New Calligraphy, one of our new 2009 letterpress wedding invitation designs, has already become a favorite with brides and it’s easy to see why. It’s the perfect blend of classic style paired with a modern edge, which makes it really fun for weddings large and small, whether they be held in a grand ballroom or a funky loft. It’s one of our new favorites, too! We love to see how a simple change in ink color can make it feel so strikingly different so it’s always exciting when we print a new variation.
The original New Calligraphy design uses bold cardinal ink on thick and luxurious 2-ply paper with gorgeous edge painting for a look that is dramatic and truly special.
Classic in striking black ink on white, this invitation is nothing short of posh. It practically sings of a wedding that is completely elegant and refined, a truly sophisticated affair.
This version of New Calligraphy pairs daffodil ink on ivory and just exudes excitement and fun. It’s playful, a bit whimsical and it promises guests an incredible evening of celebration and laughter. If you ask us, that’s the perfect definition of an unforgettable wedding.
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!
Here is another great version of the Deveril letterpress wedding invitation— this time in classic black ink with gold edge painting (the edge painting made all of us here swoon….just perfect!). Black ink, by the way, shows no signs of losing its elegance or popularity for this wedding season. Enjoy these photos of winter sunlight!
What’s going to be hot in the letterpress wedding invitation world for 2009? Well, we looked into our crystal letterpresses and our first prediction is…
Edge painting. What is it? Originally reserved for the finest hand-bound books, edge painting has a rich history in the letterpress world. For centuries, master book binders would gild the edges of books with gold–or paint an actual illustration on the edge of the book’s pages–to show just how precious a particular book was. We’ve put a modern spin on this practice by hand painting the edge of our invitations with our Bella inks. You’ll see the color on the outside edge of the piece, but not on the front or back of the paper. Because the cotton paper we print on is so thick, edge painting can be a great way to highlight a color in your invitation set,or add an entirely new ink. (read more about edge painting wedding invitations here)
designs pictured below, starting in the upper right, going clockwise // Avant with cardinal edging // Festoon with pool edging // Urbanity with silver edging // Irving with fuchsia edging // New Calligraphy with cardinal edging // Birds with navy edging
