Invitation templates / Christening invitations
Pressed by Hand: a christening invitation template
A hand-set letterpress sheet in two inks: every line is pressed in, plate by plate, and the guest pulls the proofs themselves.
The design
The whole invitation is one long sheet of ivory cotton stock on a printer's press, set in metal and wood type and printed in two inks: a deep black (or oxblood, or navy) and a second colour. It opens blank, with only the crop marks; then each line is pressed in, plate by plate, with a soft thud you can see in the paper. Every part of the page is the printer's own: the margins carry the job ticket's notes (plate, forme, ink), crosshair registration marks frame each forme, brass rules and an Aldine leaf divide them. The guest works the press: drags the second-colour cross into register over the black until the crosshairs meet; sets the child's name from mirrored metal sorts in a composing stick, each sort printing its letter with a thud; presses the plunger of a numbering machine to stamp the days still to go; draws down each dress-code ink with a palette knife; and pulls proof after proof of the photographs, the tympan coming down over the plate each time. As the guest scrolls, an ink roller travels down the order of the day, inking every time in the second colour as it passes. The baby's details are set as a type specimen, the godparents in wood type, the sponsors and readers on leaders, the reception on a second card printed entirely in the second ink, the questions as a proofreader's queries, and the reply comes back marked in red: OK to print.
Colours and type
Pressed by Hand comes in 4 colourways: Ivory, black & vermilion, Oxblood & rose, Navy & powder blue and Olive ink on stone, with 2 type pairings: Fell types and Wood & lead. The colours and type change in the editor at any time; the layout stays its own.
Who it suits
Made for christening / baptism, baby dedication and naming day, in the Envelope & stationery style.
What is included
An invitation website with the church and the celebration after, the godparents, your photos, a song if you want one, and the RSVP with the number of adults and children coming. You write your own words and add your photos in the live editor, send every guest a personal link by email or any messaging app, and follow the replies as they come in. Free for up to 20 guests, with the full design.
More christening templates
- Painted Tiles: A wall of hand-painted blue-and-white tiles: the panel is set tile by tile, the name goes in last, and guests turn crooked tiles, fire the glaze and repaint the frieze.
- Christening Bells: Two polished brass handbells tied with satin ribbon on white linen: tap one to ring it and the name appears, then polish the tarnish off the brass to reveal the engraving.
- The Christening Cake: A three-tier christening cake in white fondant and sugar roses on a porcelain stand: turn it with a finger, watch the name piped onto a sugar plaque, and cut a slice at the close.
- Written by Hand: A calligrapher's desk: the child's name is written live in pointed-pen copperplate, and the guest changes the nib, blots the ink, tests the colours and tries the pen.
- The Certificate: An engraved baptismal certificate on a leather writing desk: press the brass stamp into the molten wax to seal it, and watch the godparents sign in ink.
- Blind Dove: A thick white cotton card with a dove pressed in without ink: the light rakes across as you scroll, and the dove rises out of the white.
- The Favour Table: The bomboniere table on the christening morning, seen from above: one satin ribbon unspools down the table as you read, threading every favour and tag of the day, and ends tied to your own.
- Fresco Under Plaster: An old chapel wall: a fresco of a May sky and olive trees comes out from under the whitewash, patch by patch, with the child's name painted in the band beneath.
All christening invitation templates