When I do veneer inlays...especially big ones, I precoat the boat with epoxy. this is for two reasons:

See rob macks discussion of the strips steeling the epoxy from the glass...that goes double for the ep[oxy holding the veneer in place;

Second any epoxy which escapes around the edges of the veneer will soak into the strips differently from the final epoxy job, leaving discolorations around the inlay...not good at all.

If you want to try to get more bang for your buck with epoxy and capillary action, do as Robb White does: cook your boat to about 120-140 degrees, apply the epoxy heavy and let the boat cool. the cooling will shrink the air bubbles and suck the epoxy into the voids to a much greater amount than constant temperature epoxying. Note that you will have to work quickly so the epoxy doesnt cure or the boat cool.