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Letterpress is expensive, have you checked to see if there are any classes in the area to learn it? There was a Blogger Bee that took the classes and did her invitations while learning to do it herself. There are also some nice press machines at Hobby Lobby and Micheals.
Do you already have the design in PDF form? I used a local printer here in Santa Clara, CA called Jeronimo's. For one color prints, he charged me about $120 for each set up. I kept it to an invitation, and RSVP card. I purchased the letterpress paper separately from a paper store in LA and had it shipped to Jeronimo's.
I know Jeronimo's will ship the items back to wherever you need it. I bought envelopes separately online; total cost of my invites came out to be $2.90 for 100 sets. I think that's their set charge, whether you print 50 or 100 sets.
If you get an L Letterpress, make sure you read Boxcar's review of it. They have a lot of good instructions on how to get really nice prints.
@andrealex: I'm using the Epic 6 L Letterpress and ordered custom plates that I ordered through Boxcar Press.
I'm a good graphic designer, but inept with my hands, so I wasn't sure how they'd turn out. I *almost* have the inking down, and they look beautiful! In the end it's about the same price it'd be if I had sent invites to printed at a local print shop.
Give it a try!
@zagora: How are you doing the inking? I emailed Boxcar about it, but haven't heard back. Do you have an ink knife thing?
We did the exact same thing you're doing. I shopped around a lot because there was no way I could afford a regular letterpress printer. We ended up going with an awesome printer called Matthew Kelsey (www.mkprinter.com). He did an amazing job for a fraction of other printers' prices! I think I paid around $500 for a suite of 200 invites and inserts on really, really nice paper (140 lb. Holyoke Cotton, which is much"fluffier" than Crane Lettra--all our guests were super impressed). I also called Studio on Fire, and they gave me a really good quote too, but they only end up being cheaper if you're printing a large suite because they fit all of your items on a single page to letterpress... I'd try both of those guys!
@UK Bride: omg! i got a quote from matthew also! :D his pricing was also super competitive but jeronimo's was closer to us!
@vickyness: I already have the PDF that's a good option and very inexpensive! I'll google them and check thank you!
Thank you for all the suggestions ladies, I wish I could DIY this one but I'm running short on time and I'm terrified to do a mess while learning... but I could always use it as a plan B
@UK Bride: Thank you!, I'll try them as well I've emailed lots of people but that's the thing I only need like 70 sets so it ends up being more :(
@BoiledPNut: I do have an ink knife. I think it's the consistency of my ink - it was sticking to the surface and not to the brayer!
Out of desperation I took my olive oil spray and sprayed it once on the ink. It made it so much easier to work with and actually allowed me to spread out the ink.
Now that my mega birthday-engagement-housewarming-homerenovation party is done, going to get out the invites again and try another batch with less ink, but using a tiiiiny bit of olive oil.
@UK Bride: I'm using Holyoke paper too! Looooove it's texture. I had to take out the bottom of my L Letterpress to use because of its thickness, but it's perfect. So classy.
I used The Aerialist Press for my invites...love love love them!
I only got invites (instead of an entire suite) because of how expensive letter press is. I think I paid $435 for 100 invites. But, you pay by the piece and for how many colors. I did 2 colors.
I would def recommend them. They can also do the design for pretty cheap (it was included in mine).
I have also heard people say, just do the invites in letterpress and the rest can be digital or printed to save on $$$.
Good luck!
@andrealex: Contact Michelle from Invitation Galleria here in tampa. She did the printing for my invites for + a whole bunch of other things like calligraphy and ordered pocket folds and envelopes & stickers for 120 invitations for about $600 so i'm sure she can do something for you!
Check her out & good luck. :)
@kolsen206 I'm interested in using Aeralist Press! Do you have photos of your invites that you can share? Also, how much were design fees for a custom invite? Bet they are beautiful!
@andrealex: I love fancy letterpress invites. Where are you getting your paper?
@NDKatieK:No custom design fees. It was great working with them. PM me if you want to know more details. Photos at:
@andrealex: If you already have the PDF you should check out Reave's Engraving (www.reavesengraving.com). I supplied the artwork, the paper, and the envelopes and they letterpressed 125 invitations, response cards, and printed our address on RSVP envelopes for a total of $235 including shipping... They can also print on their paper, but I wanted to use Crane's Lettra paper so I supplied my own.
Chiming in about letterpress, too!
I just got my invitations back from a small word-of-mouth studio in LA called Traction Press. I'm not sure if they're still taking orders currently (they told me they are really swamped right now), but if you want some information about my invitations: I got 120 invitations printed on 220 lb Crane Lettra paper in 3 colors, 120 RVSP cards printed on 110 lb Crane Lettra paper in 2 colors, and 120 1x3" wedding website cards printed on 110 lb Crane Lettra paper in 1 color. Everything after tax was $694.
Here are some pictures of the final product (note: I did the design myself, and emailed them an Adobe Illustrator version of it, so they didn't design it for me. I'm not sure if they do custom design at an additional cost).
I'm not sure how well you can see the letterpress in the picture, but it's pretty deep in real life (too bad I had to blur out my entire 3rd color!)
This is a better straight on shot of the invitation
This is the RSVP card
And this is everything all put together!
Again, I'm not sure if they're taking additional orders now, but it doesn't hurt to ask if you're interested!
Good luck! :)
Hello Ladies! I actually ended up having them printed with a fellow bee member @epong, she has been so helpful on everything and they came out beautiful and for a price better that any of the prices thrown out there ;). so happy I went with her.
good luck and thanks to you all!
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I have a BIG dilema... I want everything perfect.... yes I know who doesn't? but beign the crafty person that I am I could resist to design me own PERFECT wedding invitation suite, now the big problem is that I want it letterpressed and it's so darn expensive! I've contacted a couple of studios that are willing to print my design but nothing under $700 for 50 sets... HELP... any suggestions?