May your days be merry and bright! Step back in time to the Christmases of yesteryear to find inspiration for your winter wedding. Muted reds, greens and taupes create such a warm and inviting palette. Use these colors on vintage letterpress invitation designs, such as Harlow, by Jessica Tierney, to bring the magic of the holiday season to life!

harlow customization = inks: papaya + olive | fonts: billhead + archive  | paper: ivory | invite size: f-8 | liner: european formal in hazel |  original design by Jessica Tierney | customized by in-house designer Lindsy Aragona

(photo credits: Better Homes and Gardens)

Bella Figura’s letterpress invitation designs for 2012 have arrived!  We’ve added 6 brand new designers and 83 new letterpress wedding invitation designs – which means you’ve now got over 300+ incredible designs to choose from! We’ve added new embellishment options, too — think metallics (foil stamping and foil edging now available in 12 dazzling colors – choose traditional metallics like gold, silver or copper, or go for something a little more daring, like fuchsia, indigo, forest or teal!). Metallics and shine will be a huge wedding trend for 2012, so mix foil stamping with letterpress for a hint of glamour, create a show-stopping look with a powerful pair of foil stamped colors (think two tone gold or gold with silver), or add foil edging for a splash of sophisticated flair.

Counter clock-wise from upper left: Aria by Maybelle; Canto by Kelle Anne McCarter; Fugue by Kamal; Traditional Script by Beth Barr; Moroccan Romantic by Lindsy Aragona; Unique Minimes by Gina Dean and Lauren Richel Kelly. 

New designs and metallics aren’t the only thing we’ve got that’s new for 2012! We’ve got new calligraphy styles, new options for pocketfolds, envelopes + envelope liners, and more. There’s a wide variety of artwork, cartouches, and monograms in our motif library.  Let Chris – one of our knowledgeable invitation experts – walk you through all of the amazing new offerings (just check out the video below!)

Earlier this year, we worked with Alice and Beth from Alice G. Patterson Photography on an amazing project we’re really excited to share. Featured recently on Green Wedding Shoes, this collaboration features some of our most popular letterpress invitation designs alongside some incredible miniatures. Alice and Beth set up these picturesque scenes and we were completely blown away with the end result — take a look!

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Bella Figura calligrapher Debi Zeinert shared this close up look at her amazing work, a video that features her various calligraphy styles. Her elegant calligraphy can be found in her wedding invitation designs, and her calligraphy accents can also be found in other popular Bella designs (such as Loretta Formal and Calligraphy Monogram). In addition to beautiful, hand-calligraphed letterpress stationery and invitations through Bella Figura, Debi is also available for calligraphy addressing through her business, The Blooming Quill. Your envelopes, escort cards, and other wedding day stationery pieces can all be hand-done to match your letterpress printed suite! Check out this video to see Debi in action, and for more details on working with her, visit her website.

Featuring the gorgeous hand calligraphy of Debi Zeinert, Classic Calligraphy definitely tends to be one of our more, well, classic designs.  Throw some fresh Navy ink and vibrant Watermelon edge painting into the mix though, and you get a really great splash of bold contemporary style.  A brightly contrasting edge paint color is a wonderful way to make things fun and current without going too far overboard and loosing the vintage-inspired vibe of the overall set.  These invitations also feature a cute website card – an elegant and eco-friendly way to direct guests to your website for additional wedding details.

ink: navy | paper: 2-ply ivory | invite size: a7 | liner: antique geometrics pattern in navy | edge painting: watermelon | client coordinator: chris gannon | in-house designer: lindsy aragona

A Halloween wedding doesn’t have to be all about spooky bats, witches and things that go bump in the night. Look for Autumn’s softest palettes and pair them with fairytale pumpkins, warm candle light and wrought iron accents for a sweet as candy soiree. This Astor customization not only has a motif that mimics a wrought iron gate, but it uses a custom Emily Austin font that looks like Ichabod Crane, himself, could have wrote it. Imagine the Legend of Sleepy Hollow without that troublesome headless horseman!

customization = ink: persimmon | fonts: custom emily austin + sans capitals | paper: ivory | invite size: f-8 | liner: the classic color pattern in light peach | original design by amy graham stigler | customized by in-house designer: lindsy aragona

embellishment suggestions: pocketfold in opal

photos by: Martha Stewart Weddings

In a unique twist on Beth Ann Seal‘s classic Palmas design, this invitation set features the exquisitely personal Belle hand calligraphy of Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls in place of the design’s original fonts.  The calligraphy adds a distinct mark of human touch, which is reinforced by the deep, tactile impression of the artisan letterpress printing.  Ink-less blind deboss printing for the art-deco inspired border keeps things subtle, while a bright clover envelope liner adds a splash of excitement to this chic and natural looking invitation set.

ink: black + blind deboss | paper: 2-ply ivory | invite size: f8 | liner: classic color in clover | edge painting: chartreuse | client coordinator: chris gannon | in-house designer: sarah walroth

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

Our New Calligraphy design (by Debi Zeinert) is extremely popular and we are loving the colors in this letterpress wedding invitation set. The nature infused accents from a custom Vineyard design inspired envelope liner to our vine ink bring a real earthy feel. The metallic gold edge painting brings in some luxury making this an elegant combination.

ink: vine | calligraphy: revolution hand calligraphy, by debi zeinert style  | paper: 1-ply white  | invite size: f8 | liner: custom vineyard design inspired pattern in antique gold | edge painting: metallic gold | client coordinator: christie jones | in-house designer: lindsy aragona

It’s always such a pleasure to work with our amazing clients and to craft their unique creative vision into letterpress reality (really it is).  Take for instance these extended horizontal thank you notes – they’re so different and cool that we just had to share them with everyone.  They feature Patricia Mumau‘s Harrison style hand calligraphy, and they’re printed in a stunning combination of espresso and ink-less blind deboss.  The champagne edge painting really stands out boldly on our 2-ply paper and we absolutely love the way no. 10 dimensions work for this piece.

inks: espresso + blind deboss | calligraphy style: harrison | paper: 2-ply white | size: no. 10 | edge painting: champagne | client coordinator: chris gannon | in-house designer: racheal decker