Wedding Stationery Guide: Screen Printing

So far in the Printing Primer portion of Banter & Charm’s Wedding Stationery Guide, I have shared information about flat printing, letterpress printing, and foil stamping. Between these three printing processes, you can achieve a wide variety of styles for your wedding stationery. But maybe you are looking to incorporate a subtle gold color, not as shiny as foil stamping (or perhaps foil stamping is costlier than you prefer). Or you have your heart set on using a deep, navy blue paper – but flat printing is not available on colored paper, and letterpress inks don’t pop on a dark background. What if you want to print on something non-traditional: like a wood veneer, or tote bags for your guests’ welcome gift. This is where screen printing comes in!

Screen printing (also called silk screen) is an artisan printing method that involves pulling ink through a fine mesh silk screen onto paper. The screen contains a stencil of the design (created using a photo emulsion and light), and ink is pulled through using a squeegee or roller. It’s often used for textiles (think t-shirts or tote bags), but screen print wedding invitations are gorgeous, especially on colored paper! The ink lays flush with the paper (like flat printing), but like letterpress, one ink color is printed at a time.

Screen printing produces true metallic inks that shimmer on dark paper. Unlike metallic letterpress inks that are slightly transparent and appear matte on colored paper stocks, metallic gold screen print ink remains lustrous and bright.

Screen printing is best suited for designs with one or two colors, without delicate lines or very small type. I think it looks best with metallic or white ink on colored paper, but metallic inks are also lovely on a cotton stock. You could also screen print on things other than paper: think wood veneer, tote bags, or tea towels.

Banter & Charm’s screen print wedding invitation collection showcases designs that truly shine in foil! And I’ll gladly adjust other designs to work with metallic foil printing.

Silk screen printing needs to be seen in person to be truly appreciated! Head over to the shop and order a sample screen print wedding invitation so you can see the shimmery gold silk screen printing in person!