Guest Post by Mika78

We are actually in Cali for a wedding this weekend, so I’ve asked my new favorite invitation designer and blogger, Mimi Woo of Mika78 to stop by for a visit and share some of her tips and ideas with us. Mimi is an invitation guru and a pretty fantastic designer, so needless to say, I am thrilled!

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Hi everyone!  I’m so excited to be guest blogging for Style Me Pretty today!  I’ve been a longtime reader of Abby’s wonderful blog ever since I started planning for my wedding back in March of 2007.  I still visit Abby’s blog every single day, even though my wedding planning days are long over.  I think that just goes to show what a great and inspiring place Style Me Pretty really is.  (Yay for Abby and the gang at SMP!)

The one constant I hear over and over again from my clients is “I love letterpress, but it doesn’t fit into my budget”.  In this crazy economy, I totally understand the need to cut back where you can.  A lot of couples think they have to go with offset or flat printing because they just can’t afford letterpress and there’s no other option.  Well, I’m here to tell you there are options out there, you just have to get a little creative with how you mix and match your pieces.

I totally understand the want, even the NEED, for letterpress.  It’s such a gorgeous printing method; you can’t help but want to run your fingers across every single nook and cranny of each hand-pressed letter.  Simply put, there’s something about the feeling of a letterpressed piece in your hands that everyone just loves.  Today, I’m going to share with you some of my cost-saving tips:

Dilemma #1: I LOVE letterpress, but I can’t afford it!
Solution #1: Order your Invitation & RSVP card in letterpress with unprinted envelopes and purchase an address stamp/embosser.

The one thing many people don’t know about letterpress is that most of the cost goes into the labor, not the materials.  Letterpress is an artisanal printing method – everything is meticulously printed by hand and it takes skill to produce a great letterpress piece.

Because most of the cost goes into the labor, I suggest letterpressing your invite and RSVP card and ordering unprinted envelopes.  This will save you a good chunk of change, folks.  For return addresses, purchase an address stamp like the ones below.  These are from Lettergirl’s Etsy shop and are $34-$39 each. The great part about these is that you can use them over and over again – they’re especially helpful when it comes time to write your thank you cards!  Bonus: you get the look of calligraphy without the hefty price tag!

You can also use address embossers like these from Horchow (range from $24-$29). (link: )  If you go with this style, I recommend ordering your RSVP envelopes printed, but your Invitation envelopes unprinted.  The address embosser is great, but it might be too light for addressing your RSVP envelopes and we wouldn’t want those getting lost in the mail!

More to come from Mimi Woo of Mika78 so stay tuned!

12 Comments about “Guest Post by Mika78”

1. Sarah | Brilliant Event Planning says:

   May 8, 2009 at 10:45 am

   This is a fantastic idea...!! Way to go Mimi!
2. Katie says:

   May 8, 2009 at 11:07 am

   Agreed!! I have to buy one of those address stamps from ETSY! So cute, and so affordable! :)
3. Lucky In Love says:

   May 8, 2009 at 11:58 am

   Love the fonts. Very creative and eye-catching.
4. Nicole-Lynn says:

   May 8, 2009 at 12:46 pm

   Thank you, great advice. Love Lettergirl’s Etsy shop, thank you for the recommendation! I love calligraphy too and know it can be very pricey.
5. Mimi says:

   May 8, 2009 at 1:52 pm

   I'm glad you all like the stamp idea! I absolutely adore Lettergirl's style!
6. stevie says:

   May 11, 2009 at 9:21 am

   I ordered an address stamp for just $10 from rubberstamps.net
   They let you upload any design you want, so I used the same typeface from my letterpressed invites and rsvp cards. I bought a gold stamp pad from Michael's and got my two-color printing that way.
7. Becca says:

   May 11, 2009 at 12:33 pm

   I love this advice but I'm a bit confused about the address stamps. These are just for your own return address correct? But what do you do about addressing the invites to your guests?
8. Mimi says:

   May 11, 2009 at 4:24 pm

   Hi Becca,

   This is Mimi from Mika78. Thanks for your question! You're right, the stamp/embosser is just for the return address. People either hire a calligrapher or handwrite guest addresses themselves. Some even choose to make their own labels. Purchasing a stamp or embosser with your return address is just to save on the cost of letterpressing it onto the envelopes. The options for guest addresses remain the same since they wouldn't be letterpressed individually anyway. :)

   Hope this helps answer your question about the guest addresses! Thanks again for your question! - Mimi
9. Carol says:

   September 1, 2009 at 11:48 am

   Can anyone tell me the names of these fonts? Thanks!
10. Bruce Blackwell says:

    January 21, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    You should make a video about all of this and post it everywhere. Add music and special effects and bring out its true essence.
11. Barn Weddings says:

    August 17, 2011 at 2:44 am

    Using address embossers is a good idea. I haven't tried using this one. :D

1 Links to “Guest Post by Mika78”

1. Some Really Pretty Return Address Stamps & Embossers! « Return Address says:

   June 7, 2011 at 8:04 am

   [...] Some Really Pretty Return Address Stamps & Embossers! 07 Jun via stylemepretty.com [...]

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