Main Street Business

Main Street Magazine spent several hours with Jane Buck, the voluble English artist of Hudson Valley Letterpress, in her ground floor studio in the heart of Hillsdale, NY. Watched over by her office beagle she explained the history and mechanics of her five printing presses, far too complicated to go into, and showed samples of wedding and party invitations, save the dates, and special event announcements. All are custom designed by her, each one very different, but most with a light touch of humor and whimsy. It was a fascinating and instructive afternoon.

Why is there a letterpress revival? What is letterpress?

Brides and technology with the help of Martha Stewart ignited the revival of letterpress in the 1980s. The wedding industry in the United States has grown enormously as weddings moved from churches to venues, think of Jeff Bezos in Venice, fueled by social media. Bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinners, and destination weddings in exotic places were added, along with wedding insurance, wedding planners, five-figure flowers, and gigantic engagement rings. With the help of Martha Stewart’s 1987 wedding book, custom-designed, letterpress wedding invitations, menus, and save-the-dates became expected for high-end weddings.

Letterpress itself goes back to the 15th century, and the basics are still the same except that the technology of photopolymer plates replaced movable type and metal plates and allowed printers to easily create an elegant design and then use the traditional equipment of a letterpress to print the image.

Why is letterpress preferred for wedding invitations?

Letterpress is the only way to produce the tactile quality of deep printing on thick cotton paper. People sometimes request letterpress announcements for births and other special events and even business cards but 95% of my business is specifically wedding related.

How did you and your business end up in Hillsdale?

You may have detected that I’m English. I studied fashion/textile design and art history at Bretton Hall, University of Leeds. After gigs in retail, merchandising, and freelance illustration, my husband and I moved to Red Hook in Brooklyn where I opened a shop in 2009 called Foxy & Winston named after my parents. Clients kept asking me about letterpress wedding invitations, so I learned to print in Williamsburg and rented press time by the hour. My shop was a success, but my husband, who’s a Kiwi, and I decided we wanted to live in the country instead of a cramped apartment and found a wonderful old home up here. For about three months I commuted into Brooklyn to my store but quickly decided it wouldn’t work, relocated my business here, and renamed it Hudson Valley Letterpress. I found an affordable space with a concrete floor and was able to start buying my own presses.

How do brides find you? Where are the weddings?

Brides and wedding planners find me on Instagram. About half of my business is through planners and half direct to brides. The weddings can be in the Rainbow Room in New York or a ranch in Texas. Destination weddings happen all over, especially here in the Hudson Valley, and sometimes I’m invited.

Is it easy working with bridezillas?

Actually, sometimes, I prefer working directly with the bride rather than adding the planner to the communication chain. 

What is the process?

There are three stages. The first is the overall theme and the save-the-date card. The second is the actual invitation with the details, and any other collateral like RSVP’s included with the invitation. Then there’s the third stage of the actual wedding day with programs, escort cards, seating charts, signage, matchbooks, cocktail napkins, menus, and place cards. 

How much does a custom letterpress invitation cost?

An average wedding project of around 100 invitations would cost around $3,500. That includes everything from designing and printing the invitations to printing, addressing, assembling, stamping, and mailing the envelopes. If you add an additional day of the wedding pieces it could add up to $10,000 depending on the stock, colors, shapes, and printing type. Still, it seems like a very small expense compared to flowers, music, photographers, venue, and food.

How many invitations are usually ordered? When?

I always ask that question because the number of invitations required is different from the number of guests coming. Usually, 100 to 120 invitations are necessary. Depending on where the wedding will be, the save-the-date usually goes out at least six months in advance and then the actual invitation eight to twelve weeks or so before the wedding. Any remaining day-of materials can be printed as close as two weeks before the wedding. 

What’s most difficult about the letterpress business?

The juggling of the clients and all of their timelines. There’s a lot of hurry up and wait in this business. At the same time, it seems that I’m a people pleaser. To me, custom means that I keep the design going back and forth until the client is happy. Few people understand how much work that is and how many hours go into each printed item.

Like many small businesses I don’t seem to be able to pass along my increased costs of paper, insurance, and even electricity, much less time.

How much does a letterpress cost?

The question is how much does a letterpress cost to move! They weigh tons. It’s a nightmare. One press I purchased in Springfield, MA cost $2,500 but was over $3,500 delivered. I bought another press in the Adirondacks for $750 and one in Elmira, NY for $500 and a laser cutter from Tybee Island, GA. I paid a mover $2,500 to deliver the cutter and pick up both of the other presses on the way.

You’ve received a lot of press coverage? How did that happen?

It’s true. New York Magazine voted me “Best Letterpress Printer” of 2012, and I’ve had mentions in articles in Real Simple, Martha Stewart, and Brides magazines. But now the only thing that seems relevant is Instagram, though it’s a miracle that works since I only have 1,600 followers, and sometimes I don’t have the time to post for weeks.

What are the trends right now in letterpress projects?

It’s all about interesting shapes. I have a laser cutter that can produce items in the shape of flowers or even the Chrysler Building – it’s a time-consuming, one-at-a-time process. More and more clients are requesting unusual envelope liners like velvet or botanical designs. No two jobs are ever the same.

What’s next for you in 2026?

I have plans to learn how to use my Heidelberg press to be able to do higher volume jobs and my new Vandercook press for large-size prints. And I’d like to have a moment to print my own designs for notecards, posters, and wall art. •

You can reach Hudson Valley Press by email at jane@hudsonvalleyletterpress.com or follow her on Instagram @ hudsonvalleyletterpress.