More Than an Invitation: The Art of Custom Wedding Stationery

AS SEEN IN THE 2026 FALL + WINTER PRINT EDITION OF NOW WEDDINGS MAGAZINE

From the Publisher’s Desk

Long before guests take their seats, before the flowers are arranged, and before the first dance begins, there’s another moment that quietly sets the tone for a wedding day.

It arrives in the mailbox.

An invitation is often the very first glimpse guests receive of a celebration. It hints at the style, the personality, and the story waiting to unfold. While it’s easy to admire a beautifully designed invitation, it’s much rarer to see the craftsmanship behind it.

That’s exactly what I set out to discover during a visit to InvitoBella’s studio in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.

Walking through owner Ashley Barado’s upstairs workspace, one thing immediately stood out: everything had its place. Shelves of paper samples were meticulously organized, project boxes were neatly arranged on shelves, and every stage of the creative process had its own dedicated workspace. A hot foil press sat quietly in one corner. A tabletop letterpress stood ready in another. Even a carefully styled flat lay station, where completed suites are photographed before heading to clients, reflected the same thoughtful attention to detail that defines Ashley’s work.

The Story Behind InvitoBella

For Ashley, the journey into stationery wasn’t something she planned.

It began in 2011 while searching for custom invitations for her son’s birthday. When she couldn’t find exactly what she envisioned, she designed them herself. Friends and family soon began requesting invitations of their own, and after connecting with a local wedding planner, what started as a creative project naturally evolved into a business specializing in custom wedding stationery.

Today, Ashley leads every design, consultation, and creative decision, while her husband, Jason, brings those designs to life through the printing process. Together, they’ve built a true husband-and-wife studio where artistry and craftsmanship go hand in hand.

The Art of Letterpress Wedding Invitations

Then we headed downstairs.

Their unair-conditioned garage workshop gave new meaning to the phrase “hot off the press.” Between the Louisiana heat, a gently humming fan, and an antique letterpress turning by hand, it was easy to appreciate just how much craftsmanship goes into every invitation.

Unlike modern commercial presses, there are no roaring motors or automated production lines. Instead, the antique press, dating back to 1899, moves with a quiet rhythm. You hear the gears turning, the flywheel spinning, and the soft sound of each sheet of paper being carefully fed into the machine by hand.

Watching Jason work feels less like operating equipment and more like watching someone practice a craft that has remained largely unchanged for generations.

Every plate is carefully positioned. Ink is spread onto the press. Each sheet is hand-fed into the machine before the wheel turns again, leaving behind the crisp impression that gives letterpress its unmistakable depth.

One detail surprised me most.

The amount of ink used is remarkably small, yet each invitation emerges from the press already dry and ready for the next step.

“It’s the hard work that goes into it,” Ashley explains. “A lot of people just think… things are just run through a machine and it’s automatically done, but there’s so much labor and love that really goes into the process.”

That process often involves much more than a single trip through the press.

A single invitation suite may begin with digital printing before moving through blind embossing, foil stamping, letterpress, and intricate die-cutting. Every layer must align perfectly with the one before it, sometimes requiring four separate production stages to create a single finished piece. Even the beautifully torn deckled paper edges are created by hand. Jason jokes that he has “the scars to prove it.”

Behind every finished invitation is an extraordinary amount of patience.

Yet for Ashley, the process always begins with something much more personal.

Creating Personalized Wedding Stationery

Every consultation starts with understanding the couple themselves.

Their personalities.

Their story.

The places that matter to them.

The traditions they want to celebrate.

Those conversations become the foundation for every design. Sometimes it’s incorporating the colors of an alma mater where the couple met. Other times it’s a custom illustration of a favorite venue, a beloved pet, or another meaningful detail woven subtly throughout the suite.

“If you can think of it and it can be printed,” Ashley says, “it’s something that we can either print in-house or we can source.”

That philosophy extends far beyond the invitation itself.

Menus, ceremony programs, welcome signs, table numbers, cocktail napkins, koozies, custom Mardi Gras beads, and countless other details become part of one cohesive visual story that carries guests from the save-the-date through the final farewell brunch.

“It’s an extension of what we already created,” Ashley says. “When your guests get there after they’ve seen the save the date and the invitation and they really see the cohesion and how your entire wedding brand has played out through the entire process…”

Wedding Invitation Advice for Engaged Couples

Before leaving, I asked Ashley what advice she would give every engaged couple planning their wedding stationery.

Her answer was refreshingly simple.

“Be you.”

“I know there’s tradition and etiquette, but at the end of the day this is your day,” she says. “Make the invitation about yourself.”

After spending the afternoon inside InvitoBella, it becomes clear that what Ashley and Jason create isn’t simply paper.

It’s craftsmanship.

It’s artistry.

It’s countless small details that most people will never see, but somehow feel the moment an invitation lands in their hands.

And in a world that’s increasingly automated, there’s something incredibly refreshing about knowing that every impression, every torn edge, and every carefully pressed sheet has been created the old-fashioned way, by people who genuinely love what they do.

As seen in: NOW Weddings Magazine @nowweddingsmagazine

READ THE 2026 FALL + WINTER PRINT EDITION OF NOW WEDDINGS MAGAZINE