Samantha Newton: A little bit of context and research

The History of the Invitation (from Purple Rose Graphics)

Traditionally, written invitations are used for larger scale “life cycle” events such as weddings, anniversaries, important birthdays or baby related events such as a baby shower. How did all of this get started? Here is a brief overview of the history of the written invitation:

• Written invitations to formal events got their start in the middle ages.

• Wealthier families would commission monks who were skilled in writing calligraphy to craft their notices one at a time.

• By the middle of the 1600’s the most popular method of creating invitations was engraving. A metal plate would be hand engraved in reverse with the necessary text and then invitations would be printed.

• To protect the ink from smudging a piece of tissue paper would be placed on top of the invitation. That’s where the tradition of adding vellum or tissue paper to invitations began. 

• In the 1600 and 1700’s invitations were delivered on horseback, as the postal system was very new at the time and unreliable.

• To protect the invitation during its travels an outer envelope was used, this is where the double envelope tradition began. Fast-forward a few centuries and the wedding and event invitation industry, as we know it today began during the middle of the 20th century with the invention of Thermography.

• Thermography is a printing process that produces raised letters on a sheet of paper without any etching or engraving. It made invitations very affordable for everyone.

• Now, it’s popular to buy invitations from either a catalog or the Internet.