Your printing is the most important step outside your wedding stationery's design. It is, after all, the stage that transforms your digital concepts and ideas into the real-life stationery you’ll use on your wedding day. Quality wedding stationery printing ensures you have stunning stationery that adds to your wedding’s look and emotion.

You don’t have to be a printing expert to understand how wedding stationery printing works. We’ll walk you through the process (at least, what you need to know) and provide tips to guarantee the design in your mind is what will appear on paper after we print the concepts.

Let’s dive right in!

Key Takeaways:

• You can print wedding invitations using flat printing or letterpress printing.
• The type of paper you choose will impact how the printing looks.
• Printing takes anywhere from 1 day for super-rushed flat printing to 12 days for regular letterpress printing.
• Order samples and carefully proof designs to ensure the final prints meet your expectations.

Why You Should Use Professionally Printed Wedding Stationery

While DIY invitations and stationery have a time and place, weddings are one-time events, so professionally printed invitations and stationery are a must. DIY takes considerable time, and time is precious during wedding planning.

Professionally printed stationery gives your wedding an extra level of sophistication and elegance. You also have less to stress about as a professional designer takes care of all the small details.

Professional printers use top-tier technology to guarantee quality results.

Types of Wedding Stationery Printing

Shine Wedding Invitations offers two of the most popular types of wedding stationery printing:

Flat Printing

Flat printing is a traditional style that adds ink using a professional printer. The ink lies flat on the paper.

You can use flat printing if you want crisp text and bright colors. Our classic invitation designs use flat printing to ensure every beautiful detail is clearly visible.

Letterpress Printing

Letterpress printing is a more elegant and traditional method that adds texture to your stationery. A letterpress machine leaves deep imprints in the cardstock where each letter is while applying the ink. This method adds a subtle flair to your stationery.

Because of the printing style, letterpress wedding invitations can only have one color. When you order letterpress invitations, all your accompanying stationery will be letterpress for a unified appearance.

Natalie invitation with letterpress printing

What Paper Works Best for Wedding Stationery Printing?

The type of paper you choose depends on your look and printing style. Here’s a glimpse at the paper types Shine Wedding Invitations offers:

Cardstock

Shimmer cardstock comes in pure white with a slight shimmer to give your invitations a subtle glisten.

If you prefer a traditional paper finish, go with the matte cardstock, where the full vibrance of your colors takes center stage.

• White: Brighter and shows colors more vividly
• Ivory: Softer on the eye

Letterpress Paper

This is soft and 100% cotton. The paper is plusher to hold the delicate imprint of the invitation lettering.

Whether you order cardstock or letterpress paper, you can opt for the double-thick paper so it’s more durable. Remember that your chosen paper will be consistent with the other wedding stationery in your order.

How Long Does Printing Take?

Flat printing is the faster option – best if you’re in a time crunch. Here are the timelines you can expect from the time you approve your proof to when we ship it. All items ship the business day after printing is completed.

• Regular printing: Six business days
• Rush printing: Two business days
• Super Rush: One business day

On the other hand, letterpress printing takes up to 12 business days, and rush printing takes six business days.

While rush printing is available, order your wedding stationery at least four months before your wedding. This gives you leave plenty of time for your preferred printing method.

5 Steps for Printing Wedding Stationery Professionally

The Shine Wedding Invitations stationery ordering process is convenient and centered around your needs and ideas. Here’s how that process looks:

Step 1: Choose Your Design

Not sure where to start?

Take our quick quiz about your wedding theme and personal style. We’ll suggest designs best suited for your wedding based on your answers.

If you’d prefer to browse our designs, visit our shop and filter designs by theme, printing style, or typography to find the perfect match.

When you find a design you like, order a sample to see it in person. You can request a free sample or order a custom sample in your personalized style. This sample allows you to feel the paper and get an idea of how the finished design will look.

We recommend ordering a sample. Digital images don’t do the stunning elegance of letterpress justice or fully communicate the vivid colors of flat printing.

Step 2: Customize the Details

Once you choose the design you want to print, you can customize it. Add embellishments like ribbons, wax seals, and envelope liners for a little flair to your invitation suite.

Customizing your wording doesn’t have to be a headache. Just give the designers your basic information – they will write it up using traditional formats and the latest wedding wording etiquette. If you have specific wording in mind, you can submit it, and we will use that instead.

When you customize the details, you can choose the paper you want.

Step 3: Revise the Invitation Until Perfection

You can adjust and change your wedding invitations at any point up until it goes to the printers. So, this step isn’t one to quickly pass over.

Take time to review the proofs your designer sends to you. The proofs look exactly like your final invitations will look. Check that there are no misspellings or incorrect information (like a wrong date!).

You have three free revisions to ensure you get it right. During the review step, you can switch up the wording or change designs entirely – your satisfaction is most important.

Step 4: Approve and Print the Invitations

Once you find the perfect design, it's ready for the printers. We will send your final stationery design to an in-house team. Our team carefully prints your invitation on state-of-the-art printing presses using the highest quality materials.

Step 5: Assemble the Wedding Stationery

Your stationery arrives at your house fresh off the press. We carefully package them to preserve their pristine condition. You then assemble them as you planned, whether putting together invitation suites or framing your table numbers.

Now, your stationery printing process is complete, and all that is left is for your guests to admire the stunning stationery you picked and had professionally printed.

Start Your Wedding Stationery Printing Process

Are you ready to start your process? We are here to help you every step of the way so that design and printing are a breeze.

Not sure where to start?

Order a free sample to check out our most popular design, and we’ll take it from there!