Invitation Dilemma

Lifestyle Wedding, Fashion & Beauty
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I was starting to think about how I want my invitations designed. I definately want a damask(my favourite print ever) letterpress set.

Bit of a background. The rough details are
-small mehndi on a thurs (theme: coral, cobalt and teal),
-nikah in masjid on a friday followed by a small dinner (theme: ivory and mint),
-joint reception on a saturday(theme: My reception dress will be traditional red, however my decor is completely the opposite; modern and black and white)

Ok now that that’s out the way, lets talk invites.
I already know the kind of look I am going with. Simple, elegant, chic. Minimal colours, so very monochrome, black and white or ivory. I do not want any red. Neither do I want any other ‘colour’ colour on my actual reception card itself. I was thinking of maybe having the edges painted with a mint green, to tie in my nikaah theme, and have a black font to incorporate the reception theme. Am I making sense because I really hope I am.

Also, The actual invitation set! There is the mehndi card, the nikah card and the reception card. Thats three cards. Do I really need a seperate rsvp card, because I know each card adds up, especially when using letterpress.

Ok and a major issue is the mehndi invite. What colour do I make them; coral cobalt teal or have them the same colour as other invites. Thing is I wanted an invitation set, and my plan was to DIY lace belleybands and bring the set together. So will it look good if the mehndi invite is super colourful, and the other invites are relatively, well, not so colourful.

BELLAFIGURA! Anyone used them before, because the invites are SO me.

Of course, once I finalise an invitationer (is that a word lol) I will discuss the options with them too, but you guys are pretty cool and give some really good advice, so just thought I’d try my luck here first. Plus I am a worrywart and extremely detail oriented and stress about things like which font to use :stuck_out_tongue: (zaner pro for the win).
Thank You.
xx

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Re: Invitation Dilemma

The word is stationer :)

Bella Figura make beautiful invitations, I agree. With letterpress, you typically want all of your cards to go on one press sheet and one print run otherwise you will be paying set up costs for each card and it will run you upwards of $5000 easily. Letterpress is designed for one or two colours primarily- if you want three or more the price skyrockets because each colour is laid down one by one, and it is a labour intensive process. I typically recommend my clients choose two Pantone colours- not only does this bring cohesion to your set but it also means all your pieces go on one print run. Edge painting looks beautiful, but it's not entirely necessary if you are concerned about budget. Plus for edge painting to really show, you need to go with at least a 160lb or 220lb stock and both are quite pricey. What is your budget for these?

What I've done in the past is designed letterpressed invitations for the ceremony and reception and digitally printed the mehendi invitations. I use the same stock as the letterpressed pieces, use a matte finish, and that way I can use as many colours as I want. The fonts and overall theme of the design unify all three pieces despite the different printing methods used. It turns out well!

Zaner is a pretty font but I think Burgues Script is far more elegant. Carolyna Pro Black is a different flavour of script font but another huge favourite of mine.

It's good to have a sense of what you want but just remember that you will be working with a professional and it's also good to step back and let them work their magic on your stationery. Once you hire them, it is their job to worry over the details :)

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Re: Invitation Dilemma

P.S: Black ink on white or Ivory paper with mint edges would look gorgeous! Good choice!

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Re: Invitation Dilemma

WOW thank you for all that information! So you are a stationer :) Do you have a website or a facebook page?
The digitally printed mehndi invites make so much same. The most we are putting down is approximately $3500, to include favour tags and other little stationary like that too.

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Re: Invitation Dilemma

^ That sounds like a decent budget but what quantities do you need? Have you checked Bella Figura's pricing?

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Re: Invitation Dilemma

bella figura's website have quoted $3700, but that is with the program panels and mehndi cards, however i do not want those letterpressed, so the prices should be lower than 3700. favour tags havn't even been included yet :(
200 invites, with approx 50 mehndi cards (maybe even less)
sigh.

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Re: Invitation Dilemma

Wow guys that's a lot of money for invites! I haven't started looking for my wedding invites yet! This is scaring me :(.