Adorable accents on your wedding invitations

If you are anything like me, you are a sucker for anything cute, tiny and clever. That is why I love seeing symbols within wedding invitation stationery. Before you say anything about the cheesiness of a symbol on something so sophisticated as a wedding invitation, consider the ways in which symbols can work for you!

Religious Symbols

Religious symbols will work wonders to add charm to your letterpress wedding invitation design, as well as let guests know just what kind of wedding celebration you will be throwing.

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Especially when you are having two separate ceremonies during your wedding celebration, guest will appreciate knowing which is which.

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Meal Selections

Using symbols in place of meal descriptions will save you room within your wedding invitation response card. Chic beef, pork, chicken, fish and veggie symbols will save you room within your response card. Guests will be delighted with the little symbols as well!

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Would you use a symbol within your wedding invitation stationery?

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Written by Katie

Add some color to your wedding invitation…

There’s endless ways to customize your letterpress wedding invitation. Some are easier than others. One of the easiest ways to spruce up your invite is by using a colored outer envelope.

Here’s just a few reasons why we think colored envelopes are great additions to wedding invitations:

• They require zero DIY effort (unless you’re adding an envelope liner, which isn’t a bad idea!).

• Colored envelopes will seriously “wow” guests. Even the postman or woman will be wondering what’s inside!

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• If you only chose one ink for your letterpress wedding invitation, but have included a second color within your wedding color scheme, you can make up for that lost ink with a colored envelope.

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If you opt for a colored envelope for your wedding invitation set, but still want your return address letterpress printed on it, do not fret! We can easily letterpress or digitally print your return address on a colored envelope just as well as a white, pearl or ecru one!

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Written by Katie

Another battle begins…

Your wedding invitations are a defining part of your wedding celebration. They announce the details, set the mood and reflect your personality.

Have you put any thought into how you want your wedding invitations to be printed? If you are like most brides out there, you are trying to decide between letterpress and digital printing methods. There are things to love about both options– here are just a few.

Letterpress

Impression
The letterpress printing process has many ascetic qualities, one of them being the impression that the press leaves upon the invitation paper. Luscious, soy-based inks are impressed onto the paper, perfect for brides looking for a three-dimensional quality to their invite.

Tradition
Letterpress is a traditional printing method that is cherished by vintage lovers everywhere. If you are a bride who feels like they’re from another place in time, letterpress is the way to go.

Handmade
Letterpress adds a truly handmade feel to your wedding invitations, because they are! Each invitation is unique and the customization options are limitless.

*VS*

Digital

Budget-friendly
Most brides choose digital wedding invitations because they fit within their wedding budget. Large invitation suites require a lot of printing, which can get expensive with letterpress. There are equally elegant digital invitations as there are letterpress designs, available in a range of styles and themes.

DIY
Home printers make digital wedding invitations accessible to the DIY bride, if they can afford the ink. Although printing your wedding invitations at home is possible, we suggest working with a professional printer to ensure consistency and quality.

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Order samples today to experience the differences between letterpress and digital printing, and decide for yourself who will win this battle!

“We just received them today and they’re just amazing. Thank you and your team!” ~ Vidya

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Written by Katie

New Romantic Invitation Designs For Your Big Day

Don’t let the romance get lost within too many wedding themes and motifs in your wedding planning. If you are looking for luscious, romantic letterpress wedding invitations, we have three new designs that will sweep you off your feet!

Liza

Liza is the ultimate romantic letterpress wedding invitation. Your wedding ceremony details are written out in custom calligraphy and then letterpress printed into luxurious Crane Lettra paper.

Filigree

Filigree takes borders to a whole new level. Romantic motifs in the corners of your invite will have everyone feeling the love within your wedding invitation.

Burgues

Every time we print an invitation with the Burgues font, our heart breaks just a little bit. So much romance is held within those little letters and whimsical swashes.

Still haven’t found the perfect romantic letterpress wedding invitation design? Just take a peek at our invitation gallery where there are more designs to choose from!

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Written by Katie

Invitation wording options for classic brides…

Wedding invitation wording can be one of the most confusing and stressful parts of planning your wedding day. Deciding on which name to mention first, which parents to include, and all of the little traditional tidbits within the invitation is important, so don’t skip over these tiny details!

If you are throwing a formal affair, don’t forget to word your wedding invitation carefully! Always proof read and never settle on something that doesn’t sound right. We’ve got four posts heading your way on this tricky subject, so let’s focus on names first!

Getting Started

Have you decided how you are going to display your names on your wedding invitation? The order in which the names appear is usually dictated by the set of parents who are hosting the affair. For example, if it is the bride’s parents throwing the party (or at least paying for it), be sure to list her name first, proceeded by her parents’:

Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Smith
invite you to the marriage of their daughter
Angela Marie
to
Benjamin Williams

Traditionally, it was the bride’s parents who were hosting the ceremony, but most weddings these days are a bit less formal than that. Sometimes there are families that split the cost and sometimes parents are not involved at all.

If you are holding your ceremony within a house of worship, there is a traditional way to open your invitation: by requesting the honor of your guests’ presence.

Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Smith
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Angela Marie
to
Benjamin Williams

If your wedding isn’t a traditional one, here are some more ideas and inspiration on including parents’ names within your wedding invitation wording.

Stay tuned for more tips on how to word the ceremony details within your formal wedding invitation!

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Written by Katie

Are you a Bay Area bride?

We recently had the pleasure of being a featured vendor at this year’s City Club Affaire in San Francisco. There’s something so amazing about working with local brides and vendors to create the wedding of a lifetime, and we never pass up the opportunity to hang out at the City Club!

In between stopping by vendor tables, brides-to-be enjoyed complimentary hors d’oeuvers, champagne cocktails, live entertainment and more. They also left with a swag bag full of goodies and a list full of potential vendors for their upcoming big days.

One of the brides who stopped by our booth, Liz, entered a raffle we set up for 100 letterpress wedding invitations! Congrats Liz, we can’t wait to print your invites for your 2012 wedding.

If you are a Bay Area bride, be sure not miss this event next year!

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Written by Katie

Go to the Invitation Gallery

Check out our special on letterpress invitations and save!

Pantone predicts the color trend forecast for 2012

Pantone recently worked with fashion gurus to choose the colors for their Spring 2012 Fashion Color Report. Take a look at each color and their possibilities within your letterpress wedding invitation design!

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Cabaret ~ Driftwood ~ Tangerine Tango ~ Sweet Lilac ~ Solar Power

Sodalite Blue ~ Starfish ~ Bellflower ~ Margarita ~ Cockatoo

New Letterpress Wedding Invitations for Winter Brides

The presses are always running here at Invitations by Ajalon! Whether we are printing a wondrous wedding invitation suite for a bride-to-be, or coming up with new designs to feature in our gallery, we love the sound of the machines running, the smell of the ink, and the luscious look of letterpress.

Along with printing an amazing range of letterpress wedding invitation designs in 2011, we keep creating more styles to add to our gallery. We have recently printed three new letterpress designs perfect for the winter 2012 bride!

Belle Mer

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Liza

Send Me My Free Samples of Liza

Filigree

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You and your guests will love the luxury that letterpress has to offer. Check back to our invitation gallery often, as we’re constantly adding new styles to the list!

“We just received them today and they’re just amazing. Thank you and your team! ~ Vidya”

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Written by Katie

Go to the Invitation Gallery

Check out our special on letterpress invitations and save!

The touch, the feel….of letterpress ; )

Have you experienced the luxury that is letterpress wedding invitations? There is so much to appreciate within these pieces of paper art: deep impressions, luscious inks, and tree free paper are just the beginning.

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When shopping for your wedding invitations online, photography—no matter how perfect—can not justify the feel of the letterpress printing process. We always suggest to our brides, even the ones ready to start the presses, to order samples before settling for any specific design.

Ordering samples is easy and affordable. You receive multiple wedding stationary pieces of your choice, helping you determine what your dream suite will look like. Paper choices and ink colors are provided, so you know all of your options.

We love letterpress here at Invitations by Ajalon, and we truly enjoy spreading that love. Order some samples today to see what we’re talking about!

“Afzal and I both just wanted to write and say thank you so much for all of your great work with the invitations! Everyone loved them and they were just so beautiful! Disappointing that we never had a chance to meet you in person but all the more reason we feel so fortunate to have found you and had such a great experience.  Thank you again, Neetika”

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Written by Katie

Go to the Invitation Gallery

Check out our special on letterpress invitations and save!

Why do I need two envelopes for one invitation?

I’ve heard quite a bit of confusion regarding the envelope situation for wedding invitation sets! To tell the truth, I was kinda confused at first, too. Why would you need two envelopes just to send one invitation?

Mainly it is tradition. Back in the days of stagecoaches, an outer envelope was used to protect the inner envelope from any damage that might occur.

The guests’ formal address is printed on this outer piece, with their full formal titles:

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Smith
100 Park Ave
New York, New York 10003

The inner envelope is kept safely inside. Guest names are printed to indicate just who is invited to the affair:

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

or

Mr. Smith & Guest

If  you’re all about keeping in line with tradition, inner and outer envelopes make one classic wedding invitation set. While the postal services these days are treating our mail with more love and care than in the past, it never hurts to take some extra precautions– especially when mailing out your personalized pieces of letterpress art.

“Thanks so much for your help. The invites look great and I love the strawberry love stamp. Really appreciate your efforts! -Lorna”

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Written by Katie

Go to the Invitation Gallery

Check out our special on letterpress invitations and save!