Paperlust Letterpress Wedding Invitations
Letterpress has a hallowed history in the world of print, in fact, what we now call letterpress used to just be how things were printed full stop. Dating all the way back to the 1400s to Johann Gutenberg, the earliest forms of the printing press involved individually carved letters out of wood, where everything but the shape of the letter was carved away. This allowed the protruding surface to be inked up and transferred to a paper surface. For the printing of a full page of text, each of the carved letters had to be painstakingly assembled first to reflect that document.
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In those early days, it was used to reproduce books and texts in a manner faster than hand transcribing. Although Gutenberg’s method was only marginally faster; producing roughly 6 pages a day. Each page of text that needed to be printed still needed its own block or plate and hand carving all the letters and then assembling them is unthinkable now when it comes to mass printing. However, it was still able to revolutionse the world and result in more widespread access to books and reading.
The beauty of letterpress comes from this old fashioned process though. Originally, once inked up, the carved letters only needed to be pressed lightly to a sheet of paper to transfer the text. However, with a bit more force applied, these plates could leave the ink mark as well as a deeper impression in the paper. This results in the debossing effect and it’s the luxurious textured hand feel that letterpress has become known for.
As printing techniques developed over the next few hundred years into less labour intensive processes from lithographs to offset and modern digital printing; letterpress had fallen out of favour when it came to bulk printing. However, it has acquired a new status as a niche, specialty product for special occasion printing. Those modern techniques may produce faster and cheaper results, but nothing can quite compare to the result letterpress’ mechanical process produces.
Luckily it didn’t die out completely and in the past decade or so, as the wedding industry has grown, people have looked for more and more ways to distinguish their wedding from those of the crowd. Given that anyone with a home printer can make a wedding invitation, the demand for exceptional products prefaced a resurgence in letterpress techniques and appreciation. What makes this technique especially relevant to wedding invitations is that they are one of the few pieces of correspondence that are still physically posted in this digital age.
For most people, planning a wedding may be the first and only time they do so. Therefore, it becomes important for each element to reflect the exceptionality of the event. As we’ve become accustomed to rarely receiving physical invitations, the arrival of a mailed invitation makes an impact. Even more so when it carries the distinctive imprint or debossing that letterpress achieves. As letterpress wedding invitations are usually printed on more luxurious high quality paper, the texture and weight of the paper adds a tactile pleasure.
Due to the increased labour cost and time in producing letterpress wedding invitations, they are definitely more of a premium product. However, they can be suitable for larger weddings as the more invitations you order, the cheaper the unit cost becomes. For those exceeding 100 units, it can become a lot more affordable to have letterpress wedding invitations. Furthermore, whilst letterpress is an old fashioned technique, modern advances in technology have simplified the process. The plates used to press into paper to make the impressions can now be created in polymer rather than traditional wood or metal plates. This means they can often last longer and are faster to create, either by 3D printing or laser cutting.
As more companies are able to enter the market due to the reduced costs of production, there are also more options for cheap letterpress wedding invitations. Some places will have standard plates that make border or decorative impressions which are made in bulk, and the text of the invitation is digitally printed. Choosing when and where to place those debossing touches becomes an important part of the design process.
Letterpress wedding invitations suit nearly all design styles, especially those looking for more classic wedding invitations. Elements such as borders, monogrammed initials and wreaths look especially dignified in letterpress as do designs featuring calligraphy style fonts. Letterpress isn’t limited to just typography either, line illustrations can be beautifully depicted with this method. Some like to introduce drawings of greenery or flowers this way, where depicting it as line art doesn’t lock them into a colour theme. Custom letterpress invitations are much more achievable as the plates have to be made to order anyway for each design so they can be easily customised to the couple.
Whilst most people imagine letterpress as just black on white, inks can be mixed in any colour the design requires. This would especially suit bright, graphic designs with heavy typography. For those with bigger budgets, it’s also possible to incorporate more than 1 or 2 colours in your letterpress invitations. These would be even more eye catching and prove letterpress isn’t just for traditional designs. The only limitations come from designs with lots of painted images, however, those can be printed digitally and the text of the invitation can be letterpressed into the paper afterwards.
As technology propels us into an increasingly digital age, our appreciation for things that have physical value, are created with skill and reflect the individuality of human handiwork only increases. Whilst weddings are about the day itself and the celebration of love between two people around their friends and family, wedding invitations can often be a sentimental keepsake. Letterpress wedding invitations will always have a place, as they commemorate the event in a beautiful work of creativity and skill.