Designing Our Wedding, Part 1: Invitations

The first thing we designed for our wedding was our invitation. We were aware that screen printing would limit the amount of fine detail, but we didn’t want to sacrifice pretty script lettering. Therefore, we went with a large format that would fold up to fit in a normal envelope but give us plenty of room for decent type sizes.

Once we had sketched and mocked up our design, we had to choose typefaces. This was tough. We wanted script, but the D’A in Christina’s last name eliminated a lot of choices (any big flourishes on the left side of the A made the D look like a middle initial.) We ended up using Fleurie for our names. Each letter had to be painstakingly kerned, but the final effect was what we wanted. The rest of the sans serif text was set in Museo.

Here’s where the trouble really started: the screen printing. We had every problem you could possibly have six ways to Sunday (all of which are documented in our handy Guide to Screen Printing Problems). In the end, we were very happy with the quality. Running our fingers over the dry ink was so satisfying. We were determined to get them right, and we learned so much in the process.

We enclosed the invitation and RSVP card in a folder that had the map printed directly onto it. The folder was made from French’s Mod-Tone in Grey. The RSVP postcard was printed on French’s Muscletone, which we found out was far too thick. Each one came back to us chewed up by USPS’s machine processing. Note the dark inside joke / nod to our favorite band.

As a final touch, we fashioned a band closure out of thick paper. We used our new Kelsey press to blind stamp our names and wedding date.

Finally, we stuffed them into navy blue envelopes and addressed them using wrap labels. More about the labels tomorrow!

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