The emergence of letterpress wedding invitations, letterpress save the date announcements, baby announcements and letterpress stationery within the last several years isn’t surprising. Reasonably priced second-hand letterpress printers have made way for many talented designers and artisans to apply their creativeness to create beautiful announcements and stationery making use of this centuries-old printing method.
Similar to the process used in engraving, letterpress employs polymer or metal dies to “press” ink into soft cardstock, primarily cotton. Each color is applied using a individual printing press run, which requires patience and great skill to have the close registration required to properly align colors and design images.
Each May at the National Stationery Show in New York City, new letterpress firms take center stage to introduce their latest designs. Though letterpress was looked upon as a bit of a novel idea some 5 to 10 years back, most of the new letterpress printers simply lack the flair, uniqueness and, oftentimes, the skill and knowledge to make attractive letterpress wedding invitations. In fact, most “new” designs offer little that is new. To be honest, the stationery marketplace is over loaded with letterpress.
Letterpress printers with deep roots within craft, like Julie Holcomb, Elum, Oblation, Press New York, Page and Real Card Studio are able to innovate and their steady hand and passion for the craft continues to raise the bar for letterpress printing.
While some letterpress printers now sell on the internet, the majority of letterpress artisans sell their product by way of skilled retailers throughout the United States. Quoting pioneer Julie Holcomb, “If you are like most people, you have never ordered any kind of custom printing prior to ordering your wedding invitations. You can benefit a great deal from the experience of your local stationer, who orders all kinds of custom printing, from many vendors, all the time. They’ll help you make sure you’re covering all the bases and making decisions you’ll be happy with for a long time.”
Julie’s advice is definitely worth following. If you have your heart set on letterpress for the wedding invitations, it is prudent to consult an experienced stationer in your town.
Sheila P. May is the owner of Therese Saint Clair, a stationery store located in Greenwich, CT. A founder of the Stationers Guild, she writes frequently about national and regional Wedding Invitation trends.
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