The increased popularity of letterpress wedding invitations, letterpress save-the-date announcements, birth announcements and letterpress stationery during the last decade is not unexpected. Inexpensive second-hand letterpress printing presses have helped a lot of gifted designers and artisans to indulge their creativity to create lovely wedding invitations and stationery making use of this centuries-old printing method.
Like the printing process used for engraving, letterpress employs polymer or metal dies to “press” ink into pliable papers, principally cotton. Every color is applied with a individual printing press run, which demands persistence and appreciable skill to obtain the close registration essential to accurately align colors and image designs.
Each May at the National Stationery Show in New York City, new letterpress firms take center stage to market their latest styles. Even though letterpress was thought to be a bit of a novel idea some 5 to 10 years back, most of the recent letterpress printers and designers simply lack the good taste, uniqueness and, more often than not, the skill and expertise to produce eye-catching letterpress wedding invitations. In reality, most “new” designs provide little that is new. Quite frankly, the stationery marketplace is saturated with letterpress.
Letterpress printers with deep traditions within craft, such as Julie Holcomb, Elum, Oblation, Press New York, Page and Real Card Studio still innovate and their sturdy hand and love for the craft continues to raise the bar for letterpress printing.
While some letterpress printers have migrated online, the majority of letterpress artisans market their product by way of skilled retailers throughout the United States. In the words of 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 truly worth following. If you have your heart set on letterpress for the wedding invitations, it is wise to talk to an experienced stationer in your area.
Sheila P. May is the owner of Therese Saint Clair, a stationery store located in Greenwich, CT. A founding member of the stationers guild, she writes frequently about national and regional Wedding Invitation trends.
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