Before the rehearsals, parties, rings, merriment and dancing of your wedding, your celebration will kicked off with a wedding invitation. In a world of paperless invitations and email, we at Seacoast Weddings believe in the magic of snail mail, especially when it’s delivering wedding news! Nothing beats a beautiful and personable invitation that captures the essence of your wedding aesthetic. We talked with Seacoast Weddings Advisory Panel Member and co-owner of Gus & Ruby Letterpress Samantha Finigan to find out more on how to make your wedding invitations pop with the help of foil stamping.
Samantha defines foil stamping as, “A relief printing technique where heat and impression are used to lay thin prints of foil on paper.” The stamping leaves a physical indentation in the paper. Paired with the print’s metallic shimmer, your invite is sure to stand out. Samantha assures us that foil stamping can speak to all different wedding types and themes. “It adds a little bit of shine and elevates the design a little bit,” says Samantha. “We love foil!”
Foil stamping can be used sparingly or in excess; it all depends on the aesthetic of the wedding. In the language of wedding invitations, a spattering of foil on the card can read as glitzy and more formal — “it captures the spirit and effervescence,” says Samantha — while subtle hints of foil, on the other hand, convey a more romantic energy.
If you decide to enhance your wedding invitations with foil stamping, Samantha recommends printing on fibrous, 100% cotton or bamboo blend paper. “A lot of times, people won’t do full indentation foil on the entire invitation, they’ll use it for little designs like the couple’s names, as more of an accent color,” she says.
Gus & Ruby Letterpress offers a variety of foil colors from various shades of gold, silver and copper to blue and purple colors. Samantha notes the popularity of gold, silver and rose gold foil and the rise of antique gold colors. “When considering the foil color, think about what other accents you are using in your wedding,” she advises. If, say, the silverware is in a metallic gold shade, that color can be mirrored in the wedding invitations by using that shade of foil.
Seacoast Weddings is abuzz with intrigue about this shimmery trend. No matter your preference, make sure you send an invitation to us!
Photography: Brea McDonald Photography
Emma Kemp
Emma is an intern at Seacoast Weddings. She is studying writing at Smith College. In her free time, she enjoys playing frisbee on the beach, cafe hopping and reading a good book.