Ephemera
Paperstories
Lulu Paper
Twin Raven Press
Blue Ribbon
atlasprod
hello lucky
MerrileeDesign
Bella Figura
Little Miss Press
Etsy-
ajalon
Glidewellpress
InvitedInk
PistachioPress
SmallPrinter
Subtleglances
juliajuliette
On etsy there's a seller called letterpress light I think? Does amazing work from pics and it's almost identical to letterpress invites!
MUCH more cost effective!
Check out this post from Mrs. Bee:
http://www.weddingbee.com/2006/10/19/mecurio-brothers/
I have to say, Mr. Burgundy was also obsessed with letterpress this instant I showed them to him. I highly suggest you check out Bella Figura because they have the most amazing beautiful invitations ever...I like them better than Hello, Lucky! It's really hard to find letterpress invites priced cheaply, most of them average $600-$700 from what I've seen, but I'm ordering samples from Bella Figura this week and I just might bite the bullet and do it. Good luck!
Thanks for the suggestions! He really caught me off-guard since he hasn't really cared about any of the "details"....but he was ready to order the Crane & Co. ones on the spot for around the 1K range for 75, but I talked him into waiting to see if there were any we liked better. Apparently my geeky engineer is more of a paper snob than I am! :)
mrs coconut and cherry pie got their invites through twin ravens press. they're supposed to be one of the most affordable letterpress printers out there...
Hmm really mrsbee? I'll have to contact them-- they don't have any wedding invitation info on their site...
check out their blog where they feature more of their work: http://www.twinravenspress.blogspot.com/
glidewellpress.com - I used Adam and he's awesome. Will design if you can't and under $500 for 100 invites, RSVP's and envelopes.
bree72- Their pricing indicates that for 50 it's just under $500 (in one color) and each addtl set is $3.79. How did you get 100 invites for under $500?
I would use one of letterpress vendors on Etsy. Their prices are great, you're supporting a small{er} business and you can really get get one on one service. My personal favorite is Suann from Simple Song Design. She did calling cards and stationary for me for Christmas gifts this year and they are great. She has a blog {simplesong.typepad.com} and a website {simplesongdesign.com} which shows her recent work. Email her, you won't be sorry. She's a gem and such a sweet person to work with.
I'll give another shout out for Mercurio Brothers. They did our invites and they were fabulous.
Reaves Engraving -- www.reavesengraving.com -- also does wonderful work and they have comparable prices to Mercurio Brothers. They print on Cranes lettra -- so soft!
@ Miss Burgandy - I purchased mine in Sept. last year and then immediatly put his info on Weddingbee beacuse it was such a great deal. I had so many responses from the ladies that he must have been able to up his prices because of demand! At the time he was even offering that price for 2 colors! He must have realized he was underbidding himself, so sorry about the mis-information. It must have changed just recently.
@bree72- thanks for the response. Affordability and design quality are going to be key factors in whether or not I purchase letterpress, and the current prices at glidewellpress are pretty much on par with most of the other letterpress vendors I have checked out at this point...
I emailed twinravenspress, they had some really pretty invites on that blog! :) Checking out other Etsy designers as well...
Sorry but I just have to add another comment...Twin Ravens Press got back to me quickly after emailing and their invitations are STUNNING!! And so inexpensive! And custom designs! And omg
@ Miss Burgundy-- I received a quote from Adam from Glidewell Press recently: 100 1-color letterpressed sets for $568.50, 100 2-color sets for $648.50, 100 enclosures for $199 1-color and $209 2-color
Thanks for providing the most recent information to us, jhphi! Good to know:)
Hi! The best, BEST letterpress I found was Aubrey Atlas of Atlas & Campbell. She gets almost all of her work through word of mouth, because everyone she designs for is completely blown away. I looked high and low because letterpress and custom invitations were essential to me. My fiance and I are on a small budget and Aubrey was able to work with us to find something that fit into our budget. If you PM me I'll share the design with you - so far I've never come across anything like it!
Here's her blog, so you can see some of her work and also contact her: http://atlasandcampbell.blogspot.com/
Oh, also, I live in Chicago and she's in LA....but she can do anything from there. She'll send you samples in the mail (and every time she mails you something, you'll get a fun package, usually with a little surprise in it).
I have another question for you letterpress bees using smaller shops (like the ones on Etsy or through word of mouth). How are you supposed to get samples? They don't really have samples listed in their shops, as most of these invitations are custom and on-demand. Should I just try to give the seller a general idea of what I'm looking for and ask for a sample of something that might be sorta similar? Samples are (usually) not free, so do you think it's reasonable for them to charge for a sample when I'm not really sure what they're going to be giving me a sample of?
I'd love to get some samples just to check out the quality and paper that some of these smaller shops use, but I'm just not sure what to ask for!
Just want to say I have been in touch with Aubrey from Atlas & Campbell and she is super nice and friendly as well. Very focused on working with your budget, and even tossed me a couple design ideas and offered to meet up with me in my town (I live 3ish hours from them) to check out samples after just one email!
I would recommend asking for samples even if they want to charge you for them.
You want samples for two reasons 1) to see the color/paper quality and 2) to see how their particular letterpress appears on that type of paper. This type of printing is done by hand so you'll want to see their particular handywork for yourself.
Also ask detailed questions about how the letterpress appears on different types of paper when you ask for samples. If you are looking for what we commonly know as the "letterpress" look/feel make sure to make that clear to the printer you hire. The indentation and texture we all love is actually a modern form of letterpress so its important to make that clear since it can not be accomplished on certain types of paper.
Just had to chime in. I found what I thought were going to be the cheapest letterpressed invites ever from an Etsy vendor. I thought I confirmed the price with her, but when I got the invoice after we had finalized the proof I was floored. I totally recommend Etsy, but make sure you sign a contract ASAP with final price numbers.
I am dealing with Kristin through Twinravens Press & she has been fantastic- she is for sure my vendor crush! Affordable, clever, and beautiful work. She sent me samples to Toronto for free so I'm sure she would be willing to do the same for you if you tell her which you like the best! She's quite affordable as well (I hunted around a lot!). She's really nice to boot.
Best of luck to you!
Also, the second best deal I found was through papertrie (one of the blog sponsors if you're looking for a link!). If you click on sale- letterpress, they have invites for 50% which change semi-frequently. For 2 colours it's not a bad deal however I'm pretty sure you have to work within their template & no custom...
Good luck!
Good advice Miss Peeptoe...it's easy to get caught up in the "OMG I think I can afford this" and forget the practical side of things, like needing a contract! Thanks for the reminder!!
We're going with Kristin from Twin Ravens Letterpress too :) I loooooooooove her! Her prices are really reasonable and she's super nice and will work with you till the end of the moon! We were going the economical invite route too until we found her!
She has been a dream come true :)
Well, barring some kind of disaster, I'm sold on Kristen... I'm still going to wait for samples and to hear final pricing and all that but so far she sounds like a dream!
Ditto Miss Burgundy....I need to see samples & a contract but both Kristin @ Twin Ravens and Aubrey Atlas have been nothing but top notch in their communications!
I'm just worried about the time frame since we are early June, and need to mail early April at the latest .... this last minute switch to letterpress from flat printing has me nervous about the timeline.
Agreed, ggsb! Please let me know what you think of your samples and who you end up going with. I'll do the same if you like!
I'm sure the vendors can work with you and your timeline...they can probably put a rush on your stuff for a small extra fee as well. I'm May 2010 so I have some time:P
Will do Miss Burgundy...and once we've made a decision I'll gladly mail you any samples we have accumulated if you'd like.
That would be fantastic, if you don't mind parting with them! Kristin is kindly dropping my samples in the mail this morning. When I asked for samples from Aubrey Atlas, I'm not sure if she quite understood what I was asking and sent a sample of an electronic design, and is trying to arrange for us to meet in person like 3 months out from now (she lives approximately 3 hours away). Isn't it pretty customary to ask for physical samples of invitations from these types of vendors? I'm a little confused...
Miss Burgundy -- I used Kristen for my invitations, they're on her blog. :) The quality is amazing and I *love* our custom design. Feel free to message me if you have any questions!
I think it is very standard to ask for samples. Some of the larger companies charge you per sample. The electronic samples are great to see the different layouts they offer (if you just want to pick something they've already done) or see their design capabilities. We are only asking for actual printed samples from the two vendors we are choosing between....mostly b/c I'm a paper snob and am concerned about how the paper and the actual "pressed" parts feel.
@stargirl - If your's are the ones I'm thinking they are they turned out really well!
WOW!!! This thread just made me SO happy!!!!!! I love letter press but didnt think it was worth the expense -- these vendors are so affordable!! Thanks ladies!
i love the designs of bella figura as well, but everything adds up to a lot when you add in all the pieces and want 2 inks and return addresses, etc.
i ended up going with ink fancy. her rates are really reasonable and she does custom work. she is designing my invitation, reply card, insert for my webpage and envelopes with a custom embellishment. 85 sets for only $1010 including shipping and 2 inks on everything.
i can't comment on the final product yet, but she did send me samples of her work, which are adorable. we just finished the design phase and final mockups. i am so excited because she did such a great job of taking my ideas and inspirations and creating us a fun design that we love. the process so far has been so great. i can't wait for them to be printed.
here is her website http://www.inkfancy.com/pricing
So I would just like to say I recieved a few samples from Twin Raven Press in the mail today...if there is such a thing as love at first sight with letterpress invitations, I think I just experienced it. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind now that I have got to have letterpress and I just love the stuff that Twin Ravens has done!!
I have attempted to get a sample of Atlas & Campbell's work, but they seem a bit swamped right now and have offered to send a sample in a month or two. Their designs look pretty online, but actually seeing and feeling the invitations is such an important experience IMO.
You know how every bride has that ONE aspect of the wedding she focuses on? I feel like it's usually the dress or the flowers or the cake, or whatever. Well, for me it's been the invitations all along, and I was determined to have letterpress. I'm obsessed with all sorts of paper things, so my fiance was hardly surprised, and he was totally willing to get on board and split the cost. Hurrah!
After much looking around -- seriously, I shopped for an invitation designer far, far longer than I shopped for a dress -- we found someone who's just right for us. We're working with Jen of Starshaped Press (http://www.starshaped.com/wedding.html) to design our invitations. I'm in love with how she uses antique type, and I think her prices are really reasonable. We got some samples of her work last week, and they look even more amazing in person than they do on her site.
Just got my samples I ordered from Bella Figura! They're SO beautiful! A little pricey though...but I really like the way that you can so clearly see the letterpress in the soft cotton paper. I also really LOVE one of the styles...so I'm a little torn. I spoke to Kristin at Twin Ravens and she said that she could work with me to create a custom invite on a similar type paper that will leave those nice impressions, but if I really love one of the Bella Figura designs I should probably just buy it from them? Totally torn!!
I originally worked with an Etsy vendor to save costs on letterpress, but it ended up being SO much more work, with all the back and forth and design work, so I bit the bullet and did Bella Figura, and my invitations come in the mail Monday! I am so in love with their designs, quality, and the eco-consciousness of the company, so the $1450 I spent on invites felt at least somewhat justified! Call me crazy, but I go weak in the knees for all things paper!
Geez...that's steep!! Love their invitations though.
Aubrey Atlas is finally sending me samples, but claims they are "invitations that did not pass our quality test". I mean I guess I'll have to see them to judge first, but who sends a potential client low quality SAMPLES?? 
I went with Dauphine Press but ordered through Linda at the Wedding Library in New York. FYI, a lot of the vendors are slightly negotiable right now because of the recession. It was so helpful to work with a third party who has personal relationships with all the vendors and helps them get their prices more in line with what brides can pay right now. We ended up with totally personalized letterpress invitations, with parts of the invitations in 2-color, at the same price I was quoted for inkjet invitations at Kate's Paperie. One vendor was even offering 15% off right now. Although I looked at Etsy, ultimately, some of the boutique presses have prices that aren't too far off from the smaller presses.
@ Miss Burgundy: I know that Aubrey just got a new letterpress machine, so maybe the samples she's sending you are from her previous printer. Regardless, all of their work is (IMO) of superior quality to the work I've seen from other, larger print shops. They individually hand-stitched my thank-you cards and invitations (!!!!). I ended up having to go with lower-quality paper because my budget is the size of a thimble, but I honestly can't tell a difference and my guests who have seen the invitations and the rest of my stationery have been floored.
Atlas & Campbell ARE a new design house, so that's probably why they don't have ready-made samples to pop in the mail. Good thing you're getting married in 2010, so you've got a TON of time to meet with and evaluate your designers!
As someone who's self-employed, I have to make sure to plug the independent designers and vendors, because they work so hard and do everything with such love and talent. Plus they're great for working in your budget and for creating one-of-a-kind products. So keep an open mind, even if they don't have the glossy PR campaigns that the bigger vendors do! :)
@Wiglet- funny that you posted about this now, because I got the samples from Atlas & Campell yesterday and I have to say...I was definitely blown away. I got to see a sample of the stitched cards and I couldn't believe the attention to detail and just the really awesome quality of it. I kind of thought I was all set and had a vendor selected, but I'm carefully reconsidering now...:)
Yay! I'm so glad you liked what you saw!!! I wonder if you got to see any of my stuff...(mine colors are yellow and gray). :)
just an update with where we ended up since this thread was started. We came down to either TwinRaven Press or ParkLake Press. Due to time constraints and the ability to quickly customize designs we chose TwinRavens.....they arrived today and I couldn't be more pleased. The quality of the indentions, paper, etc is what we were looking for. The price was exactly what I was quoted in the beginning and Kristin was very very easy to work with. We ended up choosing a 3-color design for a bit less than the same price range as a 2-color design at some of the other companies. Overall I am very pleased with our choice and would recommend TwinRavens!
Thanks for all the help and suggestions along the way!!
Check out CraftMasterInvitations.com, their letterpress invites are at least 50% cheaper than in US - even after shipping.
Attachments
First off, I'd start by visiting a recent thread about this: http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/letterpress-suggestions-please
Secondly, I would look through these vendor's websites and see if they have a general style you like or if you are inspired by their work. If you can narrow it down to a few, contact them and request samples so you can look and feel their work and ask them what they're offering (get an idea of price, if they do custom work, etc).
And lastly, I'll briefly summarize what I've learned about a few of these vendors based on other threads and contact with them-
Bella Figura does AWESOME amazing beautiful work but it is not cheap. It is actually quite expensive. Heard nothing but good things about them. I have some of their samples and was pretty blown away.
Twin Ravens Press is the one I'm leaning toward myself- Kristin the owner is very friendly and professional, and does some really amazing work at great prices. She does custom work and I just really like her designs.
I think Atlasprod is actually Atlas & Campbell, and their work is really nice. Working on getting some samples from Aubrey so I can see it up close and personal. They seem friendly and willing to work within your price range. But I really like the designs in their blog.
Oh, thank you! I actually did see that thread a while back, thanks for pointing it out as a reminder though!
I guess my thing is, why are some of the letterpress companies SO much cheaper than others? Are they new? Do they use cheaper ink?
What could they possibly be doing that lets them sell their things for less?
Hi fabulouslyengaged
I think the price difference comes from a lot of things. Here's a list I compiled quickly:
-how long they've been in business
-how much overhead they have (are they a one-person printing shop or do they have employees and other expenses they need to cover)
-how much custom design work they do (are they a straight printer or do they design as well)
-how well-known and how popular their services are. People on etsy are often just starting out so their prices will be less than others.
-are they actually printing the work themselves or are they outsourcing it to another printing company.
HTH
Definitely is helpful. Thanks! Picking the designer seems nearly impossible! They all seem so talented. I guess I need to go back through and pick the one that has more of the "style" I'm looking for!
Habibi is right on. I did ask a couple of the smaller vendors how they could possibly afford to give such great (custom!!) work at the low prices they do, and the response was that most of them have very small shops, so they don't have any overhead or staffing expenses. They also have a lower demand, so they are going to have a lower price point.
Definitely do go through and look for "style" that you like- not to say that if you don't see anything you love a designer can't custom create it for you, but if you see something you really like the designer might have an easier time of making it for you. (Example: I recently fell in love with a kate spade invitation suite that is amazing but I can't afford, so I'd like to mimic it and borrow the design idea from it. I looked through the letterpress designer's work and noticed that Twin Ravens did something similar and in the same general style as this invitation, so I'm confident that if I show her my request she can make something up that will make me happy). Another example: While hello, lucky! has some really cool invitations, they're just too modern-looking for me- I want something rustic!
Hi Fabulouslyengaged.
I used Invited Ink to make letterpress invitations to my at home reception. And I highly recommend them- they were prompt, professional, very chic, and did exactly what I asked for.
I also used Ceci NY for my wedding stationary which is one of the top letterpress design companies out there. First of all the custom experience was very different. But also, the feel of the 100% cotton paper, the texture, the intricacy of the letterpress, this is all so much higher quality. They also cost 10x more.
So yes, there are differences when it comes to reputation, overhead, custom vs. non-custom. But also there is a difference in quality so I would just ask for samples along with the pricing so you can see what you get and for how much.
I LOVED my invitations with Invited Ink but I wouldn't really compare what they are to what I have from Ceci.
LM-Thanks for letting me know about paper quality. I've ordered some samples from a couple of them and will be very curious to see what the difference is in the paper!
Also, Miss Burgandy. Thanks for reminding me about the style.
I had some issues trying to purchase my STDs because I chose someone who's style was VERY different from things I liked.
When I go home today, I will take a closer look.
I do have to add really quick- after seeing the samples I got from Bella Figura and comparing them to Twin Ravens, I noticed that I preferred the soft cotton paper from Bella and the fact that their letterpress engravings were very deep over the Twin Ravens samples that I got, which were on paper that I did not like as much and the pressing was not as deep or obvious.
I talked to Kristin at Twin Ravens about it and she said that you really have to specify with your vendor if you want the "letterpress feel" on your invitations. She also said that she can use a 100% cotton paper if I want to make a deeper impression, and if the design has thinner lines the letterpress will be more obvious. I believe her on this one because she tossed a few business cards into my package and they were made out of a softer, more cotton-y paper and had deeper impressions on them. So I would absolutely ask about that as well if you're interested in it, and I'm sure they can provide samples to show you.
Miss Burgandy- I know there are different types of 100% cotton paper to use, particularly in thickness. I am definitely looking forward to seeing them when they arrive now.
Thanks for the heads up!
Hi...I just wanted to throw another name out there. We are currently waiting on our plates to come in so Kristin can start printing our invites. We had the same concerns about a deep "letterpress feel" that Miss Burgundy mentioned above and choose a soft paper to allow for them. I can't wait to see how they turn out. We choose Twin Ravens based on cost, ability to custom design a bit more (including a custom size), and quick turn-around since we need to mail our invites by April 15.
I also loved Bella Figura, but our 2nd choice was Parklife Press. Travis was great at getting samples mailed and answering questions. I personally liked the "feel" of their samples better than any of the others (including Bella). They have examples to choose from but will customize things for you as well. http://www.parklifepress.com/
ggsb- I am really glad you mentioned Parklife Press, those are stunning!! I may just request a sample and see!
I do letterpress. I'm making my own wedding invitations. The best paper to use is 100 percent cotton Crane's Lettra. It's the top-of-the-line, made specifically for letterpressing. Anyone can order it. You can order it by the crate from a distributor (listed on the Crane website) and ask your printer if you can provide the paper. Or ask what their paper costs are and compare to what you can get from a distributor. It may be cheaper that way.
You may also want to check out www.CraftMasterInvitations.com They offer get prices and can customize for you.
Hi! I just wanted to give you a correction for the original list you posted: as Ms. Burgundy said, atlasprod is now Atlas & Campbell (http://atlasandcampbell.blogspot.com). They're doing my invitations and I'm DYING with love for them. I love that they're independent and everything they create is custom. Aubrey keeps you up-to-date on everything and they do incredible work. So far my guests have only seen the thank-you notes they designed for me and I've already gotten a bunch of emails from people asking who designed my stationery! I've never had a response like that. They're far and away my favorite vendor I've worked with since the wedding planning started (along with Yvonne Wong, my photographer! Also amazing. It's great to support independent women in this process. :) )
So we had picked economical simple invitations....then something odd happened....my FI saw the letterpress samples from Crane & Co. He LOVES them, and is 100% in favor of the added expense (we are funding the wedding costs) to have them. This is probably the most excited he has been about any part of the planning process. It's equally comical and cute :)
So my question to all you out there is, other than Crane & Co. and Hello Lucky.... who would you suggest we look into for Letterpress Invitations?