For centuries, wedding invitations
have traditionally been engraved on high quality
off-white, ecru, or brilliant white 100 per cent cotton
cardstock
in beautiful old fonts designed by
die makers from around the globe. Most of these cards
were a single heavy piece of cardstock or opened on the
side in the order of a greeting card. Today, most
brides prefer a solid card or layers of cardstock
in different colors or weights of paper presented as a
single card. While there are many trifold invitations
and cards that open up because they are pictorial
invitations, traditional, even contemporary classic
designs are more often than not a single card even if
they are presented in pocket folders.
The size and shape of the
traditional rectangular invitations of the 5 by 7 size
or 6 by 8 size has also changed in more recent years to
include square(s) of different sizes, tea length, and
more recently, the legend size invitation, a longer and
wider version of a tea length invitation.
The rise of a major corporation
that still controls a large share of the
lesser priced invitations invited the prospect of
a larger variety of styles and designs. With the
onslaught of desk top publishing and personal
computers, graphic designers offered more interesting
typographical layout of wedding wording, and creative
and art directors offered promising new insights into
what brides wanted for their weddings.
Added to this, the larger variety
of papers made, and the ease in importing papers from
around the globe, and the internet bringing us all
closer together, and “voila”, the speed of
getting more ingredients into the artistic mix of
invitations has given way to literally creating
anything a bride desires for her wedding invitation
ensemble.
And, at the very least, with the
appropriate wedding invitation dealer and printer, and
the staff to complete a graphically designed customized
order, one can choose the font(s) one wants and the
layout for the invitation that is a best fit for the
couple and their occasion.
A bride can choose the look she
wishes to present for her wedding invitations in
choosing color, papers, textures, fonts, and ink colors
and liners and calligraphy addressing to truly
custom print or customize her invitations. One cannot
underestimate the importance of
one’s wedding invitations as the first glimpse of
the wedding ahead.
We have also taken the opportunity
to include some important information on
click on the links above to find
out more.
We are established album dealers
for the following companies:
Click on our suppliers
logo’s below to view their designs.
Each paper from this company is
handmade for each order from cotton or banana fibers
and may be embellished with flower petals giving rise
to a very botanical look. The company features
wedding favors in various shapes of flowers, etc. that
have wildflower seeds sown into the fibers of the paper
before the shapes are molded as gifts to be planted by
guests at their homes in honor of your event thus
making it an environmentally correct gift to you to
enjoy year after year. We have had this company make
paper for specific wedding invitations we have designed
as well.
Checkerboard offers the largest
variety of fonts of any of our suppliers and prints on
100 per cent cotton papers in two of their albums, and
papers from Europe in their third and new album, Modern
Invitations. Most of Checkerboard’s designs
are printed in a very fine thermography printing.
They offer a number of designs printed in several
designs and colors of ink or and many with multiple
layers of paper and ribbons inserted between the
layers. Their more traditional albums offer a French
envelope that is quite unusual and beautiful. All of
their albums offer some of the finest and most unusual
liners available in the industry. Their newest album
features a line of paper we use ourselves for
letterpress, thermography and flat or
lithographed printing. The papers have a mica like
finish or a sheen to them that is exceptionally
beautiful.
Offers reasonably priced
thermography, engraved, and letterpress invitations in
two albums, Invitations by Chase, and The Chase
Collection in a variety of papers, colors, and designs
from traditional to classic and contemporary depending
on our preferences.
Offers a variety of very
contemporary as well as strictly traditional fine line
invitations in a vast variety of papers and designs to
suit your pleasure. Many of the more contemporary
designs offer a myriad of papers and liners from which
to make your customized or custom selection(s).
Elite offers both engraved and thermography
printing on nearly every design they print. They
also provide the largest variety of envelope liners
available from any of our suppliers.
Elite’s provides a very traditional set of
invitations with delicate details that are the epitome
of what old fashioned and what your parents and your
grandparents had with a touch of the new that takes
nothing away from older customs and the “tried
and true“. Their designs are also available
in both engraved and thermography printing.
Encore’s invitations offer a
broad base of classic, traditional invitations, to
classical papers in linen and 100 per cent cotton
embellished with embossing, debossing, pearlized
embossing, and the finest ribbons and bows mixed
together in the business. Encore also offers a
wonderful selection of original pearlized borders in
thermography and engraved in their Classic collection.
Their best selling album, Expressions of Love,
is a favorite of ours as well. At present, we
offer you Simply Encore, Simple Encore II, Expressions
of Love, The Classic Collection, and their fine
stationery in Paper Moods. Their newest album,
The Edge, is not presently available through us.
This collection features beveled corners and flush
mounted layers of fine metallic papers. While we
are not presently featuring this album, we do use the
same papers in our own collections as well as with
selective other collections of invitations.
A lower priced to middle priced
traditional to modern album of invitations.
Regency has two wedding albums: Rainbow and the
Flower Collection as well as a program album called
Programs Galore. Regency carries a small
number of letterpress and engraved invitations.
Uses a variety of papers and
liners from selective companies provided to them in the
USA and from Europe. Their particular designs
include layers of papers as well as pocket folds that
you may print upon and create yourself if you so
choose. Enjoy viewing these contemporary designs
from their site: www.envelopments.com. We
will eventually photograph these designs and offer them
in our online shop. You may view them at your
meeting with us. Many “invitation”
suppliers call themselves “designers”
because the dealership is arranged for a true designer
to make maximum use of the papers and diecut pieces.
However, without the services of a pre-press
typesetting graphic designer who knows how to arrange
the text for going on a press, the effect will be
home-made and the look like that of an inkjet printer.
Many of these papers in this line require special
additives to the ink(s) to insure proper drying and to
prevent offsetting…or smearing onto other printed
pieces. Buyer beware when you purchase this
product to print yourself or buy from an inexperienced
dealer.
Offers letterpress printing at its
finest. Renowned internationally as one of the
top lines of letterpress stationery anywhere. The
artistic beauty of her printed work has a kinesthetic
impression that is second to none. Her printed on
cardstock takes us back to a time when individuals
wrote with fine fountain pens on wonderful papers, the
kind of notes that became mementoes that were tied with
ribbons, and tucked in a writing table drawer or
bureau. Her newest additions to her album debuted
this winter, and offer an even larger and more varied
selection of fine letterpress printed invitations,
reception cards, response cards, maps and direction
cards in a variety of colors of inks. Her fine
papers are specially made just for the printing of her
work. Let us help you customize these designs
with camera ready art to print your invitations.
Letterpress printing is the very oldest form of
printing and some of us think of it as the finest
printing there is. It is truly our very favorite
for these reasons and more.
