invites & thank yous

[mercoledi]

Those are amazing! I can see why you''d turn away the first set for having the dots not aligned correctly.

And I love love love your map! I saw it in one of the early pics and thought gee, what''s that cool geometric thing? It''s awsome!

 

[jcrow]

Date: 8/23/2006 2:49:41 PM
Author: mercoledi
Those are amazing! I can see why you'd turn away the first set for having the dots not aligned correctly.

And I love love love your map! I saw it in one of the early pics and thought gee, what's that cool geometric thing? It's awsome!

thanks! honestly these comments are what i needed to hear after all the first mess!
i thought about posting a pic comparing the two invites- yuck vs. perfection.

but i figured yall would really think i'm invite obsessed- ha, it's ok... i am.

eta: oh and regarding the map-- when i should the pre-printed mock-up of the invites to design friends, they were like does our town really look like this?! ha, i was like um- no. i made it pretty. plus i think straight lines are easier to read and follow than crazy curvy ones.
i just did some simplifying.

 

[fatafelice]

Of course we want to see comparison pics! We love pics of everything!

 

[jcrow]

Date: 8/23/2006 2:55:10 PM
Author: fatafelice
Of course we want to see comparison pics! We love pics of everything!

ok, just for you.

just don''t say "i don''t see any difference" cause i''ll cry.

no, but seriously, i don''t think i''ll be able to photograph the paper quality difference and the letterpresses quality difference. honestly, the first round doesn''t even look letterpressed. or like they used metallic ink. not to meniton the WRONG color metallic ink. urgh.

i''ll see what i can do!

 

[jcrow]

Date: 8/23/2006 2:42:13 PM
Author: fatafelice

Date: 8/23/2006 1:42:48 PM
Author: jcrow

Date: 8/23/2006 12:36:05 PM
Author: fatafelice

Well, mine are going to be $1950 for 100. That includes the custom illustrations, the invites, and the reply postcards. I hope I am not overspending. I really didn''t shop around like I should have.

I know you are getting your ''thank yous'' flat printed, but what about your programs? I really want mine to be letterpressed as well, but I am not sure I can justify the cost.

ok- i''m not so crazy after all. my were around that for 150 invites and letterpressed envelopes. this includes the paper, the metallic ink, letterpressing, scoring, folding, trimming, hand binding with linen thread.

the programs will be printed on my home printer. i will buy the paper in bulk and hand assemble them.

See! I wish I had been confidant enough in my own skills to do the illustration myself. I think that is eating up a lot of the cost. I should add that mine does also include inner and letterpressed outer envelopes, and she is doing caligraphy for our names on the invites (not each one separately, but you know what I mean). Still, I really wanted a booklet style invite more like yours.

ETA: The Crane''s letterpress with all the pieces -- and a stock motif -- would have been about $1500, so I can justify that at least this way, I get the illustration/design I want!

i am sure having someone customize the invitations does cost a bit. but, it''s probably easier in the long run.
i mean, i had one heck of a time just finding a letterpresser that printed someone else''s design! i think you went a great route. personalized one-of-a-kind letterpressed invites?! goes with your dress.

your inner envelopes are letterpressed too? or did you just order env. through the printer? i ordered mine from a env. warehouse.

i ordered two kind of inner env. the cocoa brown and a soft white (to match the invites) that have little flecks of silver. ok- bad description! you barely notice the sparkle. the sparkle isn''t silver so much as it is the same color of the paper. they are called curious lightspecks silver.

 

[fatafelice]

i mean, i had one heck of a time just finding a letterpresser that printed someone else''s design! i think you went a great route. personalized one-of-a-kind letterpressed invites?! goes with your dress.

But I could have just taken advantage of all your legwork and used your printer!

To answer your question, the inner ones aren''t letterpressed, just the outer and that with just the return address and a small "bird carrying letter" motif. I wanted navy inner envelopes, but it would have been too much. I think she said they all came as a set with that paper. I never thought about getting my own envelopes. Oh, well.

 

[jcrow]

Date: 8/23/2006 3:19:15 PM
Author: fatafelice

i mean, i had one heck of a time just finding a letterpresser that printed someone else''s design! i think you went a great route. personalized one-of-a-kind letterpressed invites?! goes with your dress.

But I could have just taken advantage of all your legwork and used your printer!

To answer your question, the inner ones aren''t letterpressed, just the outer and that with just the return address and a small ''bird carrying letter'' motif. I wanted navy inner envelopes, but it would have been too much. I think she said they all came as a set with that paper. I never thought about getting my own envelopes. Oh, well.

and we all know how much legwork that was! SO glad that''s done!!

inner env: that''s what i figured. Love that little birdie!

PLEASE post pics of the finished invite! it''s going to be so beautiful!

 

[Scintillating]

SPECTACULAR!
I would be *SO EXCITED* if I got one of those in the mail.
You do nice work Julie!
Thanks for sharing pics with us.

Scintillating...

 

[jcrow]

Date: 8/23/2006 4:12:57 PM
Author: Scintillating
SPECTACULAR!
I would be *SO EXCITED* if I got one of those in the mail.
You do nice work Julie!
Thanks for sharing pics with us.

Scintillating...

awe, really?!! that makes my hear happy

glad to share! and now our names are out...hehe.

 

[fatafelice]

Jcrow, now you''ve done it! You sent me over to weddingbee and I read all about the Gocco screenprinter and now I have it in my head that that is the perfect solution for my thank yous and programs! And maybe even wood veneer table numbers.

Have you ever used one of these? Any thoughts?

 

[jcrow]

Date: 8/24/2006 9:38:58 AM
Author: fatafelice
Jcrow, now you've done it! You sent me over to weddingbee and I read all about the Gocco screenprinter and now I have it in my head that that is the perfect solution for my thank yous and programs! And maybe even wood veneer table numbers.

Have you ever used one of these? Any thoughts?

actually, i've never heard of it! i know the finished printed pieces look so nice, but honestly, i'd be very scared and intemidated to try it at home for all of my wedding pieces. i also wonder about it because it seems a bit on the kiddy side (think easy bake oven...).
my thinking is leave it to the professionals. but that's me. and like i've said- i've never heard of it or have tried it.

but then again, i do LOVE screenprinting! the results are so nice! the ink coverage...mum.

 

[fatafelice]

Hmmmm...you make good points. That''s what I need to hear. .....Step away from ebay....

 

[jcrow]

i''d buy one if it weren''t on ebay... just to see...
looks like a lot of work.... ha, this coming from someone whose making her programs. i said to myself i wasn''t going to DIY anything for this wedding.... then i realized i had to have those and it would be MUCH cheaper to put together myself. or.... would it??

hum, thinking outloud here.... if i have the program sheets printed somewhere and i just bind them myself? hum... i need to spec that out to see.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I CAN''T BELIEVE I ALMOST MISSED YOUR INVITES!!!!! whew, okay, I am calm now. They really look awesome. You should be really proud of yourself! Love the RSVP postcard

makes it so much easier once they start pouring in too.

 

[ellaila]

jcrow, i don''t think i''ve commented on these yet (though maybe i have -- my head is a bit in the clouds these days!), but they are just so so so so lovely!! That paper ... oh that paper!! Just heavenly! I wish computers were advanced enough that we could touch things we see on the monitor because I just want to feel that texture for myself!

Good luck with the calligraphy! I''m sure that will be the icing on your already fabulous cake

 

[jcrow]

i just wanted to share with you all a funny little heartwarming email that was forwarded from my FMIL. (she received the email from a family member on their side and she forwarded it to me)

--
Ok, Let me just take a moment......I have been invited to many weddings.....dare I say hundreds.....and a lot of those have been pretty elaborate events.......but let me say that I have NEVER received a 7 page, hand calligraphied, LETTER-FRICKING-PRESSED invitation as perfect as this one.....and may I also say, I pray to the Gods that be, that you are not having to pay for any part of them. Depending on how many they are inviting....that could be some peoples entire wedding budget. Oh my God....the gay, Martha Stewart loving, romantic, "God is in the details"....part of me was totally impressed and in awe of how beautiful it was.

I hope I love her as much as I love her taste level....she knows how to do this stuff.....WOW!

Ok, I'll stop now.....I just had to share what a treat it was to open an invitation from someone who respects the way it was done...once upon a time!
--

it totally made my morning. it's comments like these that make me even happier we went the invitation route we did and that people DO care about invitions and not everyone just throws them out!

 

[sumbride]

Jcrow, that''s AWESOME!!!! I know you worked really hard on your invitations and it''s so great to have your work noticed and appreciated like that!!! CONGRATS!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Girl, you''d better get tons of awesome feedback on your invites. They''re AMAZING!

 

[fatafelice]

Jcrow, you (and your invites) deserve everyword of that praise! And it came from a man? Even more impressive!

If I got one of those in the mail, NO WAY would it go in the garbage!

 

[Scintillating]

Hehehe, see I told ya people would be excited. That email is fantastic.
I'm a happy know that some people DO know how special and expensive letter-fricking-press is.

Scintillating...

 

[jcrow]

i know! that email made all the headache and heartache so worth it! for a while everyday we''d hear a little blurb of praise about the invites from someone. but when FMIL sent me that email and said this pretty much sums up everyone''s thoughts, i lost it! it totally made my day, month, year, whatever. reminds me why i do what i do for a living and love it (most of the time

)

 

[larussel03]

wow, jcrowe, these are absolutely fantastic! I love the idea of it being like a book/pamphlet!!! Good things truly do come to those who go through hell first!!

 

[jcrow]

Thought I''d post our thank you cards. I decided to use the same graphic that I used on the invitations, though I rotated it a bit for interest. On our tear off RSVP cards in our invitations, we used the French phrase “Repondez S’il Vous Plait.” I thought it’d be nice to continue with the French theme for our thank you cards. On these I used “Merci Beaucoup.” And if we have time to do programs, I’ll use another French phrase for the cover.

 

[jcrow]

they are pretty small and fit in a 4 bar envelope.