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.

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.

William Arthur has just issued a press release introducing their Truly wedding stationery collection.  At a price point that is 20% less than that William Arthur’s fashionable wedding line, the Truly Collection is bound to appeal to bridal couples seeking lovely wedding stationery and wedding invitations at an affordable price.

William Arthur, renowned maker of fine stationery, is pleased to announce the launch of Truly by William Arthur, an exciting new collection of wedding stationery designed for the budget conscious bride with a sense of style. “Truly is designed to have a broad appeal, so that any bride can find something she likes,” says Karen Herzig, designer for the new William Arthur album. “The aesthetic ranges from classic to modern and colorful.”

Truly by William Arthur features digital and thermography printing with a broad selection of color choices for inks, ribbons and envelope linings. Bordered invitations are also available, featuring the crisp, beautiful embossing that William Arthur is known for. Playful, unique type formats and design motifs add to the classic modernism of the collection.

Prices for invitations in the Truly by William Arthur Collection average 20% lower than William Arthur’s premium weddings albums, making these wedding stationery suites accessible to a large group of bridal consumers. To view the new Truly Collection, visit William Arthur’s website at www.williamarthur.com.

For over 60 years, William Arthur has been renowned for creating fine stationery. The company’s products are designed and produced in West Kennebunk, Maine, where they enjoy the beauty of coastal living with easy access to urban centers from Portland to New York. Deeply  knowledgeable about high-end printing and the many nuances of fine writing papers, William Arthur’s staff artists and craftspeople are passionate about quality, as well as both old-world and state-of-the-art printing methods. At William Arthur, employees are dedicated to making the company a wonderful place to work, and to ensuring that each and every customer is delighted by the end product.

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.

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.

William Arthur, in partnership with Vera Wang, has just announced the introduction of the new Vera Wang On Weddings collection of personalized wedding stationery. This volume abounds with tactile embellishments, playful proportions, and a palette that is both elegant and unexpected.  Found below are excerpts of the news release.

Inspired by Vera Wang’s bridal and ready-to-wear lines, Vera Wang On Weddings reflects the classic yet modern and sophisticated aesthetic that has made Vera Wang a fashion icon. Vera Wang On Weddings is available at select fine stationers nationwide, and online at www.williamarthur.com.

With over 35 unique wedding stationery trousseau’s, an incredible range of whimsy and elegance is captured on each page including:

• Gold Border:  This spectacular design features a broad band of gold foil on both the card edge and the envelope flap. The type is at once dramatic and delicate. Shown engraved, this chic invitation is sure to captivate.
• Black Paper:  This fall, Vera Wang enraptured the fashion world with her Spring 2012 collection of black bridal gowns. Here, the same drama and romance is reflected on paper. Gorgeously engraved in a proprietary calligraphic font, this invitation marries spirit and sophistication.
• Garden Lace Folder:  This sensational design is inspired by both Vera Wang’s Ready-to-Wear and bridal collections. A whimsical garden of flowers and a mesh of laser-cut lace cut away to reveal a vibrant range of background colors. From Raspberry, Peony and Saffron to Grass, Lapis and Indigo, this innovative and tactile invitation speaks to the refined detailing within Vera Wang’s collections.
• Letterpressed Heart:  Bold and contemporary, the wording for this charming invitation is nestled within the clutches of an over-sized heart. The playful cross-hatching on this design accentuates the tactile nature of letterpress printing, while the peony ink adds an overt femininity.
• Painted Edge:  New to Vera Wang On Weddings, Vera Wang will be offering heavy-weight card stock with custom-painted edges, in dozens of ink colors. A true statement of luxury, this design is engraved in Lapis and Gold. The unique monogrammed wreath gives a nod to tradition, while revealing a whimsical sensibility.

With a broad and versatile range of colors, textures and details to choose from, the new Vera Wang On Weddings collection of invitations and stationery suites perfectly captures the designer’s unique balance of sophistication and charm.