Recycled Desert Environment paper
New invitation paper at Zazzle
The Zazzle invitation paper selection has been increased to eight different types (not counting Speckled since it’s been out of stock for ages). I don’t know if there are new suppliers or what – this change happened last week. The textures have gotten much more interesting! I ordered a selection of all of them and can’t wait to get my hands on them. For us tactile people, new paper is exciting!
I created color swatch / photograph samples of all the variations and ordered them so I will be able to see exactly how the colors and textures affect designs. In the bottom right corner of each invite is the paper type and color name. Trust me, none of us will recognize each of them for sure for a long time. You probably want to get your hands on at least some of these as well!
Zazzle invitation paper menu
Papers range from an affordable smooth basic paper to textured, art paper style, watermarked and shimmery metallic. There are also two choices of recycled paper. The Desert Environment option (top image) looks beautiful to me! Wouldn’t it look great with a line drawing and minimal colors?
Zazzle Invitation Paper Styles and Colors
Paper Type: Basic in White
A crisp professional paper with a smooth matte finish designed for vibrant full-color printing. 110lb cover-weight. 50% recycled content (10% post-consumer and 40% pre-consumer waste).
Paper Type: Delicate in Grooved White and Champagne
(edited to add this descripton 8/5/13)
Grooved: A bright, delicate paper made with embossed horizontal grooves and a matte finish. Elegant, yet lightweight enough to be incorporated easily into DIY wedding, birthday, and event invitations. 80lb text-weight.
Champagne: A warm, delicate paper made with smooth texture and matte finish. Elegant, yet lightweight enough to be incorporated easily into DIY wedding, birthday, and event invitations. 80lb text-weight.
Paper Type: Recycled in White and Desert Environmental
A smooth finished matte paper made with 100% post-consumer paper content. 100lb cover-weight. A cost effective and eco-friendly choice for any invitation or announcement.
Paper Type: Felt in Bright, Warm and Cream
A warm, buff-toned paper featuring an embossed finish that feels just like fine art paper. 100lb cover-weight. Perfect for wedding invitations or party invitations.
Paper Type: Columned in White
A sustainable cotton blended paper featuring vertical columns texture and a matte finish. Always a classic choice, this paper’s texture and thickness is great for formal weddings and parties. 110lb cover-weight. 25% cotton, 50% post-consumer content. (note: the columns are vertical on the vertical invitations and horizontal on horizontal. 🙂 )
Paper Type: Laid in Ivory and Speckled
Designed to harken back to the first hand-made papers, this paper features a laid watermark and matte finish. This luxury paper is great for creating invitations and announcements with an ageless, bespoke look and feel. 80lb cover-weight. 30% post-consumer content.
Paper Type: Linen in White, Bright, Warm and Pearl
An elegant paper made with beautiful linen texture of embossed lines and a matte finish. 90lb cover-weight. Perfect for wedding invitations and most formal occasions. (note: Pearl is a premium color)
Paper Type: Metallic in Ice, Silver, Champagne and Gold
A shimmery paper featuring a distinctive tint and smooth finish. 110lb cover-weight. Perfect for adding a bright shine to your invitations and announcements.
The total available variety of paper and color combination is now 19 choices!
So, what does this mean to you as a designer or buyer of custom invitations?
Well, it might mean you are designing in the dark – and buying likewise – if you don’t have samples of the paper choices and an idea how they change the colors and might affect how a very fine line font appears on the paper. If you are a designer, you could make a set of papers for yourself with a selection of colors. This is time-consuming, but worthwhile. Or you can order a selection of these and save yourself some of the work.
Some of the colors change significantly when you change the paper.
And white disappears!
White takes on the color of the paper, so if you want white, plan ahead. You can see on the back of one of these invites that there is no difference between clear and white. However, there are still many choices for white papers:
- Basic White
- Delicate Grooved White
- Recycled White
- Felt Bright
- Columned
- Linen (all four choices are pretty close to white, just warmer and cooler shades)
What about the prices of the new invitation papers?
Pricing depends on so many things!
- Invitation size – the eight sizes of paper have different prices
- Paper style and color – six tiers (see below)
- Quantity – volume or bulk discount available
- Designer – designers may set prices based upon the design style
- Promotions – available sales or coupons
There are six tiers of price of invitation papers. From least expensive to the most premium price:
- Basic White
- Delicate Champagne / Grooved White
- Recycled White
- Recycled Desert Environment, Laid, Felt, Columned, Linen White / Warm/Bright
- Linen Pearl
- Metallic Ice / Silver / Gold / Champagne
New invitation policy at Zazzle
Customers and designers can now order just one invitation as a sample. In the past, everyone had to order at least ten invitations. You could always return them if you didn’t like them, but it was still a bit of a hassle. Now designers, brides, moms, party-givers and anyone else can order sample invitations. You still get a volume discount even if you order different invitations!
Are there sample-samples or kits available?
Zazzle used to offer a wedding kit with sample papers and stickers and such, but it has been discontinued. You can make your own samples as I have done here, order one of your invitations on a variety of papers or order a selection of these. You may want to order different sizes as well. It’s surprising how small the 3.5 x 5″ invite really is, for example, when you actually see it. That size is popular for RSVP cards, but not so much for invitations.
If you make your own, be sure to include a labeled selection of colors, some fine text AND the name of the paper type. Also, add a photograph if any of your designs include them! An image that includes a person’s face will tell you how you’d like that paper. This would be important especially for Save the Date or Graduation announcements where photos template designs are very popular.
Or you can order these already done from my Beachwalker store’s color samples– I won’t mind! LOL
Variation among papers on a photograph