FYI INTERVIEW | LUCKY LUXE

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For this "For Your Inspiration" post I want to introduce you to one of Mississippi's not-so-hidden treasures. Located in downtown Laurel, Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence is a nationally known Letterpress stationer who has caught the attention of just about every national wedding blog as well as brides from all over the country. Owner and amazingly talented graphic artist Erin Napier's work has been featured multiple times on just about all of my favorite wedding sites including Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, Once Wed, The Wedding Chicks and many others.

What is Lucky Luxe?

More than just an invitation, Lucky Luxe provides a complete design experience allowing clients to express their personal style and sentiment with a look that is exclusively their own, or by choosing their favorite customizable suite from the Lucky Luxe collection.

You specialize in Letterpress printing. What is that?

Letterpress is one of the oldest and most beautiful printing techniques and dates back to the invention of the movable type by Johann Gutenberg. Metal plates with the images raised are inked and then pressed against soft impressionable paper — a technique that is more a form of art rather than science as no 2 pieces are exactly alike. Because the paper is hand-fed on an antique press dating back to the 1800s, each piece is subtly unique. Today, not only do letters appear crisp on heavy cotton paper, but you can feel the recessed texture around the type. This is a distinctive characteristic of letterpressing. From the look and feel of each piece, it stands out among other printing types found today.

What makes Letterpress special?

In the digital age, printed materials, beautiful, tangible, printed goods are a dying art. A letterpress wedding invitation is a precious thing—the supple cotton paper, the announcement it bears, it's special. It announces the beginning of a new family and that's one of the few sacred occasions in a a person's lifetime. I think only letterpress has the ability to remain timeless, even as technology continues to evolve. Letterpress is one of the oldest printing methods in the world, and to print your wedding invitation in that way connects you to a history. It makes a statement that an email or digital printing never could.

How do you begin the design process for your custom orders?

For Bespoke orders (fully custom), I ask that clients prepare a Flickr or Photobucket album of inspiration images (the more the better), then I try to get to know them a little bit, how they got engaged, where they met, etc., before I design a fully-tailored invitation suite.

What is the average cost of a collection order or custom order?

There are many options and customizations available so the cost varies wildly. The average vintage postcard save-the-date order (all postcards are digitally printed) costs about $400. The average invitation order totals around $1,500. For Bespoke, it's just $145 more than the Collection cost.

Do you offer anything for those brides who love your designs but just can't fit the cost of letterpress into their budget?

As an alternative to the higher price of full-service printing and design, we are excited to offer an option for our budget-minded and DIY brides. Just because you’re on a budget doesn’t mean you should sacrifice beautiful design! By going this route, we design a piece for you from the Collection or Bespoke, and after the proofing and approval process, we send you a print-ready Adobe PDF file. This option does not include paper or envelopes, but we are happy to make recommendations for online vendors and printing resources so you don’t have to print or trim a thing.

The Amazingness

Check out the Lucky Luxe Collection or Bespoke galleries for more images. (Photos by Erin Napier)

About Erin

I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in print design from the University of Mississippi in 2007. I worked at an advertising agency in Memphis and in the art department of a technology company designing collateral and advertising, but my heart wasn't in it. Once I designed my own wedding invitation and played with the typeface possibilities, the color palette, I was in love. Type is my favorite design element which is the whole of a wedding invitation. It's exactly what I want to do at this stage of my career, and it's a huge blessing that I know it at my age. I thank God everyday that he gave me the opportunity to do what I love and pay the bills.