Lunalux letterpress stationery » Wedding Invitations

Design + Print: Minneapolis skyline invitations

Jenni — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:32:35 +0000

We created these skyline invitations last spring for a couple who was planning a downtown wedding. When they asked about the possibility of including an image of Minneapolis on the invitations, we had just finished printing notecards featuring a modified photograph of our downtown skyline (the cards were featured in our blog last March). So it was a breeze to translate this into a sophisticated urban invitation suite. The skyline and invitation text were letterpress-printed in sepia ink on 110# natural white Strathmore wove-finish cover. We created matching smaller cards for the hotel information and RSVP.

You can read more about our recent wedding invitation projects in our blog archive. If you’re thinking about custom letterpress-printed wedding invitations for your big day, click here for general information about our design and printing services.

Design + Print: Orange wedding invitations

Jenni — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 22:50:18 +0000

This project wrapped up months ago. But in honor of the spectacular fall weather we’re enjoying here in Minnesota (in November?!?!), this autumnal-colored wedding invitation gets the spotlight today. Nicole & Mike came to Lunalux over the summer in search of invitations for their September wedding at the University of Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum. After a browse through our sample books, they zeroed in on a very graphic invitation suite we created a few years ago; they loved the design but wanted to update the color scheme and explore different typeface options. Considering their plans to marry in a modern art museum, the bold color choice was no surprise: orange and taupe on pearl white cards. The type was a harder nut to crack; we must have looked at their names in two dozen different fonts, ranging from formal script to chunky slab-serifs. This calligraphy-inspired lettering beat them all. The text and a flowering branch is printed in bright orange, over a taupe silhouette of that same branch. The 6.25-inch-square invitations and matching RSVP postcards and thank-you flats were all printed on 100% cotton Lettra cover, and paired with a vibrant orange envelopes. We’re especially pleased with the RSVP card, and the way the branch silhouette separates the mailing address from the rest of the card.

It’s a great pleasure for us to create unique custom wedding stationery, weather that means modifying an invitation we’ve already printed, or dreaming up something new. It’s a treat to help couples imagine the invitation of their dreams, and then bring it into being for them! You can read more about other custom wedding invitations we’ve created in our blog archive, or click on over to the custom wedding stationery page for general information about our process and pricing.

In-house calligrapher, at your service

Jenni — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:30:57 +0000

Helen & Erik live on the east coast, but they discovered Lunalux while visiting Erik’s family in Minneapolis. Erik gets credit for designing their wedding invitation suite, including the fantastic tree illustration. I suggested a few minor edits to the text and the layout, but my main contribution was calligraphy on the invitations and envelopes. The hand-written names are letterpress-printed along with the rest of the invitation text; I wrote the bride and groom’s names over and over again, until each curve was just right, then scanned the best versions and dropped them into the layout like a graphic. The full set – wedding invitation, rehearsal dinner invitation & response card – was letterpress-printed in black ink on pearl white 100% cotton Lettra 110# cover, with matching invitation and response envelopes. When all the work of printing and trimming was finished, I set to the hefty task of hand-addressing the envelopes too, so the mailing address matches the text on the invitations themselves.

I have worked at my penmanship for many years, so it’s a great honor for me to share it with my clients. I have addressed a few wedding invitations in my time, and have occasionally incorporated my handwriting into greeting card designs, but this is the first time that my lettering has been letterpress-printed on an invitation. And it was such a thrill to see the finished product! Since this project was completed a few months ago, I have taken on a few other exciting hand-lettering projects – I look forward to featuring them here in our blog in the coming weeks.

Curious about our letterpress-printed wedding stationery? Click here to read more about our design and printing services. You might also enjoy browsing through our blog archives, where we’ve featured many of our favorite wedding projects.

Design + Print: mod floral invitation

Jenni — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:29:23 +0000

This blustery winter weather is bringing me down. So I’ve been self-administering a little paper therapy, sifting through stacks of summery samples to lift my spirits. The most effective treatment thus far? Adrienne and Matthew’s vibrant fuchsia and tangerine wedding stationery. This was such a big project for us, I’m not sure why it didn’t make the blog before now. Were we too busy to write? Did we get distracted by pretty shiny objects? Hard to say! But I’m happy to share it with you now, mid-blizzard. We started working with the bride and groom last May. When they first visited Lunalux, they had specific ideas about what they wanted on their invitations (a funky little flower, and bold lettering with a strong emphasis on the date) but left the particulars of the design up to us. So it was great fun to experiment with different graphics, fonts and compositions. We explored a number of charming flowers, mostly culled from our vast library of clip art; so we were excited that they settled on this two-color image, a Lunlux original.

The wedding invitation, with its RSVP postcard and separate invitation for a pre-wedding cocktail reception, incorporates the mod flower and bold sans serif typography. Everything is letterpress-printed in bright pink and orangey-yellow inks on fluorescent white 100% cotton Lettra cover. The face of the stark white envelope was punched up with a little flower as well. The couple also took advantage of our hand-addressing services, and we mixed a custom orange ink for the project – such a great way to introduce another color into the mix without splurging on three-color printing! As the big day rolled near, we created programs for the ceremony, and placecards (again, hand-lettered wtih custom-mixed ink) for their outdoor reception.

You can read about other recent design projects in our blog archive, or click here to learn more about our custom-designed letterpress-printed wedding stationery

Design + Print: leafy invites for a fall wedding

Jenni — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:53:15 +0000

Luanne and Roger wanted a very simple invitation for their at-home wedding reception last month. Browsing through sample books at the Lunalux studio, they fell for this earthy paper combo we used recently for Leah and Jeanie’s wedding invitations – brown kraft envelopes, paired with burlap-textured card stock. Working with that warm color palette, we created a stand-alone invitation (no response card needed, because the invitation includes an R.S.V.P. telephone number) featuring sans-serif text and autumn leaves. Perfect for October nuptials! We also created smaller notecards imprinted with the leaves only, for the couple to use as thankyou notes when they returned from the honeymoon. Everything is letterpress-printed in orange and sepia inks on 100% recycled papers.

Do you want to learn more about our custom-designed letterpress-printed wedding statioenry? Click here for general information and pricing, or click here to read more from our blog archives about other invitations we’ve created. If you’re in the market for wedding invitations, we invite you to stop by our studio store during our regular hours (Tues.-Sat. 11a.m.-6p.m.) to take a look at the work we do, or call 612-373-0526 to schedule a formal consultation.

Design + Print: earth-friendly wedding stationery

Jenni — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:34:49 +0000

Leigh found Lunalux while searching the internet for wedding stationery that is both sophisticated and earth-friendly. She wanted invitations printed on 100% recycled paper but didn’t want them to look crafty. It was a fun challenge to work with a long-distance client who had very specific needs! Leigh found a shower invitation on our website that was almost perfect (click here to read our post about it from last February). She loved the composition, but knew that her botany-wise relatives would hassle her for using seasonally inaccurate dogwood blossoms on invitations for a August wedding. Because all Lunalux invitations are custom-designed to suit our individual clients, I assured her it would be no problem to replace the dogwood with a different floral graphic. I created an illustration of trumpet vines and sourced heavy 100% recycled card stock and envelopes from Michigan’s earth-loving French Paper, staying in touch with Leigh every step of the way via phone and email. The trumpet vines are incorporated into the invitation, RSVP cards, thank-you notes and place cards in deep, saturated shades of orange and turquoise. When Leigh received the finished product, she was thrilled – and we were thrilled by her enthusiastic thank-you. “The invitations are perfect! Now everyone will see that is IS possible to have environmentally friendly invitations that are elegant.”

Looking for unique wedding invitations? Click here to read more about our design and letterpress printing services.

Design + Print: wedding invitation booklet

Jenni — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:44:53 +0000

Even though it’s practically a holiday, I’m enjoying a bustling and productive day in the studio. Planning to work late, even! We’re expecting a little visit from Blue and Jack, a couple whose unique wedding invitations we printed earlier this year. They’re having a night-before-the-wedding party at the dance studio next door (hello, Four Seasons), and might pop in for a visit before they get their champagne on. The bride and groom live in London, but are enjoying Independence Day nupltials at the James J. Hill Library in downtown St. Paul. The bookish locale inspired wedding invitation booklets with their names pressed into the cover, and pages for the invitation, travel information and response card. Extra booklet covers will be repurposed as covers for the ceremony program (Blue took care of the detailed interior pages) and thank-you notes. We also printed two A2-sized envelopes – the bride’s parents’ address was used for the invitation envelopes, but Blue and Jack’s London address went on envelopes for the thank-yous.

The booklet is made from three folded cards, printed in navy blue and saturated yellow on 100% cotton Lettra cover. The last page, an RSVP postcard, was micro-perforated for easy removal. We nested the pages together and gave the assembled invitations a face-trim. With such thick pages in the booklet, interior pages jutted out of the cover a bit; this final post-assembly trim left the finished piece looking more, well, finished. Blue took on the Herculean task of hand-stitching over 100 invitations. I tried to stitch a few together for sample albums and photo shoots, but kept pricking my finger and messing up the snowy white cover. So our sample shown here is bound with a slim satiny ribbon along the spine.

I’m really proud of how this invitation turned out. Blue and Jack get lots of credit for coming to Lunalux with the idea of a booklet invitation, and for giving me a nice balance of articulate direction and creative freedom. The finished invitation feels substantial and special, and looks like it was meant to be letterpress-printed. The unexpected format executed with classic typography turned out to be perfect for their wedding in the stacks. The ornamentation is bookish, but the exaggerated proportion of the dingbats on the cover add a modern touch to an otherwise simple, classic composition.

Design + Print: train-inspired wedding invitations

Jenni — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:12:45 +0000

With Taylor & TJ’s wedding reception planned at the Minnesota Transportation Museum’s Jackson Street Roundhouse, the blushing bride wanted train-themed invitations for their big day. Our challenge was to create a suite that would cultivate nostalgia for old railroad culture without explicitly incorporating trains, train tracks, and engineers with their tell-tale caps – we’re talking wedding stationery, not invitations to a little boy’s 4th birthday party! After poring over pictures of early-1900′s steam locomotives and train-related ephemera, this simple suite took shape. The icon on the top of the invitation, which includes the couple’s names, wedding date and wedding location, was inspired by old railroad logos. The typeface for their names was chosen because of its similarities to style of numbers painted on many old engines. Each of the three cards (inviation, reception card and RSVP postcard) were letterpress-printed in black ink on pearl white 100% cotton Lettra cover, and paired with metallic copper envelopes. The back of the response cards included a request for the guests to jot down a personal message or image for the couple. We love the vintage feeling of the finished invitation, and the basic black and white color scheme. Like all of the invitations we create, this one can be customized for different events. Imagine how great it would look printed in a combination of red and black inks, or on a rougher material like chip board. Thinking about custom invitaitons for your wedding or other event? Click here to read more about our design and printing services, or browse our blog archive to read about other invitation packages we’ve created.

Design + Print: gladiolus wedding invitations

Jenni — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:07:22 +0000

We started working with Kate and Nick late last year, when they ordered a bunch Lunalux quote postcards to use as their save-the-date announcements. They got in touch with us again a few months later, excited to work on custom-designed invitations for their Big Day. With little direction aside from “We like glads,” we developed a few different concepts for the New York couple to consider. The winning design features a bunch of gladiolus in full bloom, exploding from the base of the invitation. The vibrant violet and green inks, letterpress-printed in natural white wove-finish card stock, are ideal for a summery wedding. The full set also included RSVP postcards and matching thank-you cards. Click on the photo above for a larger view.

The postcard they used for their save-the-dates featured a quote by poet James Tate. This design was originally created as a Valentine’s Day promotional postcard back in 2006, but all these years later, we still adore the lovey text unexpectedly paired with an image of an old rooster weather vain. The ruby red and cyan blue inks really pop off the bright white card stock. It’s gratifying to know that it was re-purposed as a wedding mailer, and think it was upstaged only by the invitations that followed!

Click here to read more about our graphic design and printing services. Or browse our blog archives to see other recent wedding stationery projects.

Design + Print: recycled wedding invitations

Jenni — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:38:23 +0000

In honor of Earth Day, we’re highlighting our most recently printed “green” wedding invitation. We first worked with this couple months ago when we created passport-style save-the-dates to notify guests of their Canadian wedding ceremony and Minnesotan reception (check out this post from last September for a picture, and to read more). The over-the-top announcements were a big hit, but Leah and Jeanie wanted a more traditional, uncomplicated package for the invitations themselves. We letterpress-printed invites and RSVP cards in green and brown ink on French Paper’s cream chordtone cover, a 100% recycled heavily textured stock. The brown-bag kraft envelopes are 100% recycled too. We also printed notecards with just the tree icon, for the couple to use as thank-you notes and social stationery post-nuptials (piggy-backing the thank-you cards in this way minimized the amount of materials used for the project, and saved the couple a bit of dough). The gritty, organic materials were a perfect fit for this earthy design, and felt like a good match for these down-to-earth brides-to-be.

Do you love these invites almost as much as you love the planet? Give us a call, we’d love to print some for you! As with all of our invitation packages, this design can be customized to suit your needs. Click here to read more about our custom wedding stationery, or browse the blog archives to see other invitations suites we’ve created.