What Is Vellum Paper?

Vellum paper is popping up more and more these days, from wedding invitations to envelopes. So what is it?

What is Vellum Made of?

Vellum used to refer to parchment made by stretching calf skin over a wooden frame. While it is still occasionally made like this today, it is a time consuming and expensive process and most commercially available vellum paper is no longer made this way.

These days, vellum is made from either cellulose fibres from plants and trees, or plasticised rag cotton. Our vellum is made with cellulose fibres from FSC® certified sources and is completely recyclable. 

Checkout the Vellum range!

What Does Vellum Look & Feel Like?

Vellum paper is often translucent, like frosted glass. Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as transparent or translucent paper. The degree of transparency can depend on the quality and weight of the paper. Heavier papers (with a higher GSM) tend to be thicker and less transparent, while lighter papers (with a lower GSM) are likely to be more transparent. You might remember tracing paper from school, which is essentially a lower quality and very thin vellum paper! 

Vellum paper has a a very smooth, plastic-y feel to it. Despite this plastic-y feel, as mentioned above, our vellum paper does not contain plastic. Although vellum can feel quite delicate, it is also remarkably durable. 

What is Vellum Used For?

Vellum has a lot of uses! It can be both written and printed on with good results (see below for printing!) and has recently seen a rise in it's use in wedding stationery. Due to it's translucent nature it is often layered over something else to produce a striking effect, as in this image: 

Other uses include:

• Belly bands
• Envelopes
• Wedding invites, place cards and favour tags
• Papercrafts
• Card making
• Flyers and marketing

Checkout 4 Ways to Use Vellum in Your Wedding Stationery.

Can You Print On Vellum?

Yes! Vellum can be printed on with both laser and inkjet printers. However it can be somewhat difficult to print on and you will likely need to change your printer settings to accommodate it, using a high quality / photo quality / coated paper setting to get the best results. If you're thinking of printing on it yourself, we'd strongly recommend ordering samples to test print on before purchasing a large amount.