Printing all the way to the altar - Print21 magazine feature
Everybody loves a good wedding but perhaps printers more than most, given the amount that most couples are prepared to spend on wedding stationery. It’s also a market that seems relatively immune to economic and technological trends, proving once again that when people have some important to say, they insist on doing it on paper. Alison Stieven-Taylor looks at print for that special, special day.
In 2005 when I was on the publicity trail for my book, The Price of Love, an exposé on the dating industry, I remember comedian Mikey Robbins joking during a radio interview that the price of love was too high. His remark may have been metaphorical, but he was definitely on the money.
The wedding industry in Australia is valued at $5.8 billion (2010) and its statistics are impressive, or alarming, depending on your viewpoint. The average spend on the big day comes in at a staggering $48,296, that’s 66 per cent of the average annual wage. More than 120,000 marriages were registered in Australia in 2009 and with the average number of guests at 96, couples are forking out around $500 a head. The industry has boomed in the past decade growing by 73 per cent, and that’s despite the fact that around 40 per cent of those tying the knot will untie it later on—and that may cost them a bomb too.
Divorces aren’t celebrated like weddings, but they are equally good news for those printers who have carved out a name for themselves in the wedding stationery market because of those who get divorced around a fifth will give it another go. And statistics bear proof that 60 per cent of second marriages will fail, and… you get the picture.
Right now is the busy period for weddings—summer is apparently the most popular time to get hitched—and handmade wedding ‘couture’ stationery is the ‘in’ thing. Couples spend between 5-10 per cent of their overall budget on printing, which on the above figures, is nearly $5,000 at the top end. So what 
are the betrothed getting printed?
To start with, all manner of cards—invitation, RSVP, save-the-date, wishing well, thank you, place cards, bonbonnière. Then there’s the Order of Service covers, for those getting married in a church, as well as menus, and seating plans followed by elaborate coffee table photobooks (wedding albums) with embossed covers and hard cases. Add to the printing costs, design concepts, final artwork, electronic files and the opportunity to personalise your invitations, and you can see how the costs quickly add up.
Even more fascinating than the number of printed items you can purchase for your wedding is who is making them. There are a host of boutique printers who specialise in wedding stationery. Most use old letterpress machines and each invitation is produced by hand. It is a labour of love for the printers, some even signing off on their websites with kisses, and it is a profitable business model.
The majority of dedicated wedding stationery printers are online operations with no storefront, and often no phone number, so operational costs are kept to a minimum. With low overheads, minimal investment in technology and a passion for the craft of letterpress printing, business is brisk in this boutique sector.
In our fast-paced, digital world where everyone wants everything instantly, the wedding stationery printers move at their own pace, advising clients to order stationery five months before the wedding date to avoid disappointment. Turnaround times are 6-8 weeks from the time of order, but this can be longer if the wedding is in the busy period. Couples pay 50 per cent up front and this keeps the cash flowing.
The words ‘vintage’ and ‘antique’ are used frequently in this market as a hallmark of distinction, and quality. Chapel Press in Melbourne has both a production facility in Moorabbin and a showroom in the up market suburb of Brighton where you can purchase a range of ‘Greetings’ stationery produced by the company on its vintage letterpress. Samantha Fray, who runs Chapel Press with her husband Russell, says on her website that they “live, sleep and dream weddings” and that letterpress printing is “gorgeous and tactile”, a major feature, and attraction, of the letterpress model.
Chapel Press also produces stationery for events including corporate and private soirees. The company doesn’t encourage prospective customers to visit their production facility without making an appointment with one of their consultants, as “we can get rather busy”—the tone is one of friend or confidante and reflects many of the wedding stationery websites. Fray has shared her own wedding story and photos. Others use poetry to convey their understanding of the significance of the event. You can almost smell the romance in the air. And no I’m not being cynical, really.
Trends in couture
Couples on both sides of the Tasman are keen on handmade stationery. Clazena Squire, creative director of letterpress printer, Tumbleweed Press in New Zealand, says they are seeing “a trend to include more nature motifs, along with an interest in stronger typography based designs”. Tumbleweed prints on 100 per cent cotton papers, “that are beautifully soft and really suit the impression into the paper that letterpress gives”.
Owner and graphic designer Andrea Coats of Deciduous Press in rural Tasmania says her customers are interested in several styles from elegant and simple invitations with strong typographic elements, to illustration-based floral designs, which she draws by hand, “our speciality”. Vintage damask-style wallpaper patterns, antique flourishes and ornate motifs are also popular. “Our standard paper weight is 300gsm, but more and more couples are choosing our duplexed 600gsm stock for invitations. This is fantastically thick, and when letterpress printed the impression takes on a lovely sculptural quality.”
Another trend is the insertion of Wishing Well cards with the invitation. Squire says, around 70 per cent of couples now include a wishing well or gift card with their stationery order. “Having this appropriately worded and matching the invitation, gives this delicate issue a little more finesse than having a generic store card fall out of the envelope.”
Two weddings I’ve been to recently had Wishing Well cards with words to the effect that given the couple had been living together for a while they didn’t need “things” and would prefer money towards their deposit for a house.
Perhaps in the frenzy of organising their wedding spectaculars they forgot that the price tag for the wedding would have gone a long way towards making that 
deposit (apparently the parents of the bride no longer have to stump up for the full cost of the wedding, couples are footing the bill themselves). But what would I know? When I got married many moons ago it cost next to nothing and, after years of living in share houses, my husband and I were appreciative of the new toasters, kettles and glassware, although we could have done without the brass plate shaped like a grapevine leaf that turned green after years of living in the back of the kitchen cupboard. But it was the thought that counted.
There is no denying that wedding stationery printers take great pride in their work and the stationery is truly exquisite. Squire says, “We inspect every item by hand and ensure the stationery we deliver to our clients is something we would love to receive ourselves. We have an excellent reputation after eight years in the industry, with great customer feedback and referrals.”
Deciduous Press operates a 1958 Heidelberg T-Platen press and is an online-only business. Coats says, “By using photopolymer plates and soft cotton paper, contemporary letterpress highlights the impression that letterpress printing creates, and uses this as an advantage—it is this tactile finish that sets letterpress printing apart. We also work with high quality 100 per cent cotton rag paper and envelopes, which are soft and pulpy and have a distinctive luxurious texture. The combination of these high-quality papers and tactile printing processes creates wedding invitations that are unique to touch and have a luxurious finish. It’s the quality of our final product that allows us to focus on simple and elegant designs that appeal to modern Australian couples.”
She says, given their rural location, the environment is a key concern for the business and is also a positive differentiator. They use recycled cotton rags, low VOC biodegradable press wash and rubber-based inks, which are mixed to order by hand. The plates are mounted on a reusable base, paper is recycled or reused and they rely on rainwater only. Deciduous Press is currently a two-person operation, but Coats, who started the business 18 months ago with her partner, is planning on employing staff in the coming year.
Not all by hand
Digitally printed wedding albums are another trend, enabling couples to produce a keepsake of the special day combining text, photographs and graphic embellishment. Perth printer Imatec operates an HP Indigo 5500 digital press and the company entered one of its recent jobs in the 2011 WA PICA Awards—an elaborate casebound A3-size 48-page wedding album that was printed on the HP Indigo on 120gsm Curious Ice Silver stock. Imatec produced three copies of the book that was designed by Denise Teo, a ‘visual communicator’ in Perth.
Wedding magazines are also big business. Pacific Magazines publishes the leading title in the category, Bride To Be, which has a circulation of 107,000, is published nine times a year with a cover price of $18.95, and is thick enough to make a solid door stop. There are spin off magazines also—Bride To Be Flowers, Wedding Gift Pack, Planners and Cakes.
Just how you make the decision on which wedding stationery printer will produce your invitations et al is probably one of the most difficult of all of the decisions around the special day. A simple Google Search—‘wedding stationery printers Melbourne’ returns 291,000 hits! There’s i-do.com, The Print Fairy, Rock Paper Scissors, Dreamday Invitations, A piece of Paris, The Wedding Circle, Papers of Distinction, the list goes on and on.
With so much emphasis on getting the day right, no wonder getting married is said to be one of the most stressful things you can do. But never fear, in the modern world there is a solution to everything and couples can attend pre-wedding stress management classes, right after bride boot camp. But that’s a whole other story.
are the betrothed getting printed?
deposit (apparently the parents of the bride no longer have to stump up for the full cost of the wedding, couples are footing the bill themselves). But what would I know? When I got married many moons ago it cost next to nothing and, after years of living in share houses, my husband and I were appreciative of the new toasters, kettles and glassware, although we could have done without the brass plate shaped like a grapevine leaf that turned green after years of living in the back of the kitchen cupboard. But it was the thought that counted.