Millions of wedding invitations go out every year, but what makes one stand out more than the others? It's not always the names inside, sometimes it's the way it looks, the paper it's printed on or the way the guest's name is written. When printing wedding invitations, brides and grooms have a number of concepts to consider.
Get Creative
While square and rectangular are the standard wedding invite sizes and used primarily for their ease of printing and available envelopes, some couples are sending out oval or portrait-shaped invites.
Odd shapes can cause some difficulty in printing, but a professional print shop should be able to accommodate with minimal effort and cost. Another option would be to have the information printed on a traditional size and cut down after printing. Be sure to print extra or have extra sheets of paper on hand for errors or misprints. Additional shapes include hearts and circles.
Invites can also feature punches such as monograms, lace edging or punch-outs of hearts and flower shapes. Print shops are usually equipped to do these punches as well, but craft stores and scrapbooking sales do offer handheld ones in hundreds of shapes and sizes.
Put It on Paper
Most papers, including card stock and parchment, can be printed on with a number of inks with no absorption issues. However, vellum with its smooth, silk-like texture, and linen with its fabric-feel, tend to smear or smudge.
Consider the environment and print on eco-friendly paper such as recycled paper or brown kraft paper. There are even papers made from wildflower seeds and plantable materials so that after the wedding, the invite itself can be planted and will produce blooming flowers or plants.
To the Letter
Thermography is the process of using heat to fuse inks to the paper. Paper style and consistency are variables in this process as well as paper and ink color. Thermography can be nearly 25 percent cheaper than standard invite engraving, but does not have the indented pressed lettering that letterpress or engraving offers.
Get It in Ink
To really make invite lettering pop, try metallic inks. Available in gold, silver, copper, bronze and nearly every other color, metallic inks add sparkle and shine to any invite. Lighter inks like silver show well on dark colors like navy or red, while gold and copper tend to show better on paler papers like white, cream or yellow.
Ask printers about soy- or vegetable-based inks. Not only are they environmentally friendly, but they are available in brighter colors. Wax-free ink will also reduce smudging and smearing as well as remain recyclable after the wedding.
DIY -- Do It Yourself
In the budget-minded world of weddings, many couples take on projects such as invitations to cut costs and spend money on items they deem more important. With do-it-yourself crafting kits, wedding invitations are pretty simple.
Many discount stores stock boxes of elegant and easy invites that include the invitations, the enclosures, the envelopes and the directions on set the printer to ensure correct spacing and printing. Many include sample sheets to preprint to prevent mistakes.
Tags: wedding invitations, after wedding, metallic inks, wedding invite