Wedding Digest Philippines Weddings. More fun In the Philippines Edition | Page 284

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H EXP E R T

Mr. Gilbert Tan

AN INSIGHT ON INVITES
Mr. Gilbert Tan, the General Manager of Ever Engraving Stationery, Inc. shares with us the progression of wedding invitations he
witnessed in more than four decades of printing experience…
Notable Invites
“Ever Engraving Stationery was founded in 1957 by my
parents and is today preferred by corporations including
individuals for their printing needs. We are among the
oldest printing companies, we started as a social printer,
which specializes in printing invitations, letterhead,
stationery and business cards.”
Their specialty is the ‘engraving’ printing process which
is an artistic practice of incising a design on to a hard
and flat surface, an elegant way of cutting grooves into a
plate. He explains further “It is called Intaglio, we engrave
on copper plates, fill it with ink, scrape off the excess and
what’s left is transferred onto a paper.”
The company’s long-term objective is to be the leading
supplier of quality and world-class printed materials.
Notable personalities were part of Ever Engraving
Stationery, Inc.’s clientele, the most eminent ones: the late
President Corazon C. Aquino, Former Congressman Juan
Miguel “Mikey” Macapagal Arroyo, Ilocos Norte Governor
Imee Romualdez Marcos, Filipino actor TJ Trinidad, ABSCBN newscaster Bernadette Sembrano and luxury goods
designer Bea Valdes. From engraving, it has now evolved
into a premier commercial printing company preferred by
top private and public corporations in the Philippines.
On Engraving and Offset
Their original wedding invitations done in engraving
superimpose the wordings on special paper and so when
you glide your finger over the words, you could actually
feel every letter. Today, while engraving is still offered
at Ever Engraving Stationery, Inc., the dominant printing
process has become ‘offset printing’. It still uses plates
but the printed image is flat as seen in newspapers and
books. “About 10 to 15 percent of our customers still
prefer the conventional way, even though it is complex, it
takes longer but it is more elegant.
In recent years, digital printing has started gaining
tremendous popularity because the creative ideas of
couples can be put on paper using the latest in technology,
alterations take only minutes to do, it’s also production
efficient, and it is the most affordable.

Why Weddings are more fun in the Philippines.
The main difference he sees in Philippine wedding
invitations compared with invitations from other countries,
is in the presentation and the colossal list of well-thoughtout names for the entourage. It is all about personalized
and stylish designs. “Here, wedding announcement 8