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How to Choose the Right Color for your Wedding Invitations | The Wedding Stationery Guide: Colors Part I

Wedding Stationery Guide

19 Jun

Choosing a color palette was likely one of the first wedding-related decisions you made. And with good reason! Since many elements of your wedding are dependent on color, establishing a cohesive color palette will ensure a seamless style throughout your celebration.
choosing ink colors

Your invitations set the stage for your entire wedding day, so it’s natural to incorporate your wedding colors into the stationery suite. Or not! Perhaps you’d like a classic, neutral color palette for your paper goods, or prefer to have a formal black and white invitation and save the splash of color for your wedding day decor.

I’ve carefully selected fifty signature ink colors for flat printing and letterpress. These tried and true ink colors are available in a range of hues, from rich black to pale peach and everything in between.
letterpress ink colors

Looking for a colored envelope or paper? They’re available in any of these signature shades as well! If you have your heart set on a shade that isn’t represented here, custom color matching is also available.

colored envelopes for wedding invitations

Additionally, metallic gold, silver, and copper inks are offered for letterpress and screen printing. Gold, champagne, rose gold, silver, and copper foil are available for foil stamping.

metallic letterpress ink and foil stamp colors

With so many choices, picking the right shade for your invitations can be a daunting task. It’s hard to tell how something will look in person, or if a color will be too light to easily see. That’s why a printed color chart is included in every invitation sample order! You can see each color in person, so there is no guessing whether the color you see on your phone or your fiance’s laptop is closer to the real thing. Spoiler alert: neither one is going to match!

Here’s the thing: all screens are not calibrated to display colors the same. You’ve probably noticed that if you look at a photo on your phone, then later on a computer. Maybe the blue in your shirt is a little more green on one screen, and your pants look much brighter on your tablet, or one has a more yellow cast to it.

The bottom line is: you cannot trust the way colors look on a screen.

Besides the device you’re viewing the colors on, there are a few other factors that can affect the way a color looks.

Printing Method

Different printers and printing methods require different types of ink. Letterpress inks are mixed by hand, so there may be a slight variation between printed pieces.
Think of it this way: printing something on your home inkjet printer won’t yield the same colors that your office laser printer does.

Inks

All letterpress and flat print inks will have a matte (not shiny) appearance when printed on matte cardstock. Metallic letterpress inks have a much more subtle shimmer printed on cotton paper.

Flat print and letterpress inks on cotton paper will have a matte appearance (even the metallic shades). Shown below: gold flat print ink on white paper (left) and metallic gold letterpress ink on pink paper (right).

gold letterpress and flat printing

If you want shiny or shimmery metallic colors, you’ll need to go with foil stamping or screen printing.

Paper

The inks used in flat printing, screen printing, and letterpress are not completely opaque. That means the paper an ink color is printed on also affects the final look. Printing on a soft white paper will give the ink colors a softer, warmer appearance than if you print on a bright white paper.
The shimmer of a metallic screen print ink will be much more apparent printed on dark papers than on light papers. Shown below: metallic gold screen printing on soft white paper (left) and on black paper (right).
metallic gold screen printing

With so many variables to consider, how can you choose your colors confidently? Order a sample pack to see them in person! Still can’t decide? I’m happy to offer advice on your color choices!

In the next installment of The Wedding Stationery Guide, I’ll be sharing information on some “color” choices that aren’t really colors at all: white ink and blind letterpress!

Previous Post: « Wedding Stationery Guide: Screen Printing
Next Post: Blind Letterpress and White Ink Printing | The Wedding Stationery Guide: Colors Part II »

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MEET SARAH

Hello! I´m Sarah - I am a mom, wife, and stationery designer living in southwest Michigan. I believe in God and good manners, love beautiful typography, adore traditions, and am infatuated with pretty paper.
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ABOUT ME

I’m Sarah, and I create tailor-made wedding stationery for brides that need a simple, classic invitation design with just the right amount of personality.

Banter & Charm is a Michigan wedding invitation design studio based in St. Joseph. Not local? I serve brides throughout Michigan and northern Indiana, Notre Dame, Chicago, the Midwest, and across the US. Read More…

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205 Main Street #331
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banterandcharm

It's almost the weekend! That means it's time for It's almost the weekend! That means it's time for a quick #fridayintroductions ⁠
Hello! I'm Sarah - I’m a Midwest girl, born and raised in southwest Michigan where I still live today. I’m married to the love of my life, Jake, and am a mom to two adorable children, Abby and Alex. I believe in God and good manners, I treasure family traditions (both old and new), and I’m passionate about beautiful typography and pretty paper. ⁠
Fortunately, my passion is also my full-time job, and I spend my days designing wedding invitations for sweet brides through my stationery company, Banter & Charm. My side hustles also involve designing! Whether it's holiday cards for @minted or funny t-shirt on @zazzle I'm happiest when I'm able to put my creative talents to good use.⁠
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Looking for ways to streamline your wedding statio Looking for ways to streamline your wedding stationery planning? I have just the thing! I've put together my top 5 tips for stress-free wedding stationery - link in profile.⠀⁠
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Tiny details like this make my heart happy ♥️⁠
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Nicholas and Victoria's invitation suite for their Nicholas and Victoria's invitation suite for their wedding in Philadelphia featured so many of my favorite things! Wax seal ✔️ Vellum ✔️ Foil ✔️ Venue Illustration ✔️ Colored envelopes ✔️ Hand calligraphy ✔️⁠
Absolutely in love with how it all came together 😍⁠
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The Basilica invitation, but make it gold foil 😍⁠
Absolutely love the way Katie and John customized this classic invitation suite! So many special touches from the thick cotton paper to the watercolor envelope liner in navy blue envelopes, and how perfect are the tiny illustrations of the Notre Dame stadium and dome on the weekend events card?⁠
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Thanksgiving is over, so it’s okay to talk about Thanksgiving is over, so it’s okay to talk about Christmas now, right? Well, if you haven’t ordered your holiday cards yet, now is the time!
I was (sort of) on top of the game this year - we took family photos on one of the last days of warm weather in Michigan. Went the DIY route again for photos (because I never learn), but the kids mostly cooperated and we ended up with some good ones. Now I just have to narrow down my favorites and decide on a Christmas card design 😊⁠
I absolutely love having a yearly family photo! These kids are growing so fast, and years from now I know I'll love looking back on these memories ♥️⁠
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#meetthemaker #behindthescenes #wahm #mompreneur
Although I'm not offering a holiday collection at Although I'm not offering a holiday collection at Banter & Charm this year, I do have a variety of Christmas cards available through @minted and @zazzle !⁠
Follow the link in my profile for a round up of funny Christmas cards perfect for families with kids!⁠
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#mintedartist #holidaycards #christmascards #sendmoresnailmail #funnychristmascards #christmasmeme #happymail #snailmailrevolution
In love with letterpress, but still want to includ In love with letterpress, but still want to include a photo on your save the date? Try this gorgeous combo: your photo is digitally printed on soft cotton paper and the text and details are printed in letterpress for a perfectly classic look.⁠
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#letterpresslove #basilicabride #michiganweddings⁠
#michiganwedding #classicinvitations #weddingpaper #weddingstationery #michiganbride
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