Your Design...Your Letterpress

I remember quite vividly back in the day before Joie Studio when my friends and I were getting married that invitations were a big mess. It was hard. There were tears. I had ordered invitations within our budget, which wasn't very much, and it came on really crappy paper and there were oil splotches on some of them. And they were from a pretty major company, too. And all my friend wanted was an invitation with a burgundy backing and for whatever reason that wasn't possible. And then I ended up designing and printing my own rehearsal dinner invitations and it was exactly what I wanted and I thought, "Well, heck, I should have done this in the first place."

One of my goals for my wedding invitation clients is to make the experience as low stress as possible. To make it a fun and happy experience. And give people access to letterpress. Letterpress is beautiful, allowing printing on the most gorgeous art papers that won't normally take digital print methods. I know from looking through countless invitation books that sometimes you just can't find what you're looking for. And most brides and grooms today are savvy enough to design their own invitations or have a friend who can help them get it to print ready format.

I get asked a lot if I will print designs not my own. Yes. There are caveats, but yes. Then I ask if I can provide paper. Yes. Absolutely. You can't letterpress print without paper. Then I get asked if the invitations come with envelopes. Why, yes. Yes, they do. Unless you want special ones. But you get matching envelopes, yes. I can help you source envelopes (I also remember a trip to five different paper stores in the LA area looking for the right envelope) if you want a special color or type. And the pricing I give is pricing without the designing element, because you've already taken care of that. Based on your design, I can give you suggestions on how to save more.

This is how the idea of Your Letterpress was born. Letterpress printing in itself is both an art and a craft. We have these antique presses with peculiarities to them and we learn to compensate for our presses, temperature, humidity, paper type, ink type, etc., etc., etc. You can take care of the design, we will print with great care. And from experience, those interested in letterpress are interested in the process of it, the care that goes into the making of letterpress goods, the handmade artisan quality of the printing. So we've dedicated a camera and a videocamera to the studio so we can take pictures and video of the process for those interested.

If something like Your Letterpress was around when I got married, I would have done that because according to my pricing it was all of a dinner for 4 out at KFC more to have letterpress instead of what I received.

Check out Your Letterpress and contact us at YourLetterpress {at} JoieStudio.com with any questions.