One of our favorite recent trends in letterpress wedding invitations has been the increasing number of requests we’ve received to print RSVP information directly on the outer envelope flap. The envelope is letterpress printed with either a website address, email address or another means by which RSVPs are requested, without having to send guests a separate reply card. It’s a fabulous idea that is incredibly eco-chic because it saves so much paper, but it’s also budget-friendly, too! A couple cannot only reduce paper usage, but also save the money they would have spent if providing guests with a reply card and postage. Paired with lovely letterpress wedding invitations, it’s chic, streamlined and equally appropriate for a barefoot wedding on the beach or a black tie affair. We’re in love with these that we’ve recently printed and can’t wait to print more…

We get a lot of questions from brides who are interested in knowing about hot trends in the world of letterpress wedding invitations and what elements they can include to really let their personalities shine. In the first few months of 2009, we’ve printed some pretty fabulous letterpress invitations for creative couples mixing modern design with the old world tradition of letterpress and we absolutely love what they’re dreaming up. Here are some of the things we’re seeing a lot of these days, all of which you can use to inspire your own invitations…

Embellishments | Our Bella Figura clients are in love with adding a punch of personality to their invitations by opting for great embellishments. In particular, metallic envelope liners have been a favorite along with the personalized touch of beautiful hand calligraphy accents and edge painting has been notably more popular than ever. Some couples are opting for edge painting in elegant antique gold, a bit of a throwback to historic book gilding, while others are going for a bright pop of color, but either way, it’s absolutely gorgeous!

Bold Colors | Bright and bold color combinations are a growing trend with brides and grooms tending to be a bit more adventurous in their color selections. We’re printing a lot of fun cardinal and aquamarine, daffodil and deep aqua, forest and cloud nine, peacock and persimmon and similarly festive ink combinations.

Jewel Tones | Brides are in love with jewel tones this season with a lot ink choices revolving around colors such as peacock, cardinal, aubergine, and navy. We’ve seen them paired with neutrals, other jewel tones, metallics, and also used solo.

Green | Green has been increasingly popular as of late, particularly when paired with either a neutral, another shade of green or with navy. We’ve seen couples pairing greens of all shades with black, taupe, gray and a lot of garden and clover with navy.

Nautical Combinations | Whether it be a choice of navy and antique gold, navy and champagne or again, even navy with a fresh shade of green, nautical combinations are very popular and being used for a wide range of events from the extremely luxurious to the more casual preppy chic.

What letterpress invitation trends do you love? We can’t wait to see what the rest of 2009 brings for great personalization of gorgeous letterpress wedding invitations!

We are excited to announce the introduction of two new Trendsetter sample packs! Holly of decor8 and the ladies of Southern Weddings Magazine have each curated a Bella Figura sample pack of their favorite letterpress wedding invitation designs, joining the ranks of other Bella Figura trendsetters including Style Me Pretty, Oh Joy, Snippet & Ink, and Brooklyn Bride. Holly’s favorites include Estrella, Linnea, Urbanity, Maja and Dewdrop while the gals of Southern Weddings Magazine include Estrella, Nonpareil, Nigella, Dewdrop and New Calligraphy among their favorites.

New Calligraphy Letterpress Invitation

Nigella Letterpress Reply Card

Maja Letterpress Invitation

As always, when you purchase a Trendsetter sample pack ($20, including shipping), 100% of the cost goes to environmental causes near and dear to our hearts as selected by the Trendsetters. Be sure to check them out!

We love traditional rectangular letterpress invitations, of course, but we’re predicting a twist on the traditional: square and horizontal wedding invitations. Both sizes feel very fresh and stylish to us right now.

square designs pictured below, starting in the upper right, going clockwise // Festoon // Amici // Ella // Irving

horizontal designs pictured below, starting in the upper right, going clockwise // Silhouette // Mimosa // Ericka // Onalisse