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Photo by: Tessa Rice

During the last decade, letterpress printing has made its way back from the past to become one of the most sought-after printing methods for wedding invitations. This old-fashioned printing technique is performed entirely manually: the ink colors are mixed by hand, and each card is fed individually into the machine, giving the invitations a beautiful, organic look – with a touch of love and lots of special attention!

However, because of the time-consuming nature of letterpress printing, this technique can be a bit pricey and sometimes out-of-budget for many couples. But fear not! A&P Designs’ specialty is creating affordable letterpress wedding invitations, so we have come up with creative ways for couples to keep their invitations as affordable as possible without compromising the quality or the flexibility to completely customize their invitations.

Here are our top 10 money-saving tips for letterpress wedding invitations:

  1.  Keep Ink Colors to a Minimum

Single-color letterpress will always be less expensive than two or more colors. Multi-colored invitations require multiple passes through the printing press, which means more time spent printing your invitations (more time = more money). If you really want to add an additional color, you can always print the main invite in two-color letterpress and the rest of your invitation suite in a single color. Another option is to alternate the colors: for example, if your colors are blush and teal, you can print the main invite and reply card in teal, and the third enclosure card can be printed in blush (click HERE to get a visual idea).

  1.  Choose Colored Paper

Another way to keep your costs down is to incorporate your second color through the paper itself (we don’t charge extra for most colored papers). You can print your invitation (or any other paper in your suite) in single-color letterpress on a beautiful colored paper that matches your wedding decor. You can also forgo the traditional white envelopes and choose colorful envelopes instead, or you can add a beautiful envelope liner and/or bellyband for a personal touch (these accessories are usually very affordable).

  1.  Work With Template Designs

Instead of having your designer create a bespoke design specifically for you, you can choose to personalize a pre-existing template design. We have a wide variety of designs featured in our Affordable Letterpress Design Bar collection that will go with almost any wedding style. These designs can be fully customized by changing the font, paper, ink color, etc. to truly reflect your taste. You can also combine elements of different designs to create your own custom one – at no additional cost!

  1.   Use Standard Paper Thickness

Opting to print your invitations on standard paper will save you a considerable amount of money. Our favorite paper is 110# Crane’s Lettra 100% cotton paper, and we offer it as our standard medium because we absolutely love how letterpress printing looks on this paper. If you really want to upgrade to the thicker option (220# weight), then we recommend only upgrading the invite and keeping the rest of the paper goods on the standard paper. This allows your wedding invitations to stand out among your other cards while still keeping the suite affordable.

  1.  Stick to Standard-Size Invitations

While larger invitations look royally gorgeous, they also come with an additional cost in paper, envelopes, and postage (square invitations will also have an extra postage charge). Stick to simple, standard-size invitations to avoid paying more.

  1.  Minimize the Number of Paper Pieces

To keep costs to a minimum, most brides are using only the outer envelopes and the rsvp envelopes (which we already include in our pricing) and are omitting the inner envelope. If you have a lot of information to share with your guests – reception location, accommodations, directions, website link, etc. – we can help you consolidate it onto one additional card (instead of printing everything on separate cards). Condensing all the information onto one card will dramatically bring the cost down without breaking the etiquette rules.

  1.  Always Order Extras

We highly recommend ordering a few additional invitations, as guest lists have a way of magically increasing and letterpress re-prints are very costly. Ordering a few extras up front will only add a couple of dollars – as opposed to a few hundred dollars for re-prints.

  1.  Proofreading is a MUST

We cannot stress this enough: proofread your invitations! A hundred times if necessary! Most stationers will not print your invitations until you have given your final approval and sign off on your contract saying that everything is perfect. This is the “point of no return,” so you MUST read everything very carefully. Check every period, every comma, every space between words (and letters) – check every detail of the design, and then check again! Having your wedding invitations reprinted because you overlooked a misspelled word or name will throw an unwelcome wrench in your budget planning.

  1.  Go For Digitally Printed Addresses

Beautiful invitations must also be beautifully addressed, and although hand calligraphy is incredibly gorgeous, it can also be bit pricey. Unless you know someone with gorgeous handwriting that is willing to address your invitations at a very low cost, consider going with digitally printed calligraphy. We usually match the font to your invitations, giving a beautiful, cohesive look to your entire suite while keeping it affordable.

  1.  DIY Assembly

While having your stationer assemble your invitations is extremely convenient, it also comes with an additional cost. To keep the cost down, opt to assemble your own invitations. If there are a lot of steps to your particular assembly, you can ask your stationer to show you how it’s done: she (or he) will be happy to show you the step-by-step process of putting your invitations together. You can even make it a fun process by having an Assembling Party with your bridesmaid – and other willing friends and family members 🙂