Post # 1
Member
14 posts
Newbee
I recently found and bought the most perfect wedding invites. They are made of handmade paper and I adore them. I had always planned on having the addresses printed on the envelopes. HUGE PROBLEM. The printer says the outer and inner envelopes are too thick to directly print on. What do I do? I cannot afford calligraphy, as that costs around $2 an envelope. The only other idea I could think of is to print labels…but I really don’t like that look and am worried that the labels won’t stick properly to the handmade paper. I’ve asked around and no one I know has nice (well, nice enough for invites) handwriting and the time to letter 200 invitations. Someone please tell me I am missing an obvious solution.
Post # 3
Member
1045 posts
Bumble bee
What I did for my placecards and escort cards was print the names in a pretty font on regular printer paper, then I slipped the printed sheet under the cards and traced the font onto my nice paper with calligraphy pens. It was really fast after the first few, definitely much faster than if I’d tried to concentrate and make my handwriting the best it could be. Could you try that? I did it on our glass coffee table, and just put a desk lamp on the floor and let the light shine up through all the paper, to make it clearer. I know it sounds like a crazy solution, but I didn’t have the time for a calligrapher, and this was a really simple way to get the look I wanted.
If you do it that way, though, make sure you take a sample of the handmade paper into the art store, to find the right pen. Some of my pens would bleed on the nice, thick paper.
Post # 4
Member
14 posts
Newbee
Thanks for the tip! You could see through the heavy paper? My paper is very thick and since I am trying to write on envelopes – I have to see through two pieces of paper.
Has anyone used labels and been happy with the result?
Post # 5
Member
560 posts
Busy bee
Try calling a kinkos or a printing place like that, and see what they will charge you to do the printing… I am going through the same thing myself right now…. 🙁
I have the mail merge already to go, and if my last printer option doesn’t work, I will hand them the disk with the mailmerge saved on it, and say “call me when it’s done!”
Post # 6
Member
6572 posts
Bee Keeper
i used clear labels. i thought they looked fine. i also had the mindset of it’s just an envelope, people probably won’t look at them and they will just throw them away, so why should i spend time and money on them.
Post # 7
Member
7 posts
Newbee
it’s possible you could do a mail merge and ink jet the envelopes. epson printers have a straight paper path and seem to work better with thicker stock
Post # 8
Member
1385 posts
Bumble bee
Clear labels will probably work, use a test paper for a trial and see how well it holds up. :o) Good luck!
Post # 9
Member
14 posts
Newbee
Thanks! I am glad to hear that people have had success with clear labels. I will give that a shot too.
I’ve already checked with the local printer in my hometown, as well as with Office Max. We don’t have a Kinkos . I assumed most printers would have the same equipment but it is worth calling around to places in the next town over.
Ajalon – Are you taking about ink jet home printers? I don’t have a printer at home but have been looking at getting one. If I could print the invites myself, that would be ideal. I thought that the professional print shop would be able to do more than I could at home. Thanks for the idea. I will check out different home printers to see what they can do.
Post # 10
Member
342 posts
Helper bee
Why not use decorative wrap-around labels? I did that for my STD’s and the design on the labels matched the design on the STD, everyone thought they were gorgeous! And it looked a little nicer than your average mailing labels In My Humble Opinion. Some of the bees have posted templates, and Martha has some too.
Post # 11
Member
342 posts
Helper bee
Oh – and check around on calligraphy, mine only cost $1.10 an envelope and looked gorgeous, one of the bees recommended her – Michelle Clark.
Post # 12
Member
1408 posts
Bumble bee
Try printing it with your printer! Our HP all-in-one wireless didn’t bleed or blink at all when I put even the thickest (110lb white!) envelopes through. I used Jane Austen handwriting font from http://www.dafont.com/ for our STD envelopes and I have gotten RAVE reviews! Everyone seriously though I’d written everything out by hand! Yay! 😀 If that fails, go jhphi’s suggestion of printing the fancy type out on thin paper and putting it in the envelope and tracing over it.
Good luck!
Post # 13
Member
14 posts
Newbee
Wow – dafont is awesome! Thanks for the tip. Now to find a printer that can take thick paper 🙂
Post # 14
Hostess
18644 posts
Honey Beekeeper
I used our at home printer for ours but it really was a huge ordeal and a lot of them got messed up. The envelopes weren’t even that thick to begin with but they didn’t always feed through the printer properly. My printer is the kind with the tray underneath and then it pulls the paper up and bends it around to print. I think most at home printers are like that. Honestly, I wouldn’t really try it on those because you will end up with a lot of wasted envelopes and hassle.
Post # 15
Member
14 posts
Newbee
UPDATE! You’ll never belive this. We found a caligrapher who will hand letter the outside and inside envelopes for…drumroll please….$1 an invitation.
Thank you for all the great advice 🙂
Member