You have booked the venue, you’ve got the DJ or band lined up, so now it’s time to order the invitations. There are so many types of invitations to choose from, so how do you decide? Let’s take a look at two of the most common types of wedding invitations, so you can more easily make a decision.

Embossed printing –

Engraved or embossed wedding invitations are the older form of setting the images and text on your chosen paper. It has a more formal look and the ability for a finer, more intricate designs like scrollwork. When you have all of your text ready and you have your pattern picked out, a copper plate will be created with your entire design which then gets ink rolled over it and then it is pressed firmly into the paper.

You can spot an embossed invitation because you will be able to see the indentations on the backside of the paper. If you keep the plate, you’ll be able to be reused it if you find that you need to run more invitations after the initial run is complete.

These invitations often look like they have a matte finish, and they can take a metallic ink very well. They can also handle light colored ink on a dark paper if you want to have a reverse contrast look.

Thermography printing –

A thermography design is much less expensive, and much more adaptable than an embossed design. You can choose from a wide range of fonts, often much wider than you can use for engraving. Once you have your design finished, it is arranged on a moveable type block that gets inked, heated, and printed onto the paper with a glue or embossing powder that sets the printing while it dries in a special oven. It doesn’t get pressed so heavily that it leaves an indentation, but because of the way it is printed, it does lead to raised text thanks to the embossing powder.

You can use a thinner paper in thermography, if you wish, because it doesn’t have to be as thick and sturdy to hold up through the printing process. Thanks to the way the ink is applied to the paper, it is basically smudge proof and you don’t have to have the additional tissue paper liner. As a result, these can look a little less formal than embossed invitations do.

The invitations done this way will be less likely to be able to show fine detail and may actually look a little blurry if you have intricate designs. The text can have a glossy appearance and lighter color inks are harder to use.

So how to choose?

One of the best ways to know for sure is to ask your print shop for a sample of each kind so you can do a side-by-side comparison. You also need to consider your budget – a thermography typeset is much less expensive and still gives a high quality appearance. If you need to find an affordable print shop, contact us. We’ll be able to connect you with our resources for beautiful wedding invitation designs.

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