Part of what makes calligraphy letterpress invitations so amazing is that each one is always going to be a little different from every other one we’ve ever made before.  With each design being painstakingly written out by hand before being digitized and eventually turned into a printing plate for letterpress printing, there’s always bound to be subtle (and beautiful) variations.  But there’s unique, and then there’s unique.

Take for instance this design here, featuring the lavish hand calligraphy of the super-talented Sarah Hannah.  This design most closely resembles Sarah’s Magnolia design, but despite the family resemblance they’re clearly not the same animal.  The couple’s names on this invitation are much more elaborately embellished than usual and the ornate flourishes along the edges of the original design have been dropped entirely.  This look is exactly what the bride was going for, and it was completely doable since Sarah was able to understand what she was envisioning and translate it into beautiful calligraphy.

Printed in black ink on our 2-ply ivory paper and affixed to our opal colored pocketfolds – the end result is devastatingly elegant.

ink: black | calligraphy style: victoria | paper: ivory 2-ply | invite size: f8 | pocketfold: opal | edge painting: black | client coordinator: chris gannon | in-house designer: lindsy aragona

We just adore these recently printed letterpress wedding invitations in our Lumos design (by Ben Whitla).  The couple chose to adhere their invitation to a striking black pocketfold.  These brilliant pocketfold enclosures hold the couples website card.  We love how pronounced the bride and groom’s names look in black ink and the antique gold ink makes for an excellent pairing! Perfect for a black and white wedding theme, these invitations have a spot-on contemporary feel (and check out their save the dates in a previous post)!

inks: black + antique gold | fonts: sans capitals + popular | paper: 1-ply white | invite size: a-7 | pocketfold: black | client coordinator: jessica hanaman | in-house designer: kyle laatsch

by Jessica Hanaman, Client Coordinator.

This Sonoma Calligraphy (by Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls) letterpress wedding invitation set is without a doubt absolutely gorgeous! The invitation is printed in Black and Colorless Blind Deboss inks on our 1-ply white paper. Both the invitations and flat place cards are edge painted in our striking metallic gold ink. Using Light Peach ink as an accent on their flat place cards, and envelope liner really adds character to this unique set! We see this invitation being used for a very intimate and elegant wedding.

ink: black + light peach + blind deboss | fonts: streamline | calligraphy style: belle by maybelle | paper: 1-ply white | invite size: f-8 | liner: the classic color pattern in light peach ink | edge painting: metallic gold | client coordinator: jessica hanaman | in-house designer: lindsy aragona

by Jessica Hanaman, Client Coordinator.

We love this bold and modern letterpress invitation customization that combines the best of our Alice (by Tara Hogan) and Deveril (by Beth Ann Seal) designs! Submitted to us by our friends at The Village Invites II in New York, New York, this stylish set features double-sided letterpress invitations as well as dual-purpose coasters – our favorite! The fun combination of black and spring green inks, along with the unique monogram pattern on the reply postcard, has us head over heels!

ink: black + spring green | fonts: danube + impression | paper: 2-ply white | invite size: F-8 |  liner: vintage stripes in spring green ink | edge painting: spring green

by Sarah Walroth, In-house Graphic Designer.

We spotted another stunning Bella Figura bride and groom real wedding feature on Style Me Pretty! The ceremony and reception took place at the historic Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona. We love the details, color scheme, and most of all the jaw-dropping open-back dress by Monique Lhuillier. Our Victoria Calligraphy Letterpress Invitations by Sarah Hanna were printed in black ink on our luxurious 2-ply ivory paper and perfectly complimented the event with classic elegance.

The couple planned an outdoor ceremony and reception all within a “garden-party” theme but encountered an unexpected twist! The bride says,  “The weather gods had a different plan for us, however, as it decided to pour the day of our wedding and was freezing cold (ok, it was in the 40s, but that’s freezing for us Arizonans!)We made the decision to move everything indoors the morning of the wedding and I was a little concerned that our Plan B back-up space would end up looking like a generic ballroom. However, through sheer determination and incredibly hard work, our design team, Avant-Garde Studio, and our event planner, Rhonda Rush, were able to “recreate” my garden party theme indoors.  Avant-Garde even built the entire tent structure inside the ballroom and draped all of the walls.  They made the ballroom incredibly unique looking and beautiful. We moved the ceremony into the architecturally stunning Aztec Ballroom and it turned out better than we could have ever imagined. Despite the rain, the day was perfect, and the ceremony and reception went off without a hitch.  The sun even made an appearance long enough for our wonderful photographer, Elyse Hall, to snap some beautiful outdoor shots before the festivities began. The food was delicious, the music was lively and the dancing seemed to last all night, just like we wanted.”

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Continuing our letterpress calligraphy love fest…here are a few more calligraphy treats.
Black ink seems so right for calligraphy invitations – it’s the original letterpress ink from hundreds of years ago, and black has stayed in fashion ever since. This is the Classic Calligraphy design using the Spencerian calligraphy style, letterpress printed on our 2-ply cotton paper. Totally timeless. And notice how special each of the first letters of the bride’s and groom’s names are – I love how the “L” of the bride is intertwined already with the “P” of the groom.

We often do calligraphy invitations in one color — but wow, when you add a second color–and add that to a custom monogram in fact — what an effect! The butterfly monogram is sweet and sophisticated and uses the bride & groom’s first letters of their first names. More black ink — how can you go wrong there? — but the garden green ink ads a bit of fun. This is another variation on the Classic Calligraphy design, Spencerian style.
Stay tuned for a very cool calligraphy save the date — in green!