Pretty Paper

25 October 2018

Letterpress Wedding Invitations

I’ve always been enamored by letterpress wedding invitations, knowing that when I plan my own big day they’re a non negotiable detail. Of course, they’re beautiful, but I love the process that is used to “print”.

As I started my business over five years ago, I only offered digital printing – I wanted to feel fully confident in one production method before introducing something else. Since my business has grown, it’s only natural that I’d add letterpress as an option for my wedding invitation designs!

So if you’re wondering – what is letterpress and why is it so special? Let me tell you about it!

Handcrafted Feel

Letterpress wedding invitations have a handcrafted feel because well, they are handcrafted. The printing process dates back to the 15th century and has a full, rich history. Although things are handled a little differently today, the overall idea is still the same – a plate is made using the digital artwork which is then put through the press. The paper is hand fed through the press, one-by-one, where the die leaves an impression of the design.

Because of the production method, designs include just one or two ink colors. If you choose to have two colors letterpressed, that means the paper will be fed through the press twice. There’s always the option to add digital printing along with the letterpress design if you’re dreaming of an invitation with colorful artwork!

Yummy Cardstock

The final product is really something unique – letterpress wedding invitations are typically done using thick, textured paper. My standard letterpress suites include the invitation printed on 220# cotton cardstock – it is absolutely delicious! I use a thinner stock for the insert cards, although they’re still a great texture. This helps with not only the cost of postage to mail, but also the durability of the package. Sometimes having all pieces on thick cardstock means trouble with the postal sorting machines.

Cost of Letterpress

With all that being said, it makes sense that letterpress wedding invitations are more expensive than the standard digitally printed invitation suite. The cost is dependent on a few factors, especially the quantity ordered, but overall it’s about three times more than my standard suite. At the 100 quantity, a three piece set of digital invitations is $370, while the same printed in letterpress is $1,075. Keep in mind, the letterpress suites have the upgraded paper as mentioned above. (These prices are for customizing existing designs and effective as of October 2018) Interested in a personalized quote? Complete my questionnaire here!

You can expect turnaround time to be a bit longer for letterpress wedding invitations. Due to the customized method, I recommend not choosing this method if you’re in a rush as it adds about 2-3 weeks on to my typical production timeline.

You only get one wedding invitation. It’s the first impression of your entire wedding day – and one of the only things you get to keep after the big day is over. Not only does it tell guests when and where it’s all going down, but it conveys the wedding theme, even subconsciously telling them how to dress for the event! If your budget allows, I highly recommend considering letterpress. It makes for a beautiful impression (get it?!) and a gorgeous keepsake.

Wondering if letterpress wedding invitations are for you? Take my quick quiz to find out!

Interested in learning more about my process and pricing? Download my information guide here!

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16 October 2018

Wedding Planning Using Instagram

Love it or hate it, Instagram is a big part of daily life in 2018. With all social media, there are positives and negatives to spending time on the platform. For the busy bride, I think the app is a great way to jumpstart your wedding planning – create a feed full of inspiration, discover wedding venues, and find your perfect vendors!

Collect Inspiration

With Instagram’s saved post feature, you can begin to pull together inspiration for your wedding theme. See a photo of a gorgeous gown or beautiful bouquet that matches your big day vision? Just click the flag icon on the bottom right to bookmark a post.

After you begin saving posts, you can even categorize them by adding collections. Visit the posts you’ve saved by clicking on the three bars at the top right when on your profile’s page. Click on “saved” to see everything and “collections” to start organizing. This is a great place to refer back to when wedding planning – and all on your phone!

San Diego Wedding Invitations Letterpress

Find Wedding Vendors

Use hashtags to find the vendors for your big day. Although I work with brides all over the country, many vendors are location specific – think about your planner, photographer, florist, makeup artist, hair stylist, cake designer, band – the list goes on! You can find awesome vendors by searching “your city + wedding” or “your city + vendor speciality” or a combination of these things!

For example, if a San Diego bride wanted to work with a local invitation designer (hi, I’m here!) you can find me on Instagram by searching hashtags like #sandiegoweddinginvitations, #sandiegowedding, #socalbride, #southerncaliforniaweddinginspiration, and more!

To browse hashtags, just type it in the search bar – you’ll be amazed how many wedding vendors are using Instagram! If you see a photo that fits your style, visit their profile – it should be a living portfolio of their work. You’ll be able to get a better idea of their aesthetic, the types of weddings they work, and even a glimpse of their personal life. It’s a great way to connect with someone – you might even follow them in the beginning stages of wedding planning to keep them in mind as you begin booking vendors.

Discover Venues

Along with searching for vendors, Instagram is a great place to check out wedding venues – without even leaving the house! To be fair, you definitely need to visit any wedding venue in person to make a decision, but looking at it on social media can help you narrow down favorites.

Use the hashtags or places feature to find venues, then browse their photos to see what the space looks like. On the places page, you’ll see an entire feed of photos that people have tagged at that location. I really like this because there are professional photos from vendors, but also pictures from guests themselves.

Browse Tagged Photos

Find a vendor or venue you really love? Tagged photos are a great way to find other vendors with a similar style. As wedding professionals, we’re always collaborating – both on styled shoots and real weddings. Those pictures end up on Instagram where every vendor involved is tagged. Usually by finding one, it’ll lead you to several others!

It’s never a bad idea to choose vendors who have worked at your venue, or worked together, previously. There’s a big advantage to that – they’re familiar with the space and each other, which ensures your wedding day will go super smoothly!

So, break out the phone (although I know there’s a 52% chance you’re reading this on your mobile device) and begin your Instagram wedding planning now! You can start by checking out my work and following me – comment on my post letting me know you found me through my blog post!

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5 October 2018

How to Choose a Photo for Save the Dates

You’ve gotten your engagement photos back from your photographer and are stoked because – it’s time to order your save the dates! The excitement quickly turns to overwhelm as you realize how hard it’ll be to choose ONE photo. Where do you even start? There are so many favorites, because you guys look totally adorable and your photographer did an amazing job. How do you choose the perfect photo for your save the date cards?

First things first, if you’re wondering what save the date cards are – let me explain. Save the dates are usually sent about six months before the wedding to announce to guests to, well, save the date! Often, a photo is included with some basic details about the wedding. Read this post for more information on what save the dates are and if they’re necessary for your wedding!

When it comes to choosing a save the date photo, I recommend keeping these four things in mind:

1. Quality

A picture taken on a phone doesn’t always work best for printing. If you’re working with a professional photographer, they’ll provide high quality files that are made to print – with at least 300ppi. Your designer will be able to quickly review the file to make sure it will print nicely. Having a good quality photo for your save the dates is important!

Along with the overall size, choose a photo with good lighting and that’s distraction free. The focus should be on the people in the photo, not the things going on around it! I recommend a picture where nothing important is close to the edges. When a design goes to print, there’s a margin of error accounted for and if anything (like your head!) is too close to the edge, there is a chance of it getting cut. A photo where there’s plenty of safe space on the sides works well!

2. Negative Space

Photos with negative space make for the best save the date designs, in my opinion. This means that there’s room on the actual photo for a design to lay without conflicting with the photo itself. A good example is a picture where the couple is on one side and there’s a muted background on the other, perfect for laying out information. Check out these examples for inspiration!

3. Faces are Featured

This is more of my preference, but I like to mention it because it’s often not considered when choosing a save the date photo. There are so many great photos where the couple (or even just one person) is looking down, away, etc. I adore photos from behind of a couple holding hands, but these don’t work best for save the dates.

Why? Because your family and friends want to see your pretty faces when they get your save the date in the mail! Save the dates usually only include first names, so there’s a possibility of confusion if your face isn’t showing. Think about it!

4. Matches Your Theme

Your save the date is the very first detail guests receive for your wedding day – try to keep it within the same overall feel as the rest of your wedding! Having a laid back, non-traditional wedding? Pick a photo that gives that vibe. Will your wedding be black tie? Choose a picture that represents a formal affair.

Hopefully these tips help you narrow down the perfect photo for your save the date! If you’re still having trouble choosing, you can always add a second photo to the back of the card or do a collage style design.

Still in doubt? Send your favorite options to your designer – we’ve done this before and are happy to give our opinion on which would work best. I love getting to see your engagement photos and helping you choose one!

ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT SAVE THE DATES

Save the dates should be mailed no less than six months before the wedding date. Plan on mailing earlier if you’re having a destination wedding, wedding on or near a holiday, or inviting a lot of out of town guests.
Order save the dates based on the number of addresses on your guest list rather than the number of guests. Each household only needs one and by counting guests you’ll likely order way more than you’ll actually need!
Save the date cards should include the bride and groom names, location of the wedding (city + state is fine), and the date of the wedding. If you have a wedding website it can be added.
If you’re inviting a person and allowing them to bring a plus one, address the save the date that way. For example, Miss Susie Smith and Guest.
To make sure guests know that the save the date isn’t the actual invitation, you can state “invitation to follow” on the card.

Ready to order your save the dates? Get in touch with me today!

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7 September 2018

Lush Lavender Wedding Inspiration

It’s been a while since I have done a styled shoot and I must say – I think this is my favorite to date! Katie of Katie Tiller Photography organized an awesome vendor team to execute her lush, lavender wedding vision at one of North Georgia’s newest (and brightest) venues! Circle B in Tunnel Hill, Georgia is a photographer’s dream with white walls, tall ceilings, and huge windows letting in tons of natural light.

This invitation suite was created based on a custom design I did for one of my best friend’s weddings. I modified it a bit to fit the geo theme Katie envisioned. The soft lavender watercolor give a romantic feel and the gold toned fonts glam it up a bit. I might be biased, but I think it fit pretty perfectly with the other details from this faux wedding day!

From the colorful, lush florals to the artfully designed cake to the gorgeous Hayley Paige gown – and everything in between, this lavender wedding styled shoot is one for the books! At least the magazines, because it was published in North and Peach. See full vendor list and links at the bottom of this post!

Are you feeling inspired by this lavender styled shoot? You can order a sample of these wedding invitations right here!

Vendor Dream Team:

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7 August 2018

Modern City Skyline Wedding Invitation Design

Creating a skyline wedding invitation has been on my “design bucket list” for a while. Whenever I visit a new place, I always get a little magic twinkle feeling seeing a city skyline! Although I’ve never truly lived downtown, I suppose I’m a city girl at heart.

There’s something romantic and exciting about a skyline. Whether the sun is rising, setting, or the moon is out – seeing a skyline flicker in the light is my absolute favorite!

These invitations were created with a modern, rooftop wedding in mind. I kept it classic using only black and white, but used a fun script font to add some pizzazz!

I wanted to keep it close to home by using the Atlanta skyline, but this design can be customized for a variety of major cities including my other two favorites – New York City and San Diego!

For Atlanta, I added the ferris wheel detail to the information card. I’d love to get creative on what landmark to add for a different city’s skyline!

Using this invitation suite would be the perfect first impression to guests of a modern or classic big city wedding of any season! Interested in customizing these for your big day? Order a sample or fill out my questionnaire to get started!

Styling + Photography: Shelby Tsika Photography

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25 May 2018

Modern Green and Navy Invitations for a St. Patrick’s Day Wedding

I met Lauren after college through a mutual friend. She never hid her obsession with St. Patrick’s Day and one year I even joined her in Savannah to celebrate the holiday. I’m not sure if it’s because her birthday falls close to the date, or because she lived so close to Savannah (where they do it big!) in college, but her love for the day was real.

All the stars aligned when March 17 fell on a Saturday this year as she was engaged and planning her wedding. It seemed like a no-brainer that she’d get married on one of her favorite days of the year! A St. Patrick’s Day wedding was in order.

We’ve worked together on shower invites for several of her friends and I was honored that she choose me to design her wedding invitations!

Lauren wanted to incorporate green (duh), but didn’t want the invitations to be holiday cheesy. Based on her inspiration, I created a clean, minimalist invitation design. She wanted to do something a tad bit different than what was trending, so we used a classic text font for the names – I adore how these turned out!

The invitations were paired with green envelopes and we added a floral patterned liner to the mailing envelope, since it was a spring wedding after all!

Want to customize these invitations for your own wedding? Colors, fonts, and wording can be changed to suit your needs! Complete my invitation questionnaire here to get more information.

Styling + Photography by Shelby Tskia Photography

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6 December 2017

Dusty Blue Mountain Themed Wedding Styled Shoot

I don’t think this North Georgia mountain, dusty blue themed wedding styled shoot could have turned out more beautifully! Brianna of Brianna Joseph Photography had such a gorgeous vision and executed it perfectly – I was so excited to be involved by creating the invitation suite.

Lewallan Farms, a wedding venue in Waleska, Georgia, was the backdrop for the shoot. The farm is 400 acres and boasts multiple ceremony sites. The land is complete with a lake and stunning mountain view!

Brianna used the vintage blue canoe as a starting point for the overall concept and brought together an incredible team of local vendors to create a picture-perfect day! Every detail was so well thought out and the special touches really shine. See full vendor list with links at the bottom of this post.

The mountain themed stationery suite included rolling hills and elegant fonts. This design is a personal favorite and is simple, classic but versatile enough to fit a more modern outdoor wedding style. Dusty blue weddings are right on trend for 2018 and these envelopes are a great way to incorporate color in your wedding invitations.

In a wedding, the invitation suite is the first impression yours guests get of your big day. It should really encompass the overall feel of your wedding and I really think this suite accomplished that in this styled shoot!

Interested in using this design for your wedding invitations? Order a sample or contact me here!

Vendor Dream Team:

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