the shelley suite

A very good friend of mine is getting married next May and she asked me to print her wedding invitation suite. Half elated and half scared out of my mind, I accepted immediately. The only other wedding invitation I had printed were my own and it wasn't a full on suite. It only consisted of the wedding invitation and rsvp card. Shelley's will include the invitation, the rsvp, the map, the rehersal invitations, the envelopes, the thank you cards, and the menu. So you can see my hesitation! Yet, on the other hand, I wanted a challenge and this was the perfect opportunity.

Shelley's aesthetic taste is very much like mine and so I knew we'd be on the same page about the design of her suite. This is always a good thing, because the last thing any printer/designer wants is to be less than excited and uninspired about a project.

We're going with two colours - green and grey. The outside of the envelopes where her return address will be printed is in a classic, forest green. The rest of the text in her suite will be printed in a complimentary grey to the green. The main titles, such as her and her fiance's name, the words 'RSVP', 'ACCOMMODATIONS', 'MENU', 'THANK YOU' will be blind debossed. It will be a modern, elegant, and simple approach for her wedding invitation.

Paper and envelopes were ordered from Crane. I started out with printing the envelopes (invitation envelopes, rsvp envelopes and thank you card envelopes) all at once since I was using the same plate for the return address on all of them. Shelley chose Pantone colour 3415 and I did my darnedest to match it.

As usual the registration and centering of the envelopes were the trickiest. After a few trial and errors, I was on a roll. Six hours later, the envelopes were finished. The dark green looks great on the Pearl White envelopes!

There is more to come in January when I'll be printing the rest of invitation suite. Fingers crossed all goes well! So far, so good.