I started out with the best intentions to make our stationery and make my fiancé proud to see I was being a well behaved budget bride. To continue along our vintage theme, I was going to make postcard sized invitations with separate RSVPs and info cards, each with original 1940s wallpaper on the back. I got as far as purchasing the wallpaper at least!

Unfortunately, in my line of work, I get to see the most beautiful, inspiring and expensive stationery from my suppliers on a regular basis so sometimes my judgement is clouded-what can I say? I’m a girl who likes to spend money!!

‘Hello Lucky’ are a real favourite of mine to recommend to brides as letterpress is one of the oldest methods of print and therefore add a real vintage touch. I met Ian from the UK branch of ‘Hello Lucky’ at the Designer Wedding Show last February whilst networking and he sent me a wonderful box full of exquisite samples. Of course, on our budget we could never afford them, so I set to work on Etsy to see if I could find someone who could make them for me for a little less.

Eventually I found Yoosun Lim, who owns a small letterpress company based in Chicago called Unit i Press. After she sent us a sample, we made the decision to go with her, and within 24 hours she had produced a selection of bespoke designs for us to choose from.

Yoosun was fabulous and worked very fast to keep us happy. After we’d chosen, the design she had emailed back within minutes with the changes we wanted to make and font and colour corrections. I would recommend her to anyone.

Here you can see our chosen Art Nouveau Iris design (not 1930s I know) complete with addressed envelopes and RSVPs, all I had to do was make the inserts. The Iris means a lot to me in particular, as Mr Riley proposed to me outside a big stately home which had a walled Victorian garden full of them and I carried them in my bouquet.

They arrived carefully packaged (despite not estimating for tax costs-ouch!) and unwrapping them was a real joy. The quality of the paper made all the difference and it was wonderful to trace the line of the press with my fingers, an experience you just don’t get with ordinary print. So, was it worth spending quite a bit extra on them? Without a doubt.