engraved v. letterpress

Raised ink or depressed ink?

While engraved with the raised ink is more traditional for wedding invites (and keeps the card flatter b/c it is not indented by the lettering or designs) there is a special place in my heart for letterpress. Its probably the one wedding thing I knew I wanted from a young age. So letterpress it was for me...

But engraved also looks *awesome* if you are doing light ink on a dark background because you can get really good contrast. Usually this ends up looking modern or slightly less formal regardless of the pattern simply because it is not a traditional color scheme. But if I wanted such a design and had the budget, engraved would be the best choice.

I have always gone with engraving for stationery, business cards, invitations, etc. but I think letterpress would be very nice too.

It depends on how traditional you are. Engraving is the traditional method for wedding invitations, and typically signals a more formal affair. Letterpress is beautiful, too, and I''ve seen some really creative letterpress invites.

I believe that letterpress is significantly less expensive than engraving, as well, so that''s a bonus.

We had engraved invitations with white ink on black paper. I love engraving, so there was no question about it for us. If you prefer one look over the other, go for it.

This question is very timely for me.

My wedding will be very traditional (full catholic mass, evening reception), and formal (ballroom venue in a theater). So I knew that engraving was the type I should choose (for the reasons Haven listed above).

However, I chose letterpress. As you said, cocoloaw, there is a special place in my heart for it. While I know it might signal a less formal affair, I have chosen very traditional colors (off-white paper with black lettering) and a VERY simple, classic font scheme and design.

My letterpress Save-the-dates (the ones I designed and shared the copy for awhile back) just arrived from Mercurio brothers this week and I absolutely adore them. The price is right, too!

So, while engraving is beautiful and is certainly more traditional/formal, I think letterpress is a lovely and elegant alternative that is actually not very common, at least in my circle.

i love letterpress-i love the really deep letterpress on thick, cottony paper. the right invitation is something i will splurge on because i feel like it really sets the tone for the wedding. i never considered engraving until i researched it some today. i certainly never knew that it was considered the most high-end. i have received traditional engraved invitations, but they never made me excited the way that letterpress invitations do! letterpress is way less common among the people i know too. i think i''m going with it even though it is less traditional...i just hope nobody opens their invitation and thinks "ewe!"

Silly--nobody is going to think "Ew!" when they see your invites, Coco! They''re going to think "Ooh! Beautiful!" and "I''m so excited for Coco and Mr.Coco''s wedding!"

Letterpress is definitely more fun than engraving, that''s certain. I can''t wait to see what you choose!

Date: 7/13/2009 7:44:39 PM
Author: leeNY

My letterpress Save-the-dates (the ones I designed and shared the copy for awhile back) just arrived from Mercurio brothers this week and I absolutely adore them. The price is right, too!

Can I threadjack to ask how your interaction with Mercurio brothers was? I''m waiting for a quote from them, and so I''d love any details you''d care to share.

Date: 7/13/2009 10:10:05 PM
Author: Haven
Silly--nobody is going to think ''Ew!'' when they see your invites, Coco! They''re going to think ''Ooh! Beautiful!'' and ''I''m so excited for Coco and Mr.Coco''s wedding!''

Letterpress is definitely more fun than engraving, that''s certain. I can''t wait to see what you choose!

Yes, by all means, let us know - and post pics!