Lavender Floral Letterpress Wedding Invitations

This was one of the simplest and fastest client projects I have worked on to date. When Virginia came to me to design and print her wedding invitations, I was a little worried about the timeline. But one phone call and I was sure we could knock something out fast. From start to finish, this took 18 days.

To speed up the process, Virginia took a look at a few versions of invitations I had already done. She also had a mood board for her wedding on Pinterest which gave me a huge head start.

On the phone we discussed pricing and ink options so the first round of mock ups I sent through were a little more buttoned up than a normal client I work with. Once she looked at these, we chatted on the phone and took elements from her two favorite invites and combined them together (6 & 12 on this grid).

As soon as we settled on the final, I ordered a polymer plate from Boxcar Press. Polymer plates are thin pieces of plastic with the image you have to print raised up. To bring the plate to type high, it needs to be mounted onto a base. My friend Paul helped me trim my aluminum base to a size that was useable on my platen press. This was my first time printing this set up on Preston at home.

I mixed up some ink and loaded it up onto the press. I sent pictures of the color as I was mixing to the bride to confirm satisfaction. Then, I spent awhile adjusting my press’ rollers to a height that worked for this polymer plate and the ultra thick paper. Honestly, this was the longest part of the process.

Once I started printing, I finished all 70 in under ten minutes. The impression on the soft cotton paper was just perfect. I sent some pictures of the printing process to the couple along the way and they were so excited to be involved.

Here is the final invite with a sample envelope I had in my studio. The final envelope will have a little more shine to it.

And here is a shot of them all lined up in a row! I just love seeing them on mass. Feels good to be able to complete a suite in such a small amount of time. My press just amazes me.

Simple invitations are just my favorite. I’ve done several now of floral illustrations paired with asymmetrical type and really dig this style. Hoping 2020 brings a few more like this. If you are interested in kicking off some invites, reach out to me!