Letterpress is a process of printing that dates back to the 15th century. And since this is not a history lesson, I will spare you the century by century details of the invention of the first letterpress machine by Johannes Guthenberg. But let’s talk about how it got to be one of the most sought after print processes for wedding invitations.
And it comes down to Martha Stewart. Yes, Snoop Dog’s friend. In the 1990s when she began promoting Martha Stewart Weddings, she championed the idea of letterpress again becoming mainstream. For those born in the 90s, think of it as what Chip and Joanna have done for the shiplap industry.
Letterpress is now seen as the standard when it comes to luxury wedding invitations.
What is Letterpress?
Letterpress printing is the process of creating a plate, which is designed from people like me. The plate is what is used to create each “press” ink into paper. One by hand, paper is set into the machine and the plate is pressed into the paper, creating the design. A beautiful cotton paper, like Lettra, provides the best outcome for this beautiful process.
Letterpress does provide some great design options such as things like foil press and blind press (press with no ink), which are two of my favorites.
Letterpress does also take some time. Because of the intensive process to create the plate and hand feed the printer, plan on some extra time for production.
The results though…worth it.
