally agree to get wed.

That said, wedding firms are starting to launch new styles and designs awaiting the wave of new weddings that will start in early January. Major printer and designer William Arthur is starting 2012 with a bang with two renewed wedding albums and also the imminent launch of Vera Wang’s new wedding invitation designs. Color, bold new styles and shower invitations that contain both classic and modern-day designs are prominently featured in William Arthur’s wedding line.

Above all, William Arthur offers countless invitations that may be printed in letterpress, engraving or thermographic inks. These printing options provide the client a choice of deciding on a printing style that reflects their requirements and price range.

William Arthur provides many creative designs at good prices and definitely should be on every bridal couple’s short list of “must see” wedding invitations. Also, there is a great collection of save the date cards and personal stationery.

See a William Arthur dealer in your neighborhood to view their line at a store or visit them online.

Vera Wang is an icon in the haute couture industry. Her modern-day variations and her distinctive sense of style have long set the standard for wedding gowns and women’s vogue. Quite a few years back, Vera turned her focus to wedding invitations and fine stationery. Partnering with William Arthur, Vera launched her brand of stationery which features elements from the fashion business, her very own exclusive oyster-colored cardstock and even a specially created envelope.

A few months ago, Vera entirely overhauled On Weddings, her trademark wedding invitation album. Her fresh samples features 35 unique wedding stationery ensembles, offering a lot more colors and an amazing variety elaborate styles and Vera’s take on classic designs. Vera Wang On Weddings reflects the timeless yet current and sophisticated beauty that’s made Vera Wang a fashion icon.

Found listed below are several of the exciting unique characteristics you’ll find in Vera’s new On Weddings release:

• Painted Edge – New to Vera Wang On Weddings, Vera Wang shall be delivering heavy-weight card stock with custom-painted edges, in lots of ink colors. A real statement of extravagance, this painted edge design and style is engraved in Lapis and Gold. The monogrammed wreath provides a nod to tradition, while showing a fancy feeling.
• Garden Lace Folder – This breathtaking pattern is motivated by both Vera Wang’s Ready-to-Wear and wedding collections. A fancy garden of flowers and a mesh of laser-cut wide lace cut off to disclose a delightful collection of background colors. From Raspberry, Peony and Saffron to Grass, Lapis and Indigo, this imaginative and tactile invitation speaks to the enhanced detailing within Vera Wang’s collections.
• Letterpressed Heart – Daring and fashionable, the wording with this charming invitation is nestled inside the clutches of an over-sized heart. The frolicsome cross-hatching on this invitation enhances the tactile character of letterpress printing, while the peony ink gives an overt femininity.
• Gold Border -This magnificent design includes a broad band of gold foil on both the card edge and also the envelope flap. The font is at once stunning and subtle. Shown engraved, this stylish invitation will most definitely astound.
• Black Paper – Last fall, Vera Wang enraptured the fashion world with her Spring 2012 variety of black bridal dresses. Here, precisely the same theatre and ambiance is replicated on paper. Gorgeously embossed in an exclusive calligraphic font, this invitation marries heart and sophistication.

We highly encourage visiting a stationery retail store in your neighborhood to view Vera Wang’s On Weddings personally. If it isn’t really convenient, see Vera online and I feel you will know that this new release is rather unique.

Engaged couples browsing for wedding invitations have a tendency to assume that paper grade is the most serious price consideration when picking an online wedding invitation. While the level of quality of the paper is very important, other criteria such as the printing process, number of ink colors and added elaborations often play a lot more important factor in determining the ultimate cost of your personalized wedding invitations.

Nearly all top notch printers make use of cotton fiber, high-grade wood fibers which has been accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council or a blend of both the cotton and wood-based fibers. While these papers are usually of a significantly greater quality than re-cycled papers that a great many tout as “tree-free, these quality papers typically cost a tad bit more but are certainly worth the nominal premium. What’s more, these papers are typically a great deal more “environmentally-friendly” and superior than nearly all papers offered over the internet that claim to be “green” or “tree-free.”

Variables that commonly tend to add to the price tag of printed wedding invitations are the weight of paper, darkly-colored papers and the quantity of ink colors used in printing the invitations.

Paper weight: Many wedding papers offered on line are printed by industrial printers. Normally, paper with a weight previously mentioned 120 pounds cannot be processed through a commercial printer or ink-jet printer. Therefore, a weighty wedding invitation can just be printed using engraving, letterpress or, in some circumstances, with thermographic inks. This traditional printing method is likely to boost overall prices, but will generate a substantially more striking invitation.

Paper Color: Quite a number of wedding invitations are imprinted on white or ecru colored papers in order that ink colors can resonate. However, there is a trend in the direction of bold-colored papers. In these cases, strictly using a more pricey printing process like engraving is apt to work to have the proper contrast between ink colors and darkly-colored papers.

Ink Colors: Even though flat-printing, lithography and digital printing is most effective with papers less than 120 pounds in weight, more old school printing ways are needed for weightier papers. In such cases, each color needs to be applied in a separate press run, thus increasing prices.

When you are hunting locally for wedding invitations, it is often recommended to confer with a seasoned stationer who will let you choose the best wedding invitation styles and papers for your financial budget.

When designing a wedding event your wedding invitation should take the lead. Yet, there are several other wedding activities that commonly require a special invitation. As an example, save the date announcements, rehearsal dinners, bridal showers and bridesmaid teas almost always demand a unique invitation. If you are in need of inspiration or just confused as to where to begin, the solution to your wishes just arrived at top stationery boutiques all over the United States.

Crane & Co. has just introduced its latest Social Occasions Album, a personalization album containing a number of samples of Crane’s elegant wedding stationery designs exhibiting Crane’s unsurpassed craftsmanship. This particular collection marks a wanted change in track at Crane simply because it returns to its successful traditions of producing fine personalized stationery and custom invitations.

The fresh new Social Occasions Album gives you samples of wedding invitations, save the date invitations, Bat Mitzvah invitations, anniversary and corporate event invitations along with a huge collection of reply cards, menu cards and personalized correspondence. Many of the invitation samples are embossed, but Crane’s accomplished creative designers and craftspeople are also proficient with letterpress and other kinds of printing.

For individuals planning a wedding ceremony, Crane’s Social Occasions Album is definitely worth a look. Although certain invitation samples probably are not appropriate for your wedding ceremony; the terminology and wording or your invitation, typeface choices and ink colors can all be customized to mirror the theme for the wedding ceremony.

Along with a little creative thinking, nearly all invitation samples for wedding anniversaries or sweet sixteen events can often work as a template design for a wedding reception, groomsment party or almost every other wedding event. Working with an informed stationer in your neighborhood who possesses Crane’s new Social Occasions Album will help you create your own completely unique custom design.

Reaching deep into its roots in the time the American Revolution, Crane has created a dazzling array of invitations, reply card sets and personal correspondence that is breathtaking in its design and imagination. Visit your local stationery store now or visit Crane & Co. at their online website.

Sheila May is the owner of Therese Saint Clair and writes frequently about regional wedding invitation trends and the importance of save the date cards.

A bride and grooms wedding invitations should not only be considered for practical purposes. They do more than announce your celebration and tell your guests when and where to show up. Invitations play the part of showing off your personal style to your guests and you can have much fun designing them.

Finding your style

If you are not quite sure what a suitable style is, there are a few steps that can help you out. The first stage of the process is to consider the kind of wedding dress you intend to purchase or have already tucked safely away in the cupboard. Where you have a traditional or very simple wedding dress you may decide that wedding invitations of the same ilk are appropriate. This would provide you with the chance to show off your classical or minimalistic style through your invite design. In contrast if your dress is bolder or unique then you have the option of choosing invitations that are a touch more edgy. A mix of intricate designs, dazzling colours and oddly shaped invites can provide the vehicle to make the style statement you have always dreamed of. Always bear in mind that it is important to ensure unity throughout the wedding by keeping colours and design similar between the dress and invites.

Considering themed weddings.

A themed wedding is a great opportunity for you to go a little crazy with your wedding invitations. Themed wedding ideas are limitless, from beach weddings to zombie weddings. The beauty of themed weddings is that they are truly unique and memorable days, just as your invitations ought to be. Design your invites to hint at the awesome twist your wedding will take.

What to write on your invitations

What you decide to write on your invitations says a lot about the style of your invites and of your wedding as a whole. If you are planning a classic or traditional theme then be sure to include the forename and surname of the couple. Rather than abbreviating dates and address to numbers, the full words should be used. If you are going for a more modern wedding then you can use initials, numbers and abbreviations wherever you like.

People who enjoy scrapbooking will really love to get their hands on some wonderful paperie to come up with their own cards for special occasions. Here are some creative concepts and different art supplies you might use.

Get Some Rubber Stamps

If you’re game for some fun and enjoy creating lots of different cards, what will come in real handy would be some rubber stamps. These are available in many various designs and patterns. And you can simply get 1 or 2 different ink pads that come in various colors. Essentially, you only need to stamp your rubber stamp on the ink pad and then stamp them on the numerous papers that you have lined up. Just make absolutely certain the complete flat surface of the rubber stamp is inked well as you wouldn’t desire any faded stamps on your cards or paper. You might even have your own custom-designed rubber stamps made for you to use on birthday or wedding invites. This will give your creations a rather more personalized feel.

Use Some Creative Stencils

And if you should chance to like some different colors of patterns or photographs on your paperie project, you might get a hold of some stencils. These come in various sizes and designs which you might blend together. Perhaps you would like different portions to be in different colors. Your inspiration and creativeness will ensure you have loads of fun creating your own designs which you could use to build your own customized birthday invitations, season greeting cards or birthday invitations to send out to friends and family.

If You’re Too Tied Up

Now if you believe that making your own customized birthday invitations or birthday cards is going to take you forever , don’t sweat it. Got a birthday or wedding event coming up? Just make contact with one of the online paperie sellers as a few of them offer really grand customized printing services. They’ll handle it all for you as you can order your own paper, design and tell them the wordings that you want printed on the cards. Once finished, the released cards will be shipped to you prepared for your signature or personal stamping before you send them off to loved ones.

Summary

Nowadays it is so far easier to send online greetings but there is often something creating and sending your own personalised cards on big occasions. In fact , you may find it a delightful experience. Have a good one!

• Create some customized wedding or birthday invites
• Order your customized cards printed online
• Use stencils with different colors

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Julie Holcomb, one of the pioneers of fine letterpress printing, is offering a 15% sales promotion on wedding invitations and all wedding papers through February 29th. Julie Holcomb does not sell online and her stunning letterpress invitations on thick cotton paper can only be purchased through a limited number of leading retailers across the United States.

For close to three decades, Julie has been a trend-setter in fine letterpress printing. Her classic designs, edged borders and unrivalled attention to detail place her designs at the apex of letterpress printing. When bridal couples ask about letterpress, stationery dealers fortunate enough to carry her line will generally lead with Julie Holcomb.

Clients can now supply their own art which will be digitally enhanced and applied to the back of invitation to further increase the level of personalization. If you are considering letterpress, visit Julie Holcomb’s website to learn more about her environmentally-friendly letterpress printing and locate a store in your neighborhood that sells her beautiful line.

Internet based research is usually a handy and fast strategy for finding advice. However, the level of available information and facts are so sizable it is difficult to determine what information is beneficial. For instance you will find well over 25 million search records of the keyword phrase “wedding invitations” on Google. Precisely how many of these search records are appropriate? Can you truly determine if the content you get is informative or simply a sales hype?

Found below are a few uncomplicated tactics that you might wish to consider before buying your wedding invitations on the internet.

Online Wedding Invitations Suggestions to Save You Money and employ Your Time And Efforts Wisely

1. Narrow Your Online Search with Qualifiers: Instead of making use of a vast search term like “wedding invitations” have a shot at something which cuts down on the scope of the search. As an illustration, “engraved wedding invitations,” or “custom invitations” will drastically reduce the number of Google search results and possibly guide you toward better sources of choosing the wedding invitation of your hopes and dreams.
2. Use a Local Search Qualifier: There is a general idea that searching online will provide superior information and facts that may help you design your wedding invitation. This just isn’t the situation: search outcomes for an item as custom made as wedding invitations are manipulated in the direction of those internet promotion firms that do a more effective job optimizing their site for web search. The previous CEO of Google refers to the internet for being a “cesspool of information.” One technique for avoiding this unreliable information and facts are to introduce a local qualifier. As an example, if you live in the New York City area, enter in the search keyword phrase “New York wedding invitations” in the Internet search bar and you should find local stationery retail stores in your area specializing in letterpress stationery and personalized invitations.
3. Check for save the date invitations that are also sold through independently owned retailers: One strategy for soon determining whether you’re dealing with a respectable firm on the web is whether they also sell by way of recognized independent store dealers. Printing firms that distribute their products through independent dealers are more likely to have an established track record in the industry and offer their customers the opportunity to shop in your area or online. This is an unmistakable sign that you’re not dealing with a fly-by-night printer.

Whether you plan to shop locally or buy online, be sure you look at your choices very carefully. If you are looking for a totally unique wedding invitation, it’s best to buy with an expert stationer in your town.

Sheila May is a founding member of the Stationer Guild and writes routinely about wedding invitations and online wedding invitations.