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How do I decide on wording for my invitations?
We suggest that you
visit www.verseit.com before you come to your appointment
and get some ideas concerning what you wish to use in your
wedding text before you arrive. You will also receive
our expert assistance with any special wording or proper
etiquette guidelines. Most of our albums also provide a
variety of etiquette guidelines as well as the fact that
you will be working with very skilled family staff members
who will be sensitive to and will advise you on proper
etiquette. You have the final word on your wording.
Some rules are made to be broken as it is your
wedding. back to top
What addressing guidelines for etiquette do
I need to know? We
provide you with basic addressing guidelines, and answer
your specific or any unusual questions by email or phone as
part of our service for your wedding. (click here to view
our envelope addressing etiquette guideline pdf file) back to top
When
do I order my invitations? Depending
on the type of invitations you wish to order and the
complexity of the design, we suggest a minimum of 5 months
and as much as 10 months in advance if you are ordering
custom invitations that you or we are to assemble.
When
do I mail my invitations? Six
to eight weeks before the wedding to accommodate guests who
are out of town. Ten weeks or more for out of the country
guests. back to top
Does your company have the ability to print
color or black/white pictures on our invitations or our
thank you notes? Yes, we
provide excellent half tones, and beautiful digitally
printed pictures as long as we are provided with high-end
What is “hot” right now in
invitations? We are
receiving requests for and carry a wide selection of more
color in papers than was traditionally seen in the past.
Newer designs include pocketfolds that are often done
in a shiny mica looking stock in a variety of colors and
shapes. We also use more old-fashioned printing
methods like letterpress where most of the time a moulded
thicker cotton paper is used for the type is imprinted
giving a pillowy like depth to the impression. It is
visible, and tactile, and is classically beautiful. The
botanical flower petals in the cotton fiber hand-made
papers has been out and is still very “in”
among most of our suppliers. We also have hand-made
paper custom made for you. There are several suppliers who
will make paper using family members’ wedding dresses
that are no longer useable as bridal dresses. These require
nearly a year in advance of the wedding for us to have the
paper made for you.
What is
calligraphy? Calligraphy is
an artful, ornate handwriting used for creating a custom
font for addressing invitations or for writing the
wedding text on each piece of the
invitation. A computer calligraphy font is also hand
drawn because every font that exists is drawn by an
individual. back to top
How many invitations should I order? We suggest totaling the total number of
couples, and individuals with a single guest, exclusive of
children, and adding approximately twenty five (25) to your
total to assure that you and your groom, and both sets of
parents have enough extras to allow for more guests.
The key is to spend enough time making the original
list with input from all parties concerned to get a
baseline total, and this formula works nicely. Let’s
say that your total guest list consists of 240 adults at
this juncture including dates for single persons, this
would mean that you would need 120-125 invitations on the
surface, but allowing you no extra invitations. With most
of our suppliers, this would mean ordering 150 invitations
to be sure you had enough. Most of our suppliers allow for
ordering extras in increments of 25. A modest number
of them offer the increments in “ten’s”. back to top
How
much time will my order take? It depends on whether you will be addressing them
or we will be addressing them. It is
important to order early enough to get your invitations
out on time. The best suppliers
will not always accept rush orders at any price anyone is
willing to pay. So, to play it safe, allow and build
extra time into your planning schedule for pondering
proofs, out of town trips during the decision making time
on text, and proofs so
that you will get them early not
later. Timelines for receipt of your invitations
depends on
how SOON you order, how long you take
to decide on wording, and proofs, and if we are addressing
them once they arrive, as well your supplier. Build
in time for the possibility that a design from a supplier
may run out of stock on one of the items. It can and
does happen, and this cannot be pre-determined with any
album dealer not just our company. We do our level
best to make our suppliers take responsibility for any
delays caused by this. It will rarely happen,
however, with a custom design as we have far more control
over most of these issues. Each of our album
suppliers requires a different amount of time for providing
proofs, production time, and shipping time. back to top
What
are the forms of printing?
Embossing, engraved, thermography, letterpress,
lithography, Foil blocking or stamping, and digital
printing. back to top
Diestamping and Engraving: The look and the feel of diestamped
stationery is second to none. Working from hand
engraved steel dies and copperplates is the most beautiful
and detailed relief that can be achieved. It is
particularly successful for family crests and coats of arms
as well as letterhead and invitations that require a
prestigious or more personalized image.
Foil blocking and Blind Embossing: The hot foil process is ideal for place
cards, family coats of arms or crests, and is sometimes
used for folders, and stationery as well as invitations.
Blind embossing is where the image is sculptured into
the paper with a die that raises the paper surface, and is
highly distinctive. Its raised relief has a
kinesthetic sense, and water is used to provide this
palpable, textured sense.
Letterpress Printing: Many purists or “diehards” believe
that there is no better method of printing than
letterpress. This is the printing from lead type and wooden
or metal blocks to give the clear, dense, and slightly
impressed image onto the cardstock or page. It is among the
finest printing there is. It was the first style of
printing available, and began with the printing of the
Gutenberg Bible around 1450. It is a beautiful and
gives a pillowy effect in the paper depending on the
cardstock or paper chosen. Older companies like
Lilley Printing Co. never sold off their older presses
because we treasured the past, yet we embraced the future
with the onset of flat or lithographic printing and digital
printing to keep up with the present.
Digital Printing: Is usually used by us for 4 color process or
color photographed invitations.
Thermography: Engraving and letter pressing are unrivaled for
quality work, yet, thermography, if done with care and
skill, is considered a fine “second best”
method for embossing print or have a raised effect to the
type. Most invitations are printed using thermography today
because it looks a lot like engraving but costs far less
because no copper plates are being used. The effect
is achieved by sprinkling a resign on the printed sheet
while it is still wet and then subjecting the sheet to
heat. The resign fuses with the ink and raises the
printed matter above the paper surface.
Thermography is at its best when a special matt
thermographic method is used so that it does NOT give a
kind of “plastic effect”. It can then be
used for anything from invitations to business cards and
letterhead.
How do I discern high quality letterpress
from lower quality letterpress printing? Ask how much experience they have in
printing.
The printer must have a minimum of
five (5) years experience in letterpress printing full time
to produce quality printing. back to top
Will I need a Map and Direction Card? Probably. They do their best to keep
guests from getting lost. Map/direction cards are usually
Do I need an appointment to come to your
business? Yes,
please. We seek to serve you by appointment only so we
might best attend
Buying from and Supporting A Family Business
or a Corporation? What
the public may not realize when making a printing purchase
is that when you buy your printed products and wedding
accessories from a formal wear house or a mail order
catalogue, you are supporting a corporation with no
personal interest in serving you or having you become a
repeat client. A family business offers you a much more
personalized degree of service, and the knowledge of you to
help serve your personal interests and needs, and will
address your concerns and questions much more quickly.
A family business will take the time to get to know
you and yours and offer you the details that make your
wedding invitations unique to you and yours by offering you
the personal touches you wish. These individuals are
motivated to please you by producing a fine product because
their livelihood depends on it. back to top
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Copyright 2006 Lilley Printing &
Stationery Co. all rights reserved