Marcus and Jillian’s invitation was one of those things.

This is a great example of how hand-drawn illustrations and lettering translate well to letterpress. These invitations were illustrated and lettered by the couple’s wedding planner, Laura Helm of Ashton Events. You might recognize that name from these business cards.

We did a tone-on-tone theme, using a transparent white for the return address, a shimmery lavender for the RSVP envelopes and white and gold for the invitation and RSVP. The whole suite was printed of French Paper (Muscletone 140# Kraft, Construction Nightshift Blue A7s and Pop-Tone Grapesicle 4Bars).

Of course, we’d love to work with you on your custom letterpress invitations. Contact us for a quote or even just to chat.

photos: Matthew R Photo

It’s easy to take for granted the incredible feat of delivering documents across the country in just a couple days for 44 45 cents. I, for one, have some pretty indecipherable handwriting, yet my mail pretty much always gets there. That’s with great thanks to the USPS’ Remote Encoding Center.

The Wall Street Journal has a great article about the REC and the lengths the Service goes to to deliver barely-decipherable mail. Go read it and then come back.

I’ll wait.

I wonder how many wedding invitations, with their incredibly artful calligraphy, have to pass through the REC before arriving at  their destination. With the USPS experiencing so many challenges as of late, I think it’s plausible that a program like the REC may soon be on the chopping block. How many great calligraphers’ work is completely unreadable by USPS computers? What would happen to those invitations?

I’d hope that, should the REC program shutter, it would only be because digital deciphering had risen to a level where they weren’t needed. If not, I wonder if calligraphers might have to be a bit more conservative in their approach in order to ensure legibility.

Fred asked me to render this image in a three-color letterpress business card and I’m thrilled with the results! The first run was the halftone grey. You can see the shading in daddy’s overalls and trunk and junior’s whole head and ears. That was followed up with the flesh tones, which looked pretty amazing as-is (I posted a photo of this stage to facebook) and followed it up with Fred’s outlines and text.

This was an incredibly fun, challenging project. If you’re an illustrator or graphic designer and would like your own letterpress business cards, send me a note; I’d love to talk!

“This is goin’ green 1949 style, b*tch.”

She’s so sweet even Jenny couldn’t resist!

unclutterer's flickr pool

So, show me your workspace and how you’ve optimized it for your creative work. A link, an email, however you’d like. I can’t wait to see where you’re working.

With such a cool venue (7°) and great colors, it was so much fun bringing this invitation together. As a reflection of the venue’s signature angle, each piece of the suite was chopped off at a seven degree angle.  We letterpress printed a great deep purple onto Crane’s cottony Lettra paper and duplexed that to French’s Sour Apple paper. The RSVP featured a reverse of the papers with a white screenprint (which followed through the minimalist map card).

Rachelle and Bradley were thrilled with the responses they received to the RSVP’s request to “leave some love below.”

The wedding was featured on Every Last Detail, where you can get a glimpse of one of my favorite day-of pieces: the Lime Green vinyl appliques of the couple’s monogram!

I’ve committed to doing a better job of sending invitations to the photographer directly so that they get included in submitted photos. In the meantime, Rachelle and Bradley’s monogram (with a nod to the venue – 7°) can be seen in all its lime-green glory on the venue’s glass doors.

To see all of this beautiful wedding, visit ELD. And, of course, if you’d like some amazing invitations and custom wedding monogram vinyl appliques, drop me a line.

1. Use a spreadsheet. I love Google Docs because you can edit your spreadsheet from anywhere – including your phone or tablet – and have multiple editors (you, your spouse-to-be and your wedding planner (but not the parents if you value your sanity!)). The spreadsheet keeps all your information in one place and makes it easy to share that information with key vendors. It also allows will help you visualize key information (like number of out of state invitees or the balance between bride and groom’s lists).
2. Number your list. This is an important step that will make a big difference down the road! The first column of your list should be numbered (you can’t rely on row numbers because these will change if/when you sort your list). Here are two great methods for adding a numbered column to a spreadsheet. Each number represents one household (and one invitation). You’re not using these numbers for your final count.
3. Add names with an eye toward the future. Whatever contacts manager you use, it will likely allow you to import portions of your spreadsheet into your contacts. Trust me; I can’t tell you how many times I kicked myself for not saving that contact information after my wedding (hey, that was years ago). If you’re using Google contacts, here‘s info on the format they use. Additionally, enter information the way you’ll need it later (for you or your calligrapher when addressing invitations, for escort cards). Whether you’re doing things digitally or by hand, having the information correct (and formatted) will make subsequent steps so much easier.
4. Add “No. Invited” and “No. Attending” columns. Here’s where you get your final count from. The “No. Invited” column is your working headcount (assuming they all show) and “No. Attending” is the number you tell your caterer (and the planner and designer). It’s quite possible (and in some cases likely) that some RSVPs will come back for fewer or, God help you, more attendees than were invited. While I’ll refer you to Emily Post for handling the the latter, this is the place to keep track of just such discrepancies.
5. Put the number on the RSVP. Remember the numbers we added to the spreadsheet in #2? Put that number on the back of each corresponding RSVP – Not the envelope! The actual RSVP. Do this discreetly – on the back, in pencil or even invisible (UV reactive) ink. This spreadsheet/number combo will shave hours and headaches off of your RSVP tracking. You’ll quickly be able to see who hasn’t yet RSVP’d and, in the case of illegible handwriting or if a blank RSVP is returned (it happens WAY more than you’d think), you can track down the source of the reply. You’ll thank me for this.
6. Track it all. Your spreadsheet can be a great dashboard from which to view all aspects of your guestlist. It’s a great place to track dietary restrictions, RSVPs, seating assignments and more. Even better, the List is a great way to track your gifts and make sure everyone gets their Thank You cards (you’re sending Thank You cards, right?!).

If you’re deft with Google Docs, you can share the list with all of the vendors who need to know your guestlist without allowing them to accidentally delete a family member (though you may wish you could – that’s for another post). Being organized from the beginning can really help things go smoothly later on.

If you’re already married or a planner, what advice would you add to this list?

With all of the talk of shutting down Mail Processing Units and the ever clearer and present( um…-er?) possibility of a life post-USPS, many people have missed the fact that

Postage rates increase on January 22, 2012.

Via pyrrho

That’s just over three weeks away!

A first class stamp will cost $.45, an increase of a penny. It’s certainly not worth saving a dollar or two to rush your invitations to beat the increase, but there is an extremely important consideration to be had:

If you already planned on mailing out your invitations in the next couple weeks, make sure your RSVP envelopes have $.45 or Forever stamps on them!

I’ve found that understanding and grace is a complete crapshoot with the USPS. Don’t risk having to to make one of these:

Honest Mistake from Alexis & Rafe on Vimeo.