I was recently surfing around some online letterpress printing forums when I stumbled upon a really interesting thread that was started by a bride to be. While I typically really do like a lot of DIY projects and typically support brides, grooms or anyone that wants to take things into their own hands, I was surprised and actually humbled by this discussion.
A bride was asking for advice about gocco and table top letterpress at home printing. While the responses were directed towards different aspects of in home printing process, there was a general warning that everyone voiced.
They said that buying a home letterpress kit with supplies, paper and inks combined with the time and energy that it takes to effectively operate a hand held machine can be costly. One person lamented that after several days of working with an in home printing press, they eventually gave up entirely and went to a professional printer. Another mentioned that there are online letterpress wedding invitation specials from professional printers that are nearly the same cost as the supplies and equipment needed to do it yourself.
Some of the respondents did mention that designing your own invitation and sending it to a printer can be a safe alternative, a process that I whole heartedly agree with. However, before you set your heart on a specific design or idea, check with your printer first. Depending on the printing process you choose for your invitations, there may be specific guidelines you may need to follow to produce printable art.
But just in case you still have any reservations about the difficulties of DIY printing, feel free to see what those that have toiled with the process have to say.
Making portions of your wedding invitations yourself can be fun, creative and self esteem building project, but just make sure you know what you are getting yourself into before you start.
Written by Nick
Invitations by Ajalon
View our letterpress wedding invitation gallery.
