It’s simple! You want to touch and feel that wedding invitation before you buy it, especially if you’re looking at mid to high-end wedding invitations with specialty print techniques and finishes. Invitations by Dawn does this so well! And because we focus on offering wedding invitations with specialty print and finishes, we feel it’s very important to offer invitation samples so our customers know exactly what they’re getting before they purchase.
A wedding invitation is ultimately an experience for your guests, and you want that experience to be memorable. Here’s what you’ll learn from wedding invitation samples!
- Print Quality
Why it matters: Every print process is really a craft but some are more complicated than others. You want to make sure experts who know their craft well are printing your invitations! Invitations by Dawn has been a leader in printing fine stationery and specialty print processes for decades so you can bet our print press operators know what they’re doing.
What to look for: Watch for color consistency and even coverage. Colors will naturally vary from company to company and they might even vary a little from order to order within the same company but wedding invitation samples are your best bet for verifying that the color you see on screen matches the wedding colors you’ve been planning around. Also look for crisp registration meaning letters and fine lines are sharp in appearance. This is important with letterpress wedding invitations and thermography invites.
- Paper Quality
Why it matters: Designers know how much paper matters but the rest of us ordinary people without that attention to detail may not understand the incredible difference between mediocre and exceptional paper. Invitations by Dawn has already done this work for you!
What to look for: Look for sturdy paper without a lot of bend. How do you do that online? Make sure the invitation retailer lists the paper weight (the higher the number the better). Also look for a print company that offers paper options. Here at Invitations by Dawn, not all of our wedding invitations come with paper options but the ones that don’t are typically on a higher quality paper than most, which we always list with the product. For our invitations with paper options, our standard paper weight is 94lb matte for Seal and Sends and 115 lb matte for flat cards. You can upgrade to four other papers including 130 lb Premium Matte, 110 lb Textured, 105 lb Signature Shimmer and 120 lb Silk Finish. We recommend ordering several invitation samples so you can touch and feel at least a few of the different papers we offer. Samples of invitations with paper options will come on the standard paper listed. However, you can see the paper used for every invitation in the product details, which means you can search around for invites printed on other papers and order samples of the ones you’re curious about.
- The Feel/Texture
Why it matters: The feel of an invitation can refer to the paper it’s printed on and to the print process. As listed above, our paper options include smooth matte papers and a textured paper. You’ll also find that print processes like thermography and letterpress lend a very nice to feel to wedding invitations where as digital designs are printed flat. Some invitations include specialty print techniques like embossing (raised designs) or laser cutting. All of these characteristics come together to create the invitation of your dreams but you’ll never know what those features feel like unless you order a sample!
What to look for: It’s all about what you like best. We recommend visiting the Paper Options page to learn more about the differences in paper and be sure to check out our Printing Options page to learn more about the print processes you may not be familiar with. Being a little more knowledgeable might help you narrow down your search and choose the right invitation samples.
