Sending artwork
“How to” send Reaves Engraving your Wedding Artwork
Providing us with any desired wedding artwork isn’t hard or complicated. Here are some handy tips to help you send us the best quality artwork for stunning results!
Tip 1: The best files to send are PDF, EPS or JPEG files. PDF and EPS files are best for artwork, line drawings, etc. JPEG files are best for photographs. PDF files are fairly universal as they handle both text, artwork and photographs equally well. DO NOT send bitmapped (BMP) files as they are very low quality and will not reproduce satisfactorily for printing purposes.
Tip 2: Make sure your artwork is of good quality and size. Larger artwork files can be scaled down easily, while smaller artwork files are not easily scaled up.
Tip 3: Text can be provided to us in a variety of ways. The best is in a word processing document program such as Microsoft Word. We can convert files such as Apple’s Pages, however Word is the preferred method. We can also extract copy electronically from email as well as PDF documents.
Tip 4: Please DO NOT capitalize all letters. If you wish to use a font in your ensemble that is a capital letter font, you can specify this on your order form. Most all of these fonts have upper and lower case letters. Unless you specifically require that certain text be in all capital letters, provide type to us as you see here, with normal upper- and lower-case letters. We would greatly appreciate it!
Tip 5: We know with social media and websites like Pinterest and Etsy, there are many examples on the internet of artwork, fonts and layouts. While we encourage you to send us examples from the internet, please understand we cannot use most of these directly on your stationary. We will do our best to replicate ideas, formats and type styles/fonts when we can, but they may not be exact matches to your example.
Tip 6: If you have specific artwork or pictures you would like to use, make sure it is available for commercial use or you have the rights to use it. Using your own photography is perfectly fine, but if you would like to use a professional photograph or one taken by a professional photographer, please assure you have permission to do so. Many venues, churches and other public domain photography and images are free to use on such items as wedding invitations or maps, but some do require licenses from the creator. We will be happy to help you determine what needs to be done if there is a particular piece of art or photography you would like to include in your ensemble.
Our desire is to provide you with the perfect wedding ensemble for your special day! Please contact us at 910-610-4499 or info@reavesengraving.com with any questions you may have concerning how to submit copy of artwork.
At Reaves Engraving, you are not just a number to us, you are a member of our family! Our small, dedicated team has one goal, and that is to provide you with the best quality invitations and social stationary possible! We have been providing this same, personalized service for over 85 years and for generations of families! Become a member of our family today!
Sending Calligraphy Information
One of the biggest stress inducers that comes with weddings is the guest list! Here at Reaves Engraving, we completely understand and with our beautiful, machine produced calligraphy service, we can help you take that stress away!
First tip is start to organize your guest lists. Wedding guest lists come from many different sources, typically the bride, the groom, the parents of the bride and groom, work and social circles of all involved. This includes family, friends, acquaintances for all of these folks and groups, as well as special guests. Select a “List Organizer”. This is typically the mother of the bride, but it could be the bride, the maid of honor, really anyone of significance in the wedding party. Make sure they are committed to the job and ready, willing and able to take it on!
If you are the organizer of “The List”, start off by asking each of the principals (bride, groom, parents of bride and groom) to identify and create their desired guest list. You can choose to give them a “guest limit” to keep the number attending manageable overall. If there is a “veto power” over the guest list, make sure all involved knows who has this authority. If you do decide not to invite someone, make sure you get back with the person who asked for them to be invited and explain why you chose not to have them attend. This will help to not have anybody upset.
Give each person creating part of your list a deadline to submit to the organizer of the list. It is important to get your invitations out in time for your guests to put your grand day on their calendars. You don’t want a late list to hold up the entire process.
The basic marching orders for wedding mailing lists is to get: 1) Names and proper titles for each person, 2) Current and correct mailing address for the outside envelope, 3) First names, “nicknames” or simply “and guest” if appropriate to be included on the inside envelope. You want to make sure your invitations are as personal to the invitee as possible. Having all the appropriate information makes all the difference!
Please note, all 60 and 80 sized invitations come with both inner and outer envelopes. Wedding ensembles are specifically sized to fit properly within the inner envelope and are a traditional part of any wedding invitation. This allows you to address the outer envelope properly for postal service delivery requirements and the inner envelope allows you to address your invitation to your most recognized greeting (e.g. “Danny, Vicki and the twins”; “Jenny and Guest”; “Paw Paw and Me Maw”; “Aunt Beth and Uncle Tommy”, etc).
On our calligraphy page, we have a sample on how to submit your information to us as well as tips on how to address your envelopes, especially for those with specific titles.
We also provide you with examples of submitting your list to us in either spreadsheet or word processing document format. We prefer that you send us your information in either a Microsoft Word document or a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. If you have questions about how to electronically submit your list to us, please feel free to call and ask for Kent in calligraphy at 910-610-4499 or email her directly at calligraphy@reavesengraving.com. We can accept lists using software such as Apple Numbers or Pages. We are not able to properly convert Google Documents at this time, so we ask that you refrain from submitting your lists in this manner.
Our calligraphy and stamping services can help take all the hassle out of addressing and sending all of your invitations. If you choose our calligraphy and stamping services, we will fully assemble your wedding ensemble and either mail them for you or ship them to you so that they can be postmarked from your hometown. If you choose just calligraphy, we will assemble all but your return response card envelopes so that you may stamp them and insert for mailing. Either way, our calligraphy services will save you mistakes in addressing, trying to write perfectly and all the time it takes to pull your entire order together. We have been doing this for decades and have done thousand upon thousands of wedding suites with our calligraphy and stamping services. Our prices are the lowest you will find anywhere for the service and quality only Reaves Engraving can provide! Give us a call at 910-610-4499 or email at calligraphy@reavesengraving today with any questions! You will be glad you did!