Affordable Letterpress Wedding Invitations
Wednesday March 26, 2008
Many brides we know fall in love with custom letterpress wedding stationery, only to find out it's way out of their wedding budget. Since most presses are owned by artists who only print their own work, you're paying for the graphic design as well as the printing, leading letterpress invitations to cost $10 apiece or more. But there are a number of ways to get affordable letterpress invitations.
If you don't need a custom design, both Costco and Papyrus offer standard design letterpress invitations, on which you can customize the wording. Be aware that the designs tend to be a bit simple, and the paper is often not as thick as the paper artisanal printers use. You'll pay, on average, $3-$15 per invitation.
If you've got a graphic designer friend who's willing to design your wedding invites for you, look for a letterpress printer that will accept other artists' files. Our current favorite is Thomas Printers in Pennsylvania.
Owner Kseniya Thomas is a graphic designer who can help you design your invitations, but she'll also collaborate, or print others works. She's incredibly patient and good spirited, and her turnaround time is much faster than other printers we've worked with. The prices are very fair, and depend on how much design you'll need her to do, number of colors and letterpress passes, and other factors. For a job she did recently for a couple I know, her price quoted was about half what some of the other printers quoted. She used nice, thick paper and had even deep impressions.
Do you have any tricks for affordable letterpress invitations?
Image: Thomas Printers
Comments
Honestly, does anyone really think that they will get a decent letterpress wedding invitation at Costco? The Costco invitation is co-branded through eInvite which is simply an off-shoot of Checkerboard. Checkerboard has some nice invitations, but letterpress is not their strong point.
Well, the Costco/eInvite ones are designed by Braun & Brown, and they have some charming designs. It’s certainly not the same thing as getting an artist to custom make your wedding invitations, but for couples on a budget, it can be an attractive alternative to off-set printing.
A bride should go to her local stationer and get their guidance. A reputable stationer will be able to direct her to an affordable invitation that is professionally printed. Letterpress or thermography (raised ink).
The key: professional and reputable.
I had a very favorable experience with letterpress invitations at United States Business Cards in New Jersey. The turn-around time was FAST! and the price Very reasonable!! I didn’t have any fancy art design, but Richard was more than willing to work with my layout for the invitation….and he used handmade paper I supplied. My experience was very satisfactory and the invitations were gorgeous!
Fran, could you supply a website or other contact info for United States Business Cards in NJ? I’d love to check them out.
I help lots of brides make affordable letterpress wedding invitations all the time. Thomas Printers is a really great printer, and we offer much the same on the West Coast. Joie Studio is a little letterpress studio specializing in custom wedding invitations.
We are a small letterpress studio in Vancouver, Canada, and we are always willing to discuss a bride’s budget and see how we can make letterpress a part of their wedding.
http://www.sunlit-letterpress.com
We are a small letterpress & design studio located in Boise, Idaho. We offer in house Letterpress printing on our vintage Chandler & Price, and are always open to working within a budget and have creative ways to keep costs down.
We also print a wide range of other items to go along with invites such as coasters, save the dates, envelopes ect!
http://www.angelarstewartdesign.com
We are a small letterpress & design studio located in Boise, Idaho. We offer in house Letterpress printing on our vintage Chandler & Price, and are always open to working within a budget and have creative ways to keep costs down. We are happy to collaborate!
We also print a wide range of other items to go along with invites such as coasters, save the dates, envelopes ect!
http://www.angelarstewartdesign.com
We are a also a small letterpress design and print studio, we work with other’s files frequently and charge a fair price for letterpress invitations. We use thick cotton paper, the finest inks, and have the experience to help with any and all decisions about a bride’s invitations. We work within budgets, and create custom designs unique to each client for no extra fee. Visit our website to see our work and for contact information!
http://www.thistleberrypress.com
If a bride has her set on a particular type of invitation (or any other facet of the wedding), there is a always a way to get it done somehow within (or relatively close to) her budget.
I don’t think brides should be discouraged by initial letterpress invitation prices if that’s what they want.
I agree with some creativity and sometimes a little compromise just about anything is possible. And sometimes it even leads to better designs!
http://www.angelarstewartdesign.com
We have been a traditional printing company in Hong Kong/China for 40 years. We are now seeking for business partner who can provide design and customer services in US. Our strength include Letterpress, Offset and digital. Interested parties please leave your contact and mail to me.
I would say your estimate of $10 an invite is not true for all letterpress printers. I worked with Alex @ Dolce Press. They are a letterpress print shop and design studio. She is a very talented designer and was able to produce better quality than I have gotten from other shops.
Alex is very nice and friendly and always available to talk to brides, designers, or wedding planners about invitations, stationery, and greeting cards.
Dolce Press :: Letterpress Wedding Invitations
My studio, Parklife Press, offers letterpress wedding invitations at quite reasonable prices. As an example, an order of 100 invitations and reply cards both with printed envelopes costs under $9 per set for one ink color and under $11 per set for two ink colors.
All of our orders include custom design work, as well as our thick, soft, and eco-friendly cotton paper.
Parklife Press – Letterpress Wedding Invitations
The key is finding a smaller company with a great portfolio. We are using Flora and Fauna Press in L.A. I was amazed at the quality of their work, very professional! The best prices we found too.
Elum does a great job! Their letterpress wedding invitations are specifically fantastic.
Love at First Invite does custom letterpress design for $5-8 a set!! And they will design for brides anywhere. http://loveatfirstinvite.com
Numbering invoices is still done by letterpress, amazingly enough. (So there are other considerations to keep in mind). Those presses have automatic feeds and may use automated systems.
What you are looking for is the quality of attention and artisan skill. We were at the forefront (as Fine Paper Company in Pasadena) of the letterpress movement, back in 1995 – 2002. I’m not sure most people know how much work is involved with artisan letterpress printing. Oh – and if you don’t pay attention while printing each piece, you can smash your hand or finger under about 2 tons of pressure.
So “affordable” letterpress incurs some kind of automation, and artisan letterpress is generally handfed on a platen press or a proof press.
You are paying for plates (which average about $70), set up, makeready, and handfeeding the paper. You have to set the press up again, each time you print a different paper or envelope. So, the average invitation suite involves 4 – 6 set ups. (For one color.)
You can visit rsvp press for affordable letterpress. As low as $245 for 100 invites!
I had an amazing letterpress experience with http://www.czarpress.com Very quick, well done and super afforable. Southern Cal.
I agree with Helen–just as important to a beautiful finished product is the attention to detail and customer service that starts before the invitation even goes to press. Part of what you get when you buy letterpress stationery is the printer or designer’s expertise, time, knowledge of materials, as well as friendly help as he or she guides you through the process. Cost is not always tied to quality, and, when you buy letterpress, you not only get a handmade, custom product, but you are helping a relatively small group of devoted individuals help letterpress continue to thrive.
Check out the new blog http://www.feltandwire.com, sponsored by Strathmore Paper. It’s all about letterpress printing, stamps, paper, design, etc. There’s a LETTERPRESS DIRECTORY with nearly 100 designer/printers listed. Many have websites and you can check out pricing and designs quickly on line.
I looked into Love at First Invite as well after reading this, and so far, they have the best prices on letterpress for what you get, it’s custom designed.
The others I looked at were the same price or higher but you had to pick something already designed. They had suggestions on how to keep the costs down and how to design “budget-friendly”. I’m excited to get started with them.
I found out about Kseniya Thomas and Thomas Printers from this web article. We used her for our save the dates and wedding invitations. I just received my invitations yesterday, and I cannot praise her highly enough. Our invites are just gorgeous! Beautiful design and quality at a very reasonable price. We had received many compliments on our save the date cards, and I’m sure the invitations will be a hit as well. Kseniya is creative, organized, and extremely pleasant to work with. I highly recommend her work.
My company B Designs designed a line of wedding invitations and birth announcements for Einvite.
We do all the letterpress printing at our studio in Amesbury, MA. B Designs has been in business since 1995 producing a line of letterpress greeting cards and paper gifts.
Please take a look at the invitations on the site.
The customer has to be willing to do all their own typesetting and proofing–that’s what makes it cost effective. If some one has a good sense of typography, they can indeed get a letterpress invitation through einvites.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
There are many letterpress shops that charge a large amount for invitations. The whole process of letterpress is a craft that is not easy. As a printer myself I spend many long nights in my shop checking each impression as it comes off of my press. Not to mention making the plates and designing the artwork. My prices are very low and I will raise them very soon so take advantage of them now!! visit me at http://www.wedoprinting.net and check out the pricing link.