Pennsylvania-Pittsburgh

Invitation questions - colors, letterpress, etsy vs. B&M stores

Hi ladies!

So I have a wedding invitation question or 3!  :)

1.  This may sound really dumb, but do your wedding invitation match your "wedding colors"?  For example, I found some classic invitations that I love that are ecru / black writing and design, very simple and pretty.  However - black and ecru are NOT my wedding colors.  But do most people order invitations based on their wedding colors?

(I wouldn't order invitations that are navy/pink and then have my wedding colors be brown/yellow - but not sure how much you have to incorporate, if at all)

2.  Letterpress - OMG do I love letterpress - of course, b/c its SO MUCH more expensive!  I looked on Etsy and found some "decent" deals (ha!), but wanted to see- did any of you use "letterpress-esque" printing (I saw a few options of this - basically I think it was digital printing made to look like letterpress/not debosed) with luck?  Or did you find someone that is still new/cheap to letterpress that turned out well? 

3.  Etsy/online vs. brick/mortar store - I am thinking that Esty / online will garner the best pricing (and actually found some I really liked so far) but are there any local Pittsburgh shops that are just amazing?  Looking out here in LA is a joke, they are SO overpriced.

TIA!




Re: Invitation questions - colors, letterpress, etsy vs. B&M stores

  • phillychica85phillychica85 member
    Sixth Anniversary 100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I'm going to chime in for your first question. Our wedding colors are green, white, and black. I have been changing my mind over invites for MONTHS but finally made up my mind (I think, or at least the charge on my cc will remind me I did!). Long story short, our pocketfolds are not in one of our colors. I don't think anyone will notice or care too much since it's not some outlandish color. I'm not sure what most people do when it comes to this, but I think if you found a design that you really like and are happy with, I would say go with it. The invitations are not what you have on display on the actual day, your flowers, cermeony & reception decor are-to me those are the things. But, just my opinion :)

    I too love Etsy invite shops!
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  • LaFemmeRousseLaFemmeRousse member
    2500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    1. I think generally people try to match their invitations to the wedding colors.  I will be doing this, but I am very focused on carrying my colors through all of my wedding events and details, down to my STDs, the wedding website, and even the clothing I wear for WR events :)  I'm a nerd, haha.  That said, wedding invitations traditionally were always ivory and black, this "wedding color" thing is more of a modern invention, so no one would give you the side-eye for ivory and black invitations no matter what your colors were!

    2. I love letterpress too.  I just ordered my invitations from Bella Figura, a letterpress company that uses "tree-free" paper, and I am totally in love with them:
    http://www.bellafigura.com/letterpress-wedding-invitations.html

    Not sure what your budget for stationery is but I'm happy to let you know specifics about my order total, if you want.  Sorry, no experience with "letterpress-style" printing.

    3. If you are confident in your seller and have seen physical examples (like, held them in your hand), I think you'll be fine either way.  Especially living in an expensive part of the country, you'll be more likely to find a good deal on Etsy, I'm sure.  FWIW, I ordered my STDs through Etsy and was thrilled with them.  For my invites, the company I'm using is an actual organization with a store, but it's located in Syracuse, NY and I only found them through their online presence.  For invitations, I would just be sure to request samples so you can feel the paper and printing quality, but from there do what's prettiest and cheapest!
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  • edited December 2011
    I also think many people use their wedding colors in their invites, but if you have black and white invites that would be fine-it matches everything!  My colors are blue and silver and the invites just silver. 
      i would say the same as Jenn-if you've physically held a sample of the invite in your hand and love it-I'd order them from etsy.  Many of the ladies on their will make you a sample for a buck or two-totally worth it IMO, especially if you end up not liking it!
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  • missyt180missyt180 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Thanks philly and LaFemme!

    For the wedding colors, I am going back and forth.  The ballroom where we will be having the ceremony and reception both is more of a warm color palette - originally I liked the idea of doing navy/gray, but don't want to compete with an already pretty setting, so am really flexible and thinking of changing the colors to espresso/eggplant or something similar.

    But I like more "classic" invitations that are plain in color (black type/ivory or white cardstock), but pretty in detail.

    Just wanted to see if I was WAY off base by going a bit different - if everyone used wedding invites the same color as their wedding.

    Having attended several weddings, you can see how much attention I paid to this detail when it came to other brides!  :)
  • edited December 2011
    I echo the color post thing - mine were white silver and black, which were my wedding colors, but I have received lots of white and black invites in the mail from other weddings.  I took the color theme all the way through like lafemme (it's soooo fun to match outfits to colors....no one else noticed though but me - lol).

    As far as letterpress, I did thermographic which turned out lovely and not as expensive as letterpress.  I do love the raised look and got lots of compliments.

    I did ordering through a dealer for Carlson Craft invites, then added additional services from B & M stores in PGH.  I think as long as you touch the invite and envelope etc and are pleased with the quality then go for the online!  People ultimately throw these invites away so blowing a ton ton of money on them is silly.  I did have pretty pricey invites, and don't regret that at all, but I know some people didn't even open them. 
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  • edited December 2011
    1) We matched our invites to our wedding colors.  Since I DIYd, this was easy.  The invites were blue and tan, our BMs dresses were blue, our Jr. BMs dresses were tan, our programs were blue and tan, our favors and placecards were blue and tan, etc.  However, I agree with Lafemme, ivory, black, and white are very classic and can look very beautiful.

    2) No help, sorry.

    3) I would say in regards to Etsy, definitely get a sample.  We were going to use Alaun by Design, which used to be an Etsy store (may still be one), but now also has their own website.  Everyone over on the South Jersey board on TK loved them.  When we ordered the sample, the quality was really bad and I decided to DIY using better materials.  I'm happy that we didn't place an order without getting the sample.  That being said, a lot of people have used Etsy and loved them (dreamalotmp is a major fan of the Etsy store that did her invites).

    HTH!
  • LaFemmeRousseLaFemmeRousse member
    2500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Missy, I don't think it's a big deal that you haven't settled on your wedding colors yet.  If this is the case, I think doing the classic ivory and black invitations sounds like a great idea!

    I also want to highlight something that you said and Bri noted as well- nobody will notice these details like you yourself will!  Truthfully, the only two wedding invitations I've received that I remember AT ALL were one really, really, really ugly one and the one from one of my BM's weddings because of some particular drama about one of the details on it :)  So no matter what you decide... I'm sure it will be fine.
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  • ast11ast11 member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    When I was looking for letterpress invitations I found a great local place that was cheaper than most websites I looked at. Its called Toast and its in Pittsburgh on Baum Blvd. The people there are great and you can come in and meet with them, look at sampes, custom design something - they are really great. I ended up just doing thermography because I ended up going over budget on a few other things so I had to cut back on the invitations.  You might be worth checking out.
  • edited December 2011
    I live down the street from Toast! on Baum Blvd and it's a restaurant/wine bar  Not an invitation place.  Great restaurant, but not at all wedding related. 
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  • missyt180missyt180 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Huh.  There is a Toast Letterpress on Baum Blvd. too!  Well, at least there is a website that says there is.

    Weird that 2 completely different shops have the same name on the same street!

    That is like Iza-kaya and Izaka-ya out here- both near 3rd, both restaurants, worlds apart in terms of star-rating.
  • ast11ast11 member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Yeah i was confused when I first saw them online too but I visited their studio and they said they are completely unrelated - actually I asked and they said that the letterpress studio was there before the restaurant. Toast Letterpress is in that professional building that is across the street from the Get-Go on Baum. Its pretty cool - they show you the letter press machines and explain teh process etc.
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