LOWCOUNTRYPAPERCO.COM

INVITATION CLIENT GUIDE

LOWCOUNTRY PAPER CO. specializes in custom wedding invitations. What does this mean exactly? It means we love paper, particularly wedding paper. From save the dates to one-of-a-kind monograms, we help you create a suite that embodies not only your wedding but the love you have for one another. We don’t believe that one design fits every client, so when we say “custom” we really mean it. Our designs are tailored to you – because your invitations should be as unique as your wedding day.

the PROCESS Feeling overwhelmed and not sure where you need to start? Don’t worry – we’ll be your spirit guide through the wondrous world of paper, starting with this client guide. Grab a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine) and take a look at everything we have to offer for your wedding paper needs. Every client experience begins with a conversation - in person, over the phone or video conference like Google Hangout or Skype. After the initial consultation, we’ll follow these easy steps until we’re finished!

ESTIMATE + CONTRACT A detailed proposal with an estimate of charges and contract arrive to your inbox from our Office Guru, Taylor. She’ll be your point of contact throughout the process to make sure we’re staying on track! Our main form of communication during this process is via email. Some meetings the initial consultation and design review specifically - happen in person, over the phone or via Google Hangout or Skype, but all of your paperwork, invoices and design proofs arrive via email.

BOOKING DEPOSIT A link to pay the 50% non-refundable deposit arrives via email separately from the contract and estimate. Payments may be made directly through the invoice from QuickBooks via all major credit cards or a bank account.

PROOFS The initial design proof arrives via email 7-10 business days after the contract is signed and payment of the deposit. You have up to two (2) rounds of revisions before the final approval, and all proofs are sent electronically in .pdf format.

FINAL APPROVAL Before going to print, we’ll send an invoice showing the balance due, your final proof along with our Final Approval Checklist to ensure all names, locations, dates and times are correct. Once the invoice is paid and the final proof is approved, your designs move to printing.

PRINTING Printing turnaround depends on the print method. Digital printing takes 7-10 business days and screen printing, letterpress and foil take 3-4 weeks.

ENVELOPE ADDRESSING Don’t forget to allow time to address your invitations! Calligraphy takes time - 1 week for 50 envelopes - but don’t worry, we’ll discuss this during the initial consultation.

DELIVERY Once complete, we’ll quality check everything from printing to calligraphy before we coordinate a hand off. You may pick up your invitations at our studio in Savannah, GA. Not local? No worries! We can ship them to you via UPS.

POSTAGE Once you receive your invitations, take a complete suite to your local post office to have them weighed and measured to obtain the correct postage. Don’t forget a stamp for your RSVP envelopes as well!

the DESIGN TIMELINE WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

PAPER ONLY

PAPER + CALLIGRAPHY

Determine a general guest count & stationery budget. Remember that we need the number of addresses, not the total number of guests

9 - 12+ months

9 - 12+ months

Meet with Team Lowcountry Paper

7 - 10 months

7 - 10 months

Start designing Save the Dates and finalize address list

7 - 9 months

8 - 10 months

Address Save the Dates

6 - 8 months

7 - 9 months

Mail Save the Dates and gather information for formal invitations

6 - 8 months

6 - 8 months

Start designing formal wedding invitations

4 - 6 months

4 - 6 months

Address and assemble wedding invitations and gather wedding day stationery info (i.e., ceremony program, place cards, etc.)

2 - 3 months

3 - 4 months

Mail formal wedding invitations and start designing wedding day stationery items

6 - 8 weeks

6 - 8 weeks

RSVP Date and finalize wedding day stationery pieces

3 - 5 weeks

3 - 5 weeks

the INVITATION SUITES Not sure what pieces you need in your invitation suite? When picking and choosing your pieces, consider what information you need to share with guests. Do you need a custom map? What about a welcome party invitation? The following pages demonstrate the most popular combinations, but feel free to mix and match to fit your specific needs. Feeling overwhelmed? Our design team will walk you through the available options during your initial consultation.

the CLASSIC SUITE You want just what you need - no extra frills required!

(A7) Invitation

Standard Reply Card

Blank reply envelope

Blank (A7) envelope

Hand-lettered return address stamp

Small extra info card*

*Not sure what you’d use this for? This card might contain wedding website information, travel information, driving directions, etc.

the SIGNATURE SUITE When you want all the pretties - don’t worry we do too!

(A9) Invitation

Extra Info + Web Card*

A9 Envelope with Printed Return Address*

*Not sure what you’d use this for? This card might be a welcome party invitation, travel info, rehearsal dinner invitation, web card, etc

Standard Reply Card

Reply Envelope with Printed Return Address *on front of response envelope

*Want to make your envelope even prettier? Add a custom liner or outer envelope calligraphy!

We are uncompromising when it comes to quality. We can’t help it. Because of this our printing partners are the best in the nation and we proudly print everything right here in the USA. Full disclosure: we are paper nerds, which is why we offer the following options for printing:

DIGITAL A flat printing method allowing for unlimited color choices and large washes of color on white or light colored paper.

SCREEN PRINT Another flat printing method where ink sits on top of the paper, so we can print white and metallic inks on colored paper.

LETTERPRESS Letterpress printing is a 550 year old process of printmaking that yields remarkable type and image results. A labor intensive process that involves a cast iron machine that literally presses your design into paper. It’s pretty rad!

FOIL Foil printing is done on a letterpress with a heating element, which transfers the foil to your paper. Foil is great for covering dark papers with light foil colors. It also adds some amazing shines and shimmers. We’re huge fans!

Feeling overwhelmed? Our design team can help! Contact us to book your initial consultation.

ADDRESSING & CALLIGRAPHY Your wedding invitations must be hand addressed - it hurts our soul to see labels or printed addresses for wedding invitations. The good news is that we have a resident calligrapher who can help with that if addressing envelopes gives you anxiety. Take a look through the following frequently asked questions as you compile your guest list.

How should I send you my list? Word, Excel, Pages or Numbers - however you want to send it, we’ll take it! Just remember, we write the envelopes exactly as they are given to us, so be sure to triple check all of the information and spelling for accuracy. If your list includes “&” between Mr. and Mrs., that’s how we write it - unless of course spacing is an issue. We will automatically spell out things like Street and Lane as well as all states and house numbers 1 - 10, so no need to write those out for us. We have an etiquette guide available with everything you need to know about formally addressing your invitations, so just let us know if you need a copy!

Can you match a specific color I’m using in my wedding? We are happy to match the ink color of your calligraphy! Please send a fabric swatch, paint chip or other physical item in the color you want.

What is the typical turnaround time for envelope addressing? A good estimate when planning for calligraphy by Lowcountry Paper Co. is to allow 1 week per 50 envelopes. We may be quicker or slower, depending on what is currently on the production calendar, so check in with us and we’ll let you know our availability!

It looks like we don’t have time for calligraphy but I don’t want to address these envelopes myself. Can you help? We certainly understand that some timelines or budgets just don’t allow for calligraphy but you’re in luck because Meredith has very neat handwriting and the turnaround time for her to address your envelopes in her regular handwriting is generally 2-4 business days and $1.50 per envelope. We’ll discuss this during the initial consultation, but be sure to let us know if you have a preference before hand.

Oops! We forgot Aunt Suzie - can I add her if we have already sent our list? Yes, of course! This happens more often than you might think, so just send us the addition or edit as soon as you can and we’ll make sure the list is updated.

the INVESTMENT Since our work is all custom and each client project is different, our pricing is based on your specific paper needs. I know, I know, you just want to find out something rather than nothing at all, so we’ve put together some starting prices for you below based on the different print methods we offer. You will receive your own custom proposal following our initial consultation based on exactly what you want and how many pieces you need. The information below is for 100 invitation suites:

the CLASSIC DIGITAL suite starts at $2105 the CLASSIC LETTERPRESS suite starts at $2550 the CLASSIC FOIL suite starts at $3450

the SIGNATURE DIGITAL suite starts at $2975 the SIGNATURE LETTERPRESS suite starts at $3050 the SIGNATURE FOIL suite starts at $4075

LOWCOUNTRYPAPERCO.COM