Write Next Door in Bethpage, New York sent in these contemporary Helani Bar Mitzvah invitations for printing.  Letterpressed in our espresso and grass inks, this earthy color palette helps keep this set looking youthful, but sophisticated and the three letter monogram at the very top is so classic.  The envelope is lined in our merritt pattern which we also adore because it matches perfectly to the bond border on the invitation.

inks: espresso + grass| font: tennyson| paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress | liner: the merritt pattern in espresso| invite size: S8

Sometimes it’s softness and subtlety that are key.  Check out this overly modern Helani wedding invitation suite submitted by our friends at Stationer of New Orleans in Louisiana.  We adore the choice of such a unique color palette – and pairing our mint + peacock inks together worked wonders for this design, making the invitation look almost vintage.  Then the couple chose our always popular chalain pattern in mint for their envelope liner – tying this set together so nicely.

inks: mint + peacock | fonts: smock harrison + mack | paper 2-ply white | invite size: S-8 | printing: letterpress | liner: the chalain pattern in mint

Take a splash into summer with a cool and colorful Helani letterpress wedding suite submitted by our friends at Kate’s Paperie – SoHo in New York City.  Our smock spencerian calligraphy font is always a winner and is used for the couple’s name and wedding venue lines – which adds to the whimsical feel.  Playful type and our robin’s egg ink really create the excitement for the wedding on the island of Turks + Caicos.  What really has us pepped is the sensational wash of robin’s egg on the envelope liner – we can close our eyes and see the sparkling and inviting crystal waters.  We think this invitation suite is spot on – and a perfect match to what we expect was a fabulous and unforgettable wedding celebration!

inks: robin’s egg + silver| fonts: graham + smock spencerian + engravers | paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress | corner rounding | liner: the sinclair pattern in robin’s egg| invite size: S8

If you’re looking for an autumnal feel in a wedding set and still want an elaborate design, then look no further!  Shelby at Seaside Papery delivered a one-of-a-kind invitation set that pieced together tangerine, espresso, and grass inks in a way that just speaks to us.

Based on the Helani design, this one had a little bit of everything and has been used as a great example of how to celebrate in the fall.

inks: tangerine + espresso + grass | fonts: bescal + carlton  | paper 2-ply white | invite size: 7 x 7 | printing: letterpress

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.

We are so happy to see that our friends at  Haute Papier were featured in Southern Living magazine! The post also included a gorgeous customization of our letterpress Helani wedding invitation design that Haute Papier submitted! Thanks Haute Papier and Southern Living!

Brought to us by our lovely friends at Urbanic Paper Boutique, this next honoree in our Smock Design Contest is a customization of our Helani letterpress wedding invitation design. We love the gorgeous color palette, printed in azalea and pewter inks, and the fun mixing and matching of patterns. The letterpress invitation itself is printed in 2-color letterpress with patterned backing printed in azalea ink in our willoughby pattern. The reply post card was printed in 1-color letterpress in azalea ink with a sweet little accommodation card printed in pewter ink. For the perfect finishing touch, the envelope was lined in our champlain patterned printed in pewter.

Thank you so much to Urbanic for allowing us the great pleasure of printing this letterpress invitation suite. To learn more about this amazing Smock dealer, check out their recent Smock Store Spotlight feature.

At Smock we are no strangers to printing incredible customizations of our letterpress wedding invitations brought to us by the great stores we work with, but recently we’ve also been lucky enough to print some fabulous customized invitations for a wide range of other occasions. We love the idea of adpating a wedding invitation design for other events because really, letterpress is gorgeous for any celebration, isn’t it?

This version of our Kurai design, brought to us by RSVP Today in New York City, is updated in papaya and silver inks and includes Hebrew text for a result that is youthful and elegant. We love how a simple pop of bright color, along with our Beaumont serif font, changes the look of the design so dramatically and makes it so perfect for inviting loved ones to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah.

We love this take on the original Helani letterpress design customized as a perfectly adorable baby announcement, a variation on the Helani reception card for a client of Kustom Kreations in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Printed in clover and lake inks, with the addition of the very sweet Etienne script font, it’s bright and fresh and the perfect way to celebrate the birth of a beloved little one.

Printed for Luxe Expressions in Atlanta, this invitation is for a bridal showcase hosted by The Atlantan Brides, and boasts bright raspberry and pewter inks with tangerine edge painting in a custom design based on Helani. The cheerful envelope liner is our Oesa pattern in fun tangerine ink and together it makes for a truly festive invitation. We love this use of a bold and bright letterpress design for a coporate event.

Sweetly printed on our Ellie note card from Smock’s social line, this baby shower invitation is truly adorable. We can think of no better way to invite guests to celebrate the upcoming birth of a new loved one.

This version of Nevis was printed in lake and midnight inks for a farewell brunch and features edge painting in gold, which we absolutely love. Printed at our Save the Date size, the invitation is perfect for inviting loved ones to celebrate good food and good cheer and was brought to us by Arabesque of Naples in Naples, Florida.

Designing and letterpress printing menus is one of our favorite things to do here – the weddings become so real at this point, and our clients have really, really good taste in food. Letterpress menus generally evoke your wedding invitation design and bring things full circle. On occasion, menus double as place cards and have the name of the guest calligraphied at the top of the menu. We think these letterpress menus would be fabulous for other occasions – milestone birthday parties, for instance, or even a really unforgettable dinner party of the year. We often do cool customizations like edge painting (go gold!), corner rounding, or even back printing of patterns. Here are a few of our favorite letterpress menus of late!

(designs from upper left: Engadine, Helani, Burstell, Nevis, Nevis, Helani)

This is Smock’s Helani letterpress menu, photographed in our favorite windowsill in our 2nd floor (old artist warehouse) offices. The menu is letterpress printed in 3 colors, midnight, slate and clover — deep rich blues and greens that we love, love, love for the upcoming wedding season.