Frequently asked questions

Ordering

When should we order our wedding stationery?

Save the dates usually go out nine to twelve months before the wedding, and invitations six to eight weeks before your RSVP deadline, which is normally about three months before the day. Working backwards from that, we ask couples to get in touch four to six months before they want the invitations posted. That leaves comfortable time for design, proofs, printing and addressing without anything being rushed. If your date is sooner than that, ask anyway. We can often work faster, and we would rather tell you honestly whether we can fit you in than have you assume we cannot. One thing worth knowing: the busiest months for us are January and February, when couples who got engaged over Christmas all start at once. If your wedding is in the following summer, that is exactly when you will be commissioning, so approach us early in that window rather than late in it.

Is there a minimum order?

Yes, and it exists because of how the printing works rather than to push anyone into spending more. Every letterpress or foil design needs its own metal plate, and that plate costs the same whether we print twenty cards or two hundred. Below a certain quantity the plate dominates the price and the per-card cost stops making sense. We will always tell you where that line falls for your particular design. A common surprise: you need far fewer invitations than you have guests, because one invitation goes to a household, not a person. As a rough guide, most of our couples order between sixty and one hundred and twenty invitations, and that is where the pricing works comfortably. Below about forty the plate cost starts to dominate and we will usually suggest either a simpler finish or one of our semi-bespoke collections, where the plate already exists and the setup cost is shared.

How many invitations do we actually need?

Count households, not guests. A couple living together gets one invitation, a family with children gets one, and only single guests at separate addresses need their own. That usually takes a two hundred person guest list down to about ninety invitations. On top of that we suggest ordering ten to fifteen percent spare: for the guests you forget, the address that turns out to be wrong, the one that gets lost in the post, and at least two to keep for yourselves. Reprinting a short run later costs far more per card than including them at the start. It is also worth deciding early whether you are sending anything by email. Some couples send a printed invitation to the main guest list and a digital save the date to everyone, which cuts the print run substantially without losing the moment of opening an envelope. We are happy to design a matching digital piece alongside the printed suite.

Can we see a sample before we commit?

Yes, and we would encourage it. Foil, letterpress and blind deboss all photograph badly, which is the honest problem with buying stationery online. A gold foil that looks flat on a screen is mirror-bright in the hand, and a blind deboss is close to invisible in a photograph and obvious the moment you tilt the card. We can send printed samples of the finishes and the paper stocks so you can judge them properly. Get in touch and tell us what you are considering. What we cannot do is send a sample of your design before it exists, since each design needs its own plate. What we send is a set of previously printed pieces showing each finish and each paper weight, so you can judge the materials and the impression depth. Most couples find the paper weight is the thing that surprises them most.

Design and proofs

How many proofs do we get?

Digital proofs first, as many rounds as it takes to get the wording and layout right. We do not count them or charge per round, because getting the details correct matters more to us than the admin. What we do ask is that you check names, dates, times and addresses carefully at that stage, and ideally get someone else to check them too. Once we make the printing plate, a change means a new plate. Printed proofs are available on request for letterpress and foil work, and for anything where the impression depth or the exact colour matters we strongly recommend one. A practical tip that has saved several of our couples: read the proof out loud, and read the date and the day of the week together. Nearly every error we have caught late has been a date that was correct and a weekday that was not, or a name spelled the way you say it rather than the way it is written on the invitation list.

Can we change the design once we have started?

Up to a point, and it depends entirely on when. While we are working in digital proofs, change anything you like. Once a plate has been made the design is committed, because the plate is a physical piece of metal cut for that exact artwork. Wording changes, colour changes and layout changes are all easy early and expensive late. If you are unsure about something, say so at the proof stage rather than hoping it settles. If you know something is likely to change, tell us. A guest list that is not final, a venue that is not confirmed, a ceremony time still being negotiated: all of those are reasons to hold the plate a little longer rather than print twice. We would far rather wait a week than have you pay for a reprint.

Can you match our colour scheme?

Usually, yes. Letterpress ink is mixed by hand, so we can work to a Pantone reference or to a physical sample. Foil is different: it comes in fixed colours from a roll, so we match as closely as the range allows rather than exactly. The most reliable thing you can do is post us the actual object, a ribbon, a fabric swatch, a paint chip. Screens lie about colour, and cotton paper softens every shade slightly compared to what you are picturing. Foil in particular behaves differently from everything else on the sheet, because it is reflective. A gold foil next to a gold ink will not read as the same colour, and that is not a matching failure, it is what metal does. Where a suite uses both we will usually deliberately let them differ rather than fight it.

Do you draw our venue?

We do, and it is one of the nicest things to put on a suite. A watercolour illustration of the venue can go on the invitation itself, on an envelope liner, or on the day stationery so the whole set ties together. We work from photographs, so the better the reference the better the result. Ask us early: illustration adds time at the front of the process rather than the back. The illustration is yours once it is drawn, so it can carry through to the on the day stationery: the menus, the table names, the seating plan, the order of service. Couples who plan for that from the start end up with a set that feels designed rather than assembled, and it costs less than commissioning the artwork twice.

Printing

Which finish should we choose?

If you want it to look expensive, hot foil. If you want it to feel expensive, letterpress. If you want something quieter that rewards a second look, blind deboss. Most of our favourite suites use two: foil on the names so the invitation has a focal point, and a blind deboss pattern behind it that you only notice when the light moves. There is a fuller comparison on our craft pages, and if you are torn we will send you samples of each on the same paper so you can decide with them in front of you. Budget shifts the answer too. If you have a fixed amount to spend, one technique done properly on good paper will always look better than two done thinly. We would rather print a single-colour letterpress invitation on a heavy cotton stock than spread the same money across foil, deboss and a lighter sheet.

Pricing and delivery

Do you handle postage and addressing?

We can address your envelopes for you, either printed or, for a very different look, calligraphed. It is one of the details that gets forgotten until the last week, so it is worth deciding early. On postage itself, be aware that square envelopes, thick suites and anything with a wax seal or a ribbon often cost more to send than a standard letter, sometimes considerably. We will tell you what your suite is likely to weigh and measure so you can check the current rate before you commit to a shape. Weigh a complete assembled suite, envelope, ribbon, seal and all, before you buy stamps, and take one to the post office rather than trusting an online calculator. If postage comes back higher than you expected, the usual fixes are a lighter insert, a smaller envelope, or moving the wax seal onto the card instead of the flap.

What drives the price?

Four things, roughly in order. The number of separate printed pieces in the suite. The number of techniques, since each finish needs its own plate and its own pass through the press. The quantity, because plate costs spread across the run. And the extras: ribbon, wax seals, vellum wraps, envelope liners and addressing all add up. The paper matters least of the five, which surprises most people. If you have a budget in mind, tell us at the start and we will show you where it goes furthest. The single biggest saving available to most couples is reducing the number of separate pieces. A details card and an RSVP can often become one double-sided card, and a website address can replace an insert entirely. That change alone typically takes more off a quote than switching to a cheaper paper ever would.

How long does it take?

For a semi-bespoke collection, allow around four to six weeks from approving your wording to delivery. For a fully bespoke suite, allow eight to ten weeks from the first conversation, because design and proofing sit in front of the printing. Both of those assume proofs come back to us reasonably quickly, which is the part that most often stretches a timeline. If you are working to a tighter deadline, ask. We would rather be honest about whether it is possible than quietly rush your printing. Two things stretch a timeline more than anything else: waiting on final wording, usually because a parents names line or a ceremony time is unresolved, and waiting on guest addresses if we are doing the addressing. If you can settle both before you approve the design, the printing itself is the predictable part.