Letterpress uses physical pressure to press ink - or just the plate itself - into thick paper, leaving a tactile impression you can feel with your fingertips. Digital printing is flat ink on paper - more versatile and affordable, but without physical depth. Letterpress has a handcrafted quality that flat digital printing can't replicate.

It depends on what matters most in your guests' experience. Letterpress invitations are the ones people keep - the texture and weight communicate care and intentionality before anyone reads the wording. If a tactile, handcrafted feel is central to your wedding aesthetic, letterpress delivers it better than any other print method. If budget is the priority, digital print offers excellent quality at a fraction of the cost.

Start the process 4-5 months before your wedding date. Allow time for design, proofing, production, and shipping. Aim to have invitations in hand 10-12 weeks before the wedding so you have a comfortable window for addressing, posting, and any last-minute additions.

Yes. The sample pack includes seven designs across different print methods, including a letterpress sample - so you can feel the debossed impression firsthand before committing. The full swatch kit covers all available letterpress paper stocks if you want to compare options side by side. Note: a custom sample is not available for letterpress specifically.

Heavier is better. Letterpress requires thick, soft paper to hold the impression cleanly. Our Wild Cotton starts at 300gsm and goes up to 600gsm Wild Cotton Double Thick - our heaviest stock. The 600gsm produces the deepest, most dramatic impressions. Thinner or wood-pulp papers won't hold the deboss in the same way.

Letterpress works best with one or two ink colours. Each additional colour requires a separate press pass, which adds cost and time. Single-colour designs - strong typography in one well-chosen ink - tend to produce the most striking results. If your design calls for three or more colours, digital printing may be a better fit.

No. Letterpress excels at clean typography and simple geometric or botanical line work. Photographs, fine gradients, and highly detailed illustrated artwork don't translate well through the letterpress process. If your design includes these elements, our designers will flag it during proofing and suggest alternatives.

Letterpress presses ink into the paper, leaving a debossed impression with colour. Embossing creates a raised, colourless impression through pressure alone - the paper takes a 3D shape without any ink. Both use pressure on thick stock, but letterpress adds ink saturation while embossing is purely textural.

Letterpress uses ink pressed into cotton paper for a matte, debossed effect. Foil printing (flat foil or foil stamp) uses metallic film for a mirror-bright finish. Flat foil has no deboss; foil stamp creates a pressed impression similar to letterpress but with a metallic sheen. They're distinct print methods and can be combined in the same invitation suite.

Yes. A popular pairing is letterpress for the main typography and flat foil for a crest, monogram, or botanical detail. This creates a sophisticated contrast between matte ink and metallic shine. Our designers can advise on structuring the design so both techniques work together cleanly.

Letterpress works particularly well for classic, garden, romantic, minimalist, and heritage-inspired weddings. The handcrafted quality and cotton paper feel natural at country houses, historic estates, and traditional church settings. It's less suited to high-colour-illustration or very contemporary graphic aesthetics.

Blind letterpress (also called impression-only letterpress) presses the plate into the paper without any ink. The result is a colourless, tactile deboss - the impression is felt as much as seen. It's a sophisticated, subtle look that lets the texture of the cotton paper take centre stage, especially striking in raking light.

On 600gsm Wild Cotton Double Thick, there is minimal show-through - the stock is dense enough that the impression stays on the front. On 300gsm, there may be a slight ghost impression on the reverse. This is a natural characteristic of the letterpress process and is considered part of the handcrafted quality, not a defect.

Yes. You can order matching letterpress RSVP cards, information cards, and save the dates as a coordinated suite. Some couples choose to letterpress the main invitation card and use digital print for supporting pieces - this keeps the suite visually unified while managing the overall cost.

Wild Cotton is a cotton-fibre paper stock that's soft and yielding under pressure - exactly what letterpress requires for a clean, deep impression. It's used for letterpress and foil stamp at Paperlust in two weights: 300gsm and 600gsm Double Thick. Cotton fibre holds the impression without cracking or resisting, giving the deboss its characteristic depth and tactility.

There's no standard minimum that would exclude small orders. Pricing is based on your quantity and design specifics - larger orders reduce the per-unit cost. It's always worth ordering 10-15% more than your current guest count to account for last-minute additions and addressing errors.

Yes. Every design in the collection is fully customisable - wording, fonts, layout, and ink colour. Your assigned designer will work with you through the proof process to get the wording exactly right. Two rounds of revisions are included at no extra cost.

Approximately 2-3 weeks after you approve the final proof. Letterpress takes longer than digital because plates are set, inks are hand-mixed, and production runs in stages. Factor this into your overall timeline when placing your order.

Your assigned designer will deliver a proof within 1-2 business days of placing your order. You'll then have two rounds of revisions included at no extra cost before approving the final version for production.

Two rounds of revisions are included at no extra cost. Additional revisions beyond that can be arranged for a small fee. Most orders are finalised comfortably within two rounds.

Letterpress uses water-based, hand-mixed inks and cotton-fibre paper with no plastic coating - making it one of the more considered print methods environmentally. Paperlust also plants a tree in Borneo for every order, so there's an active environmental contribution with each letterpress purchase.

Free white envelopes are included with every order. Coloured or textured envelope upgrades are available at an additional cost. Paperlust's Address Manager tool lets you import guest addresses via Excel, Facebook, or email for easy address printing.

Yes. Matching letterpress save the dates, RSVP cards, and information cards can all be ordered from the same design collection. Browse the save the dates collection for letterpress-compatible options.

Paperlust offers a 100% happiness guarantee on all orders. If there's a production defect or the result doesn't match the approved proof, you'll receive a free reprint or a full refund - no arguments, no complicated process.

Yes, reorders can be placed - though full lead times apply again since the press needs to be set up fresh. It's always worth ordering 10-15% more than your current guest count upfront to account for last-minute additions and addressing mistakes.

Yes. The rigid cotton stock holds up well in transit - in fact, the thick card handles postal handling better than thinner papers. Keep in mind that a full letterpress suite can be heavier than standard post, so weigh an assembled invite at the post office before posting your full run to confirm correct postage.

Yes. Letterpress inks at the Paperlust studio are hand-mixed for each order, allowing for precise colour matching and the rich, saturated tones that define high-quality letterpress printing. Hand-mixed inks produce colours that look distinctly different from digitally printed equivalents - deeper and more textured.

Both are cotton-fibre stocks used for letterpress at Paperlust. The 300gsm is a premium heavy card; the 600gsm Double Thick is twice the weight and produces deeper, more dramatic impressions. The 600gsm is the premium option most associated with luxury letterpress wedding stationery. If you're undecided, the sample pack lets you feel both before ordering.

Yes. The sample pack includes letterpress samples across several designs. The full swatch kit covers all paper stocks including both Wild Cotton weights - the best option if you're comparing before placing your order.

Yes. Paperlust ships worldwide via DHL Express. Orders over £260 qualify for free express shipping, which typically arrives 3-5 business days after production is complete. Orders under £260 can be shipped internationally at standard DHL rates.

Yes - in 2026 this is standard. Place a 2cm x 2cm minimum QR code on the back of your invitation or save-the-date linking to your wedding website. It frees up front design space and keeps logistics (RSVP, directions, accommodation) at your guests fingertips.