How do you outdo an awesome save the date? Our good friend Niki at Papery & Cakery in Boca Raton, Florida has the recipe. We posted these lovely save the dates for Niki’s sister back in September!!!

Now that the wedding has passed, we are able to show you the amazing suite she designed, and we couldn’t be happier to share these with everyone! The suite was letterpress printed in our Pewter ink on our beautiful white bamboo 2-ply paper. All of the pieces were fitted with an offset border in pewter and die-cut in our new Chesapeake design. Each piece has a decorative offset backing and is finished with perfect edge painting in Pewter. The invitation, reply cards, and events card are tucked nicely into a custom offset sleeve.

inks: pewter + spring | fonts: submitted fonts | paper: 1-ply white + 2-ply white | printing: letterpress + offset | sleeve: custom pattern offset in pewter + spring | liner: seneca pattern offset in spring | invite size: S-8 sleeve | die-cut: chesapeake

Nole Garey, editor and publisher of Oh So Beautiful Paper, gave this fantastic invitation set first place in our design contest! Nole loved the texture and the playful yet elegant mix of patterns for this wedding invitation set, and we couldn’t agree more – it’s simply stunning!

Danielle from Creative Touch Party Design in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida always sends us gorgeous designs, and this set is no exception. Much of the inspiration for this design was pulled from Smock’s Dawson suite, sleeve and all. Layers of dynamically designed pieces in this suite really bring it to life, and the colors of pewter and merlot give the playful patterns a little sophistication.

Danielle gave us the scoop on the inspiration behind these invitations. “The wedding colors are shades of wine and berry with silver.  The wine color comes from her Lulu Kate bridesmaid dresses, which are just beautiful.  These were the inspiration for the border color. The gray picks up the silver throughout the wedding decor. And the men are wearing gray tuxedos, which is reflective in the pocket she chose.  The linens are a modern lace pattern which is reminiscent of the quilting in the invitation itself.”

We loved this set — congratulations, Danielle! And a huge thanks to Nole for judging the contest!

Customization = letterpress inks: merlot + pewter | fonts: carrington + smock clermont | paper color: white | paper size: s-7 for sleeve | envelope liner: ashford reversed in pewter | sleeve: custom design in pewter letterpress

This design won first place in our Smock design competition for the first half of 2012. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired designs submitted by our beloved dealers.

These letterpressed save the dates were submitted to us by our good friend, Aileen at Aileen Invitations in Miami Beach, Florida.  Our Rhon design looks truly sensational printed in our lavender and pewter inks.  There are certainly times when a softer color palette works best and this is definitely one of those times!  We print save the dates for all sorts of occasions and these save the dates happen to be for an engagement celebration.  We can’t help but feel that the lavender ink represents gracefulness and charm while the pewter ink helps keep this set looking refined.  Purple hues have always been connected to royalty which makes these save the dates all the more classic.  The couple chose our payette pattern in lavender for both the offset back patterning and envelope liner – which ties this whole set together nicely.

inks: lavender + pewter| fonts: etienne + auden | paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress | corner rounding |back patterning: payette in lavender |liner: the payette pattern in lavender | size: S6

This stellar custom invitation suite was submitted to us by our good friend Jessica at Judy Paulen Designs in New York, NY.  With the perfect design elements on the invitation, this only quietly calls for attention-and we just love that!  We absolutely adore the soft, subtle ink palette which is the perfect match to the couple’s fabulous venue in Chicago, Illinois.  The neutral and conservative pairing of our dove and pewter inks look positively remarkable!  And then there’s the metallic platinum envelope liner providing the perfect color contrast.

inks: dove + pewter | fonts: smock harrison + carrington stripes | paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress | liner: metallic platinum| invite size: S7

Sent to us by our friends at Bridals by Lori in Atlanta, Georgia these precious Dorset letterpress baby announcements will surely tug at your heart strings!   These adorable baby announcements are printed in pearl and pewter inks with corner rounding to make for the most gracious curves and a completely finished look.  We love to see the unique customizations proud parents dream up to celebrate their new bundle of joy! Paired with our champlain envelope liner in pearl we love this added feminine touch!  We think you’ll agree that these baby announcements are absolutely precious.

inks: pearl + pewter| fonts: smock bescal + stockton| paper: 2-ply ivory | printing: letterpress | edge painting in pearl |back patterning: sinclair in pearl |corner rounding |liner: the champlain pattern in pearl | size: S6

Save the dates should help generate excitement for your special day and these contemporary custom offset save the dates are spot on!  Submitted to us from our good friends at Papery & Cakery in Boca Raton, Florida these fun save the dates are perfectly personalized.  We’re absolutely smitten with the ultramodern and trendy feel of this set.  The dark pewter ink helps the spring ink stand out and this color pairing is absolutely enchanting!  We love seeing save the dates that express style and these certainly do the trick.

inks: pewter + spring | fonts: custom | paper: 2-ply white bamboo | printing: offset | liner: the seneca pattern in spring | invite size: S-5SQ

We are proud to announce that RSVP Today in New York won second place in the Smock Design Contest for their custom letterpress Bat Mitzvah Invitation! Playful, hand-drawn circles of the Piedmont design, in feminine colors of violet and pewter, really made this set come to life. Youthful, yet sophisticated – not a bad combination!

Deborah Hassan, owner of RSVP Today, shared with us a quote from her client illustrating the inspiration behind this design:
“For Sarah’s Bat Mitzvah, we wanted an invitation that would reflect the many levels of the day as well as the multi-generational nature of the event.  We worked with Debbie from RSVP Today in Manhattan to find something that was youthful and celebratory but which did not compromise the more serious elements of the ceremony. The bubbly circles on both the invitation and the envelope and the lilac color are so well-suited to Sarah’s joyous personality, but the heft and texture of the paper give it weight and depth.  We are also thrilled to support Smock’s environmental efforts and opted for a reply postcard to minimize paper. We just love our invitation!”- Jennifer and Sarah Hirshorn

Sarah, we wish you the best in all your future endeavors! Mazel Tov!

inks: violet + pewter + grass | fonts: smock clermont + graham  | paper 2-ply white | invite size: S-8 | printing: letterpress | corner rounding | liner: custom in pewter

This design won second place in our Smock design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired designs submitted by our beloved dealers.

At Smock our goal is to ensure that our brides have one of kind invitations for their big day. With that in mind, we often accept custom artwork to pair with our wide variety of fonts and letterpress (or offset) print in our luscious ink on our luxurious bamboo paper. The artwork submitted to us by Peabody Papers in Grandview Heights, OH once compared with all of the above, blew us away!

The 3-color offset invitation was printed on both the front and the back in pewter, slate and gold inks. The juxtaposition of the flat yet colorful imagery with the black letterpress text created such a dignified look. The subtle hint of masculinity is impeccable. Well done Peabody Papers. Well done!

Meg, from Peabody Papers had the pleasure of working with the happy couple and says, “Working with Shawna has been so much fun! She wanted to convey a sense of elegance while evoking thoughts of champagne bubbles. I drew the “bubbles” and decided that I would use the block for their names vs. a more traditional treatment. The last piece to come together was the kalogram – 5 sheets of proofs! It payed off though as she loves it and is using it & the dot design throughout the reception at the Statehouse. I have a degree in printmaking and enthusiastically convinced her that Smock letterpress would be the most beautiful printing option!!! She really loves the invitations – thanks for everything!”

Excellent thinking Meg!!! Champagne kisses and Caviar Dreams to you!

inks: black + pewter + gold + slate | fonts: cameron + indigo  | paper 2-ply white | invite size: S-8 | printing: letterpress + offset | edge painting: pewter | corner rounding

This design won third place in our Smock design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired designs submitted by our beloved dealers.

One of our greatest reviewed Rhon designs, brought to us by Margaret at Scriptura.  Having struggled to find just the right color combination, Margaret eventually struck gold…or should we say, “struck papaya?”

The papaya ink worked very well with the offset shell and lettepressed pewter.  The addition of the program fan was a great way to tie everything together — the full set looks amazing.

inks: pewter + papaya | fonts: graham + smock bescal | paper:  2- ply white | liner: caspian in shell| folio exterior -rhon in papaya, interior – caspian in shell | printing: letterpress + offset

This design won an honorable mention in our Smock design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired designs submitted by our beloved dealers.

Merging the design elements of Haddington and Rhon, Alyssa from Judy Paulen Designs shows just how to balance a letterpress wedding invitation set.

Particularly stunning was the pale blue of our Lake ink used as an envelope liner which complimented the Pewter of the design and text, making an elegant wedding invitation.

inks: pewter + lake | fonts: bickham swash + bickham script | paper: 2-ply white | invite size: S-8 | liner: ganval in lake | printing: letterpress |  edge painting: lake

This design won an honorable mention in our Smock design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired designs submitted by our beloved dealers.