Custom Invitation Printing in New York City

An invitation is the first physical thing a guest touches, and it sets expectations for the event before they read a word. It is also the piece with the least forgiving schedule, because it has to arrive early enough for people to say yes.

The timeline runs the project

• Save the dates: six to eight months out for weddings, two to three months for benefits.
• Invitations in hand: eight to ten weeks before the event.
• Allow one to two weeks for printing, longer for foil or letterpress.
• Allow time for addressing, stuffing and mailing.
• Work backward from the RSVP deadline, not the event date.

Stocks

Heavy uncoated cotton stock is the traditional choice and takes letterpress and foil beautifully. Coated stock suits full-color photographic invitations. Colored and textured stocks add character without any special process, which is the cheapest way to make a card feel considered.

Finishes

• Letterpress: ink pressed into soft stock leaving colour and depth. Quiet and expensive-feeling.
• Foil stamping: metallic or pigment foil in gold, silver, rose gold and more.
• Blind emboss: an impression with no ink, purely tactile.
• Edge painting: colour along the edge of thick stock.
• Digital print: the practical choice when you have photographs, many colours, or variable names.

The pieces around the invitation

Outer envelopes, inner envelopes, reply cards with their own pre-addressed envelopes, details or information cards, belly bands and vellum wraps. Envelope printing, including return addresses and guest addressing, is worth doing at the same time so stocks match.

Mailing

Square and unusually shaped invitations often carry a postal surcharge, and very rigid or bulky assemblies can be classed as parcels. Check postage on a fully assembled sample before you mail hundreds, not after.

See events and galas printing for the full range.