I've admired (obsessed over) Hatch Show Print since I got into graphic design in college. Founded in 1879, the Nashville letterpress print shop "maintains the store's past success by concentrating on its poster production and revisiting the imaginative method of letterpress printing." 
"We design a look that not only captures the sound, feel and/or look of a band, magazine or product, but do so within the dimensions of the selected poster size and through the lens of Hatch history." That recognizable Hatch style and history is exactly what I wanted when I asked them to create the invitations for the wedding. Each invitation is unique, the indents on the paper are from the, most likely, wooden type, pressed into the paper. The same type used on posters for Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Elvis.
Jim Sherraden, who I met at an AIGA sponsored lecture last Summer, is manager, curator and chief designer of Hatch Show Print. While helping sell the posters I worshipped for years, I found out that Jim is a Kansas native. When I spoke to him last, he told me he even knew of the Circle S Ranch. Jim's work hangs in our dining room, my first piece of art, a gorgeous monoprint featuring "The Fonts of Hatch Show Print." Country music posters hang in the basement, I'm slowly covering our house with Hatch. Soon I will be producing my own letterpress work on my Kelsey.
Bethany who designed and printed the invites did an amazing job, capturing the "elegant country" feel I requested. Those who've seen it have described the invite as a Wanted and Circus Poster but to me, it's perfect. And historically, Hatch did produce those posters, "Whether circus, minstrel show, vaudeville act or carnival, if you wanted to fill seats, Hatch got the job done." It was a dream of mine to work with Hatch on a project and I got to do it as another special part of the wedding. Yay!!
Just wanted to explain a little more about the very untraditional wedding invitation you will be receiving in the mail. In a month or so watch for a "grocery bag" color envelope, because inside is a piece of history of your very own. And of course an invite to the best wedding Kansas has ever seen, or Ohio or Oklahoma for that matter :)(Pictured to the right is Three Thieves wine The Show, labels design by Hatch Show Print. Letterpress and wine, doesn't get much better for me, haha)
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