Sugar Plum Invitations

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Becky is prob­a­bly one of the sweet­est per­sons you will ever meet. She is the brains and the heart behind Sugar Plum Invi­ta­tions. She is the only per­son on the Cen­tral Coast brave enough to do let­ter­press invi­ta­tions, busi­ness cards and thank you notes. If you don’t know what let­ter­press is then read on!

Let­ter­press is a his­toric form of print­ing which leaves impres­sions into the paper. These kind of invi­ta­tions are fast becom­ing desir­able in the wed­ding indus­try like what vinyl is to a record col­lec­tor. Becky’s let­ter­press machines are mon­strous beasts of metal and iron. It’s amaz­ing to imag­ine this lit­tle lady man­ag­ing 100 year old presses and turn­ing out these del­i­cate and beau­ti­ful invi­ta­tions. Becky tells us that she learned how to let­ter­press from a cou­ple of old men who per­fected their art before com­put­ers were even invented. She couldn’t do it with­out her hus­band who is her main­te­nance man; piec­ing together old machines and bring­ing them back to life. Thanks Becky for pre­serv­ing and reviv­ing this lost art for cou­ples who want their invites to impress their guests with crisp lines, ele­gant pat­terns and bold typography.

 

Peo­ple don’t usu­ally under­stand let­ter­press – what do you tell peo­ple when they ask what let­ter press is?
It’s an old fash­ion form of print­ing where an inked image is pressed into paper. Let­ter­press gives a great tex­tual impres­sion, espe­cially if com­bined with heavy cot­ton rag paper. It’s a unique look and feel that other forms of print­ing can’t match.

Do you feel that let­ter­press is a dying art?
I think because it has become pop­u­lar, many peo­ple are work­ing to save this print form. It’s great to see old presses saved and in use again.

How did you get your start?
I have always loved paper and print­ing. It started out as a hobby that grew into a business!

What or who con­tin­ues to inspire you?
All kinds of things, nature, color, flow­ers, decor, travel, the beach. great pho­tog­ra­phy, my kids.

Do you do in house design?
We do design in house, but we also offer print only ser­vices for designers.

What all do you offer?
Wed­ding invi­ta­tions, busi­ness sta­tion­ary, birth announce­ments, and cus­tom printing.

Tell us about how let­ter­press hap­pens.
We have to ink the press, with a sin­gle color (we can only print one color at a time). We set the plate in the press, each piece of paper is hand fed. Rollers ink the image, the press closes with the paper inside and then you have a print. You remove the print and add another sheet. To print the sec­ond color you have to re-set up the press and plate and re-feed all the paper through again. It’s very time con­sum­ing, but beautiful.

Do you have any mag­a­zine fea­tures com­ing up?
We’ll be fea­tured in the Knot mag­a­zine in July, and in an upcom­ing Knot book on the best of wed­ding col­ors. We’re very excited and honored.

How do most peo­ple hear about you? Where do you get most of your busi­ness?
A lot of our clients come by “word-of-mouth” refer­rals from other brides, and many of our new clients find out about us from the web. Many of our clients are inter­na­tional and from the East Coast.

How do you nor­mally begin your day?
These days by chang­ing dia­pers, mak­ing break­fast and pack­ing lunches!

What is your favorite flower?
Ranunculus.

Favorite part of a wed­ding?
When the bride walks down the aisle and the groom sees her for the first time!

Do you mix your own col­ors?
Yes, we hand mix our own col­ors. We use the Pan­tone color sys­tem, so we can do our best to match flow­ers, dresses, linens etc.

How much time does it take to get a fin­ished prod­uct; from design to invites?
Typ­i­cally about 6 weeks, some­times faster. We can work with the bride to expe­dite if necessary.

What is your favorite part of your job?
See­ing the final prod­uct turn out per­fectly and the bride being happy.

What makes your busi­ness unique?
Every part of the print­ing process is done by hand, from mix­ing ink, to set­ting the press, to feed­ing each piece of paper, it’s very personal.

What do you enjoy doing on your day off?
Hik­ing, tak­ing a nap, baking.

First Job?
Den­tal assistant.

Sun­rise or Sun­set?
Sun­rise… it’s the start of a fresh new day!

Wed­ding trend that you’re lov­ing right now?
Vin­tage, hand­made weddings.

What inspires you the most?
Nature and vin­tage fabrics

Besides let­ter­press, what are some other ways you like to express your cre­ativ­ity?
Water­color paint­ing when I have time, which is never, cook­ing, and blog­ging on my wed­ding style blog -{She Walks in Beauty}

Your blog {She Walks in Beauty} addresses all things wed­dings and much more. What is the inspi­ra­tion behind your posts?
Fam­ily, friends, daily life, col­ors, fun trends, travel, things I love.

Stranded on a desert island, what would you bring?
H2o, a lot of books, by hubby and lots of yummy cheese.

What chore do you absolutely HATE doing?
Dust­ing… it’s evil.

What do you miss most about being a kid?
Play­ing out­side all afternoon.

What’s in the top 5 of your bucket list?
–Travel to Prague
–Return to Tahiti
–Snorkel in the Bahamas
–Cook through an entire cook­book
–Hike the length of the Pacific Crest Trail

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