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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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BANTER & CHARM

205 Main Street #331
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banterandcharm

I'm a mom, wife, and stationery designer specializing in classic and elegant letterpress wedding invitations based in southwest Michigan

Sarah Guse Brown
Yes I know, it's not even Halloween yet - let alon Yes I know, it's not even Halloween yet - let alone Thanksgiving - but if you're planning on sending save the dates in the next few months, why not make it a Christmas card / save the date?⁠
Or what better way to celebrate your first married Christmas, than with a Christmas card showing off your wedding photos.⁠
Visit the link in my profile to see a round up of my favorite First Christmas cards for newlyweds and holiday save the dates.⁠
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Unique, out of the ordinary invitations are great Unique, out of the ordinary invitations are great and sooo much fun to design, but I'll always have a sweet spot in my heart for a classic and traditional design. There's a reason some things never go out of style - whether it's a little black dress, the perfect shade of red lipstick, or a perfectly typeset letterpress invitation, they all have a timeless aesthetic that will look classy, not dated, 20 years from now.�⁠
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Incorporating a bride’s color palette into her w Incorporating a bride’s color palette into her wedding invitations has become one of my favorite puzzles to solve! There are so many ways to combine colors through the various pieces in an invitation suite, and something as simple as using a colored envelope for the RSVP card can have a huge impact on the overall look.⁠
Looking for ideas on how to use your wedding colors in your invitation suite? Head over to the blog for more tips!⁠
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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 ✔️⁠
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This invitation suite for Alison and Anthony's wed This invitation suite for Alison and Anthony's wedding at Congress Hall in Cape May, New Jersey, was filled with so many stunning details 😍 From the silver foil and black letterpress to the monogram wax seal and edge painting, nothing was overlooked. ⁠
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Are you team photo or no photo for the save the da Are you team photo or no photo for the save the date card? Either way, I've got you covered! Whether you want to show off your sweet engagement photos or you prefer a formal announcement Banter & Charm has plenty of styles to choose from. Not sure which you want? I'm happy to help out!⁠
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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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The prettiest navy and white invitation suite 😍 The prettiest navy and white invitation suite 😍⁠
Clare and Daniel's stationery for their Essex wedding turned out absolutely gorgeous- proof that there is nothing boring about a classic invitation suite. ⁠
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