Feel Me Up

Last time, I talked about paper weight as one of the factors you may want to consider in choosing paper for your wedding stationery. Now I present factor #2, paper finishes.  By that I mean the texture of the paper, the feel you get from running your fingers all over the paper--ooooh, aaaah...how indecent! 

Paper finish

The first time I ordered paper samples, I wanted really thick paper, so I got 200lb. There I was, all excited, ripping open the envelope, rubbing my grubby fingers all over the paper, only to be like eh? Errhh? It felt like posterboard. Because I think it was posterboard. Shiny, slick finish. I didn't want my invitations to look like a 4th grade arts project.

If you're ordering from a place that has a wide selection of paper, you will want to pay attention to finish.  

Some common finishes (it's really hard to find close-up pictures but thepapermillstore has a page that explains them): 

Felt

Nice and nubby, with a tight enough weave so that it's not a 3D topographic map.

 

Laid 

Also nice and nubby, with a bit looser weave than the felt for more discernable texture that gives more the feel of wide ridges (like in a farm when you have rows of mounds of dirt that you are planting seeds in)

Linen 

Tight grid weave with thin "strands" criss-crossing, like linen. This is a really lovely finish but I've heard that you should test your printing method on a sheet before committing because of the contrast between the raised relief threads and the background plane (i.e. ink may not print evenly).

 All pics of paper finishes courtesy of The Paper Mill Store 

Um, that pic doesn't accurately portray a linen finish.  Instead, close your eyes and picture a linen tablecloth.  There you go.

Helpful or hateful (because I'm mentioning too many choices)?