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History of Printing Wedding Invitations

The origins of wedding invitations lie in announcements made loudly by town crier and everyone who was in earshot was invited. The start of these invitations as we know it started with the nobility in The Middle Ages. Monks skilled in the art of calligraphy were paid to create beautiful invitations for weddings. These invitations, more often than not, carried the Coat of Arms or the personal crest of the father of the bride or the groom.

In the 1600’s invitations for weddings were also sent in newspapers. This is a tradition that did not last long since it lacked elegance and style. Embossed writing on wedding invitations was used in 1642 for the first time. Smudging of the engraving was prevented by using a tissue paper on top; a tradition that continues till date. In these days, invitations for such esteemed events were delivered by hand or on horseback by personal messengers.

Fine wedding stationery started being used for invitations for weddings right after World War II. Industrialization allowed the common man to mimic the lifestyle of the rich and the noble at a cost that was affordable.

Calligraphy, ribbons, pictures of angels, embossed wordings and immaculate wordings with individual addresses were a hallmark of wedding invitations. There was a phase when invitations were a combination of printing techniques and personal touches that were added by the hosts. Today everything is possible using technology and machines.

Different kinds of paper can be used for printing and the bride and groom have the choice of textured paper, soft white paper or translucent paper to choose from. A design of their own choice can be added to the invitations and this can be managed within a matter of days. In fact the ease of producing invitations for weddings has led to ‘save the date’ invitations that are send before the actual wedding invitation too.