Silk Screen, I do!

As you know, my heart is loyal to letterpress...but lately a new love has been growing for silk screen printing too! Maybe it's because I've been learning to silkscreen shirts , but these invitations prove how amazingly versatile silk screen printing can be!

Silk screening is typically used for apparel and tote graphics and in the music poster industry. In the poster industry silk screening often has a raw, edgy look...but you can see that crisp lines are now in! And one thing that silk screening still excels at: bright, bold colors!

I love how Satoko (the bride who created the suite of red animal stationery) uses the design on paper and cloth. It tied her whole system together regardless of her medium. As for me, I'm going to start experimenting more with silk screened invitations....I'll keep you all posted on the outcome!

Silk screen suite (top) originally posted on Martha Stewart, Designs by the bride as were the Yellow Scripty Invites. Crisp Yellow invites by Two Trick Pony.

Q & A: Thermography

I really love your invitations! I just got engaged and have a while before we get married. I have been following your blog for sometime now (even before I was engaged!) and I love, love, love your DIY invitations on your site. My fiance and I are all about the DIY stuff! I'm really eager to get started but at the same time I have the desire to have the raised printing- (thermography?) I don't know anything about the printing or invitation world, but is there any way I can do it from home? Do I need special machines or can I use my regular inkjet? Do you know where I can get them? I'm really curious and interested to do this. Any help you have is greatly appreciated!! From Nicole

Dear Nicole,
Many congrats on your upcoming wedding! How exciting and I love your adventurous spirit to go DIY. As far as thermography goes, there's no real "at home" solution that's exactly comprabable. There are some crafting supplies that can be used (think rubber stamps, embossing powder and a heat gun) but you'd have to have a custom stamp made of your wording (about $50) and then some of the letters may or may not read well with the embossing powder. Actually, it could be pretty cool, especially if your stamp was made from a caligrapher and if you were going for a purposefully crafty feel.

Otherwise, thermography should be left to the professionals. The only problem is, it's getting harder and harder to find a good thermographer who is inexpensive and willing to do small quantities and who will work with someone without a graphic design background. Don't get me wrong, they're out there (especially if you'll be going through a fully custom option, or a store-bought option such as Papyrus) but for the DIYer going on her own...it could be tough.

So...all that to say Nicole, you may consider going for a crafty feel and if you're looking for crisp text you might consider using the embossing powder/gun on some of the details stamped on your invite and then for the text itself, run each card through an inkjet printer. I use a Canon inkjet and the results are really pretty professional.

Hope that helps and please share pictures of your project! We'd love to see your process and how they turn out!

Image courtesy of Cassiopeia on the OneWed Forum (though I wouldn't recommend using glossy paper for embossing or printing. Most wedding invitations are printed on matte paper and it will work best for most DIY projects.)

New Design: Chicago

(click image to enlarge)

I'm really excited about the newest invitations at Smitten Invitations! I designed these for a modern bride, but with a splash of bright blue to keep it from being too formal. I love the patterns in them because they can be carried throughout the wedding. And not to mention...they're letterpress printed so they're the epitome of good taste!

Here's an inspiration board to go with the Chicago letterpress wedding invitations. Enjoy!

Wedding ring photo by Laura Kay Photography. Bride and Groom photo by Our Labor of Love. Bridesmaid dress by Lela Rose.

DIY Wedding Invitations

(click image to enlarge)

If you're the type of bride who can't imagine sharing the same design with a thousand other brides, but you can't squeeze letterpress into your budget for your custom invitations, I say DIY! Do-It-Yourself project have pros and cons and I've listed a few here.

Pros:

• It costs a fraction of the price if you know what you're doing
• They can be completely unique and amazing
• Having a handmade element makes a wedding so personal
  

Cons:

• They can cost 3x as much if you have no idea what you're doing
• If you spend every free minute working on them, you'll come to hate them
• You'll need the right tools for the job

There are a myriad of ways to make your own stationery (and incorporate the same ideas into your favors). Two of my favorite ways that are also foolproof are to stamp your invitations or using DIY kits. Stamping can be great- you can use beautifully designed wedding stamps or even have one created based off your own original artwork. I also know many brides who have asked a calligrapher to create the wedding invitation text and with their permission have turned the art into stamps. The result is stunning and personal.

Really take some time to be creative when doing DIY invites, don't be afraid to experiment. Once you have your design, time yourself creating one and then multiply it for your stationery count to make sure you can really do it. Remember that even cutting 200 pieces of paper to size can take up to six hours! But grab a bunch of friends over, rent a few good movies and it can be done!

DIY kits can be great and they're guaranteed to keep costs, time and frustration down. Smitten has print-at-home invitation kits that are reviewed by a typographer to make sure your invitations will look amazing. Then you can take the art and use a home printer or a gocco machine to print. When printing from home remember to use an inkjet printer (I have a Canon iP4500). Be sure to find a high-quality paper as it will bring your stationery from homemade to luxurious.

You can also incorporate some handmade elements with finished products for a cohesive, beautiful wedding stationery suite. And you'll have the freedom to add small details that really make your stationery amazing, like a paper wrap with a ribbon and charm. The fine touches will help make your DIY stationery completely custom and charming.

Custom Wedding Invitations

(click image to enlarge)

Have you ever dreamed about having your own custom wedding invitations for your wedding? I want to spend a few posts this month going over stationery as January is the most popular month to buy wedding invitations for spring/summer brides.

One great way to create your custom wedding stationery is through the help of a professional stationery designer. Most of these designers will charge you a fee for design and for printing. Letterpress printing is one of the most common printing methods for custom wedding stationery as it allows a "small run," keeping prices low (which seems counter-intuitive as it's a costly process) but true all the same.

Custom wedding invitations can range from $10-$25 each depending on the designer, the complexity of your idea, and the materials and printing process used. If your stationery designer charges dramatically less than their competitors, be weary. You may be getting an inexperienced designer who runs the risk of creating a headache instead of stationery, or you might have someone who will shortchange you in design freedom or materials.

Do research before you contact your designer to get an idea of what you'll want, but keep an open mind too. A good designer will take your idea and often will add their own amazing inspiration to create something completely unique and wonderful. A good designer will also be a good listener, so if you feel like you have to argue to have your ideas heard, go ahead and find someone else. It's important that your stationery is designed for your wedding.

I'd also recommend that you give yourself several months to have your stationery custom designed. There will be a lot of back and forth, evolving of ideas, and printing time that can take longer than many brides anticipate. You'll want the time to be able to make relaxed decisions. If you can pull these tips off, I promise you'll be delighted! There's nothing as personal as your own stationery creations to welcome your guests- it's like having a piece of your heart in paper format.

(Image above was a custom design for Brena and Will who were wed with a cherry blossom theme by Smitten Invitations.)

Sweet Wedding Thank You

(click image to enlarge)

I adore Lindsey and her honey themed wedding stationery. Lindsey is not only one of the most fun and friendly people I know, she's so amazingly talented. Today I needed a pick-me-up and when I opened my mail I got it in the form of a cheery yellow envelope. And it was a hand letterpress-printed thank you with the most delightful hand carved illustration! It was exactly the pick me up I needed!

When purchasing your wedding stationery remember to order thank you notes that match your invitations. You'll be tempted to put off ordering them until after the wedding but you'll need them early as gifts are often delivered before the wedding and some companies will give you a discount if you order your stationery all at one time. You can use generic thank you cards, but as Lindsey proved, you can bring a rush of good memories back to your guests once they see your thank you notes in your stationery style. It'll bring smiles back to all of your guests!

FYI- I wanted to point out a stationery delight. Lindsey used a deckle-edge paper. That's the rough edge at the bottom in the last picture. It's an extra touch that's very elegant, so if you want it be sure to ask for it by name (deckle-edge).

Destination Weddings: Stationery Tips

Evonne, wedding planner extraordinaire, has a great post about wedding invitations. She was so generous to allow me to re-post, as it's extremely helpful for destination weddings (and weddings in general).

She wrote, "A lot of my 2009 brides have started working on their wedding invitations already. Here are a few tips and advice especially if you are planning a destination wedding:

1. If you want all of your paper products to be personalized and have the same "look and feel", make sure that when you work on your Save-the-dates and your invitations, you are also thinking about your programs, escort cards and/or place cards, your menus and possibly your thank you cards as well.
   
2. Since most of the guests will be coming from out-of-town, it's a good idea to send out the invitations 3 months prior to your wedding. That will give them enough time to book their travel arrangements.
   
3. An RSVP deadline of 4 to 6 weeks prior to your wedding is highly recommended. That will give the planner, the caterer and the rental company enough time to finalize all the details.
   Never put your registry information on the invitations. If you have a wedding website, you can include that on the site.
4. If you are having a smaller, intimate wedding and not inviting all of your friends and family, you should send out announcement cards after the wedding. Include a nice little wedding photo, and thank them for their thoughts and prayers.
   
5. You can certainly hand cancel each invitation, but the post office will still run them through their machine. If your invitations are delicate, it's a good idea to include both an inner and outer envelope.
   
6. For eco-conscious brides, instead of doing different inserts for maps/directions, and activities...etc., you can include those information on your wedding website.
   
7. Always order at least 5 to 10 extra invitations with envelopes. As for thank-you notes, you should order an extra 50 to 100. You are going to get gifts all along, from your engagement to your shower to your wedding... why not have a full set of thank-you notes with both of your names on there?!
   
8. It's very important that you proof read every single draft from your designer, and it's always a good idea to have at least one or two other sets of eyes to look through everything. Once the invitation goes to print, that's it... any changes after that point will be costly."
   

As a wedding stationer myself I can say, she got every fact correct, I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks so much Evonne! Wedding Invitations by Smitten Invitations.

Detail by detail...the Invitations

(click image to enlarge)

Danielle hand crafted her amazing invitations! She created silhouettes of her fiance and herself and he hand-drew the map. I love the Rsvp postcard which is a vintage replica from Coney Island.

When it comes to wedding stationery, it's the little details that make the difference. Like the small Swallows in red that match the red Save the Date cards. And the vintage typography, it lets guests anticipate the theme of the wedding. Even the Kiwi stamp feels like it belongs. Most of all, I love how the stationery ties in pcitures of the bride and groom to-be, and the silhouettes- they're so personal and sweet. It's a true celebration of love, via paper goods.

Detail by detail...the Programs

(click to enlarge)

Because every wedding detail of Lindsey and David's wedding was beyond spectacular, I thought I'd do a play-by-play. Lindsey hand drew her programs (not that you should be surprised after seeing her hand printed wedding invitations). Her classy drawings were personal, kept to the yellow color palette and fit her mission styled location. Amazing so much could be packed into one program!

When designing your program there are a few necessities (though very few formal etiquette rules). Programs are traditionally used during the ceremony to help your guests. They inform your guests of the order of the ceremony, information such as song titles or readings, who is in the bridal party and any notes of special thanks.

Programs are very important, especially if your guests are unfamiliar with religious or cultural traditions that you'll incorporate into your ceremony. They can be used to help explain the signifigance of each tradition. Also, programs often have lyrics, words, or instructions (such as please kneel, etc.) so that your guests can participate if they choose.

Smitten Invitations Thermography

I know I've had a lot of big news lately, but I've been a busy bee! Smitten Invitations is now offering our fabulous wedding invitations in thermography printing (in addition to our top-notch letterpress printing).

Thermography printing is an elegant yet inexpensive look for wedding invitations. For our cards, we'll be first using an offset printer (with a result similar to a high-end ink jet printer) for the graphics that will leave bold, solid colors, but no noticeable indent. Then we'll do the text in thermography.

Thermography printing is a modern invention, mimicking the look of engraved stationery. While the ink is still wet, a powder is added to the letters and then set with heat. The result is raised text which you can feel if you run your fingers across the paper. Paired with our thick, velvety paper, our thermography printed invitations are worth getting excited about!

New! Smitten Invitation Stamps!

(click to enlarge)

I'm so excited I'm ready to burst! I am happy to introduce our new Smitten Invitation Stamps. These high-quality rubber stamps are perfect for the bride ready to go DIY with her favors, or for matching wrapping paper, or for inexpensive table cards. I hand stamped tags for my favor bags and filled them with fancy meringue cookies. Each stationery design that we carry has a matching stamp. Also, very exciting, are the "Mr. and Mrs. Your Name Here" stamps. These stamps can be customized online, ordered, and presto! Now you can add your name to favors in a snap and they'll be handy for years to come!

Bilingual Wedding Invitation Etiquette

(click to enlarge)

The final say on wedding invitation etiquette comes from wedding invitation guru, Julie Holcomb of Julie Holcomb Printers. Here she writes on bilingual invitations.

"You may wish to print your wedding invitations in more than one language," writes Julie Holcomb in the The Wedding Invitation Handbook, "either because it is necessary for communication to all your guests or because you wish to honor a language as an important part of your heritage."

"One approach is to print two complete sets of invitations and enclosures, and send a complete set of single-language invitations to each guest in one language or the other. A more economical solution is to print a version of the invitation in each language on a separate card and bilingual reply cards and reception cards. You can also print (but not engrave) two-sided invitations with one language version on each side."

Julie continues, "Folders can also be used for bilingual invitations...you can also interweave texts, printing every other line in the second language, using different type style and possibly even a second color."

Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart.

New Product

I'm very excited to introduce our new Stationery Wraps! These stylish invitation wraps perfectly compliment the Manhattan invitations. Thick red paper, black cord, and a matte black button give this invitation a sense of New York sophistication. Available as of today, only at Smitten Invitations.

One Year Cards

(click to enlarge)

One of the many benefits of having gone to Otis Art College is that it means that many of my friends are amazingly talented and creative. "K" is one of such. These are her One Year Cards, the idea and design being entirely her own.

I was thrilled to open the card and see her pictures from her wedding last year. After unfolding her clever origami piece I found a personal hand written note. She thanked me not only for the gift but for being there to support her marriage. It was sincerely touching and it absolutely made my day. Opening such a card really does have an impact- you feel you are truly one of the luckiest people in the world to have such a thoughtful friend.

I think everyone should have One Year Cards, it's the sweetest gesture and a great way to catch up with those you might not have seen since the wedding. "K" said it took her four hours to fold one hundred notes, but the impact was worth every second.

A wedding in the making

(click to enlarge)

Lovely Selena has asked me to come up with a few boards for her upcoming November wedding. I'm particularly excited as I have always been fascinated with the Santa Barbara Mission, her ceremony location. She is melding together Spanish traditions, a love of Oak trees, soft sage green, vintage and new ideas. I'll be spending some time on her boards in the next few days. In the mean time, here are her save the date cards, based off of the vintage theme.

Playful Stationery

(click to enlarge)

These are the fabulous invitations by Charlton and Theresa, as promised. I can't get enough of all these creative invitations lately! Charlton told me about the characters on the cover on the invitation.

He said, "It's actually a real word in Chinese that means marriage. The character is a combination of two other characters that means 'happiness' - hence the implication that marriage is a double dose of happy." Isn't that thoughtful? I really like them, and because of the bilingual challenge, the several sheets of vellum are a clever solution that keeps the invitation from feeling too cluttered.

Invitations designed by http://www.aquafuzion.com/.

BEEutiful Stationery

(click to enlarge)

As promised, here is my dear friend Lindsey Schroeder's amazing wedding invitation. Her dad is a beekeeper and she has centered her wedding around the charming creature.

Her invitations came in a lovely yellow envelope complete with a bee postage stamp. Her stationery was wrapped in a wax paper pressed in a honeycomb pattern. The invitation is cleverly folded to hold her enclosure cards and is letterpressed with a drawing of a fat little bee. She hand drew the wording and turned it into a plate so she could hand letterpress all of her invitations.

These are so charming and endearing that they have been the highlight of my week! I thought I was the most special person in the world when I opened them. They're personal, whimsical, yet elegant and so very Lindsey. To see her Save the Date postcard see my earlier post.

(Note: Be sure to see Snippet & Ink's inspiration board based on Lindsey's invitations!)

The envelope please...

(click to enlarge)

My dear friend Marianne Hudz did amazing calligraphy for this posting. You can contact her at 1.818.448.8909. You can see how she used several different forms of lettering, each style with its own personality.

I love the charm that vintage stamps add to any envelope, so I bought several through Champion Stams in New York. I matched Marianne's lettering styles to different eras of stamps and the effect is twice as strong!

Coaster Seating Cards

(click to enlarge)

I loved the idea of using your coasters for seating cards, so I created them! Not only is it a clever idea, but it's green inspired in that it cuts down your paper needs. Each coaster comes with a square envelope for your guest's names, and room for a table number to be written on each coaster. It's a clever way to keep your tables uncluttered while using a design element to tie your wedding together. You can find them at http://www.smitteninvitations.com./

Samples are here!

I am thrilled that the Manhattan wedding invitation samples are here and ready for purchase! What better way to see the delicate nature of a letterpress card than to actually hold one in your hands? I love the velvety paper and the crisp text and bold red. Again, I'd love reader feedback!