Becca & Jeff's Nautical Wedding Invitations!

All Aboard!

We had a blast designing a wedding invitation and thank you note for a couple that have been great friends of ours for years. They are both ferry captains on a very small and charming ferry in Martha's Vineyard. They decided to have their ceremony on the docked ferry and were interested in incorporating the ferry into the overall design on the invitations. 

We went with an overall nautical theme, printing in a hand mixed dark ocean blue on Cranes 110lb paper. The invitation was designed as a trifold. The long rectangle invite featured a hand engraved ferry image on the top, along with the wedding information and nautical flags below. 

The bottom section of the invitation doubled as the RSVP card. It was perforated, so the guests could simply tear the bottom square off and pop it in the mail as a postcard and eliminate the need for another envelope. The backs of this RSVP section were printed with the return address and, keeping with the theme, a nautical square knot design. 

The Actual Chappy Ferry

The Actual Chappy Ferry

The Final Invitation

The Final Invitation

The engraved block with the ferry design on it. 

The engraved block with the ferry design on it. 

The layout design, ready to be made into a printing plate. Lettering was created and designed ion Adobe Illustrator.

The layout design, ready to be made into a printing plate. Lettering was created and designed ion Adobe Illustrator.

Here is the printed engraving.

Here is the printed engraving.

A blind debossing test to check pressure and the plate.

A blind debossing test to check pressure and the plate.

Here is the plate on press ready to go! We used the Conrad etching press due to the plates long odd size and to get the desired deep impression. 

Here is the plate on press ready to go! We used the Conrad etching press due to the plates long odd size and to get the desired deep impression. 

A proof print to check the layout with the scoring and make sure everything looks good. 

A proof print to check the layout with the scoring and make sure everything looks good. 

Deep Impression!

Deep Impression!

A look at the invite folded as it would slide out of its envelope. 

A look at the invite folded as it would slide out of its envelope. 

Drying!

Drying!

The nautical flags spell out CELEBRATE. Their outlines were printed from the plate along with the lettering. Then the flags were hand tinted and colored in. 

The nautical flags spell out CELEBRATE. Their outlines were printed from the plate along with the lettering. Then the flags were hand tinted and colored in. 

A nice shot of the finished flags! 

A nice shot of the finished flags! 

Final Folded Invitations

Final Folded Invitations

In addition, the Thank You notes were on matching Lettra paper with Kraft brown envelopes and featured the ferry engraving printed again. I very fun project for a super fun couple!!! 

Congrats Becca & Jeff!!