When you think of “wedding vendors”, please don’t forget about the stationery designer! While they may not physically be present on the day you get married, they still work just as hard as those other pros who will be. In reality, your stationery designer is a very essential part of your wedding day. Without the save the date and invitation, how would your guests know when and where to show up?! It might seem silly but from consultation to conception to design to the proofing and printing process, stationery designers are true artists who care about your wedding day as much as you do. Get a behind the scenes look at a designer in action as Kimberly of Purple Wagon Designs shares her process with us!
From Kimberly…
While wedding stationers like myself are certainly considered wedding “vendors,” we’re different than most of your vendors because we aren’t AT the big event! All of our work happens BEFORE the wedding…but that doesn’t make it any less important. In fact, without invitations, no one would show up to the wedding!
To give you a little insight about what goes into creating the perfect wedding stationery for someone’s big day, I’ll be giving you the play-by-play with my recent bride, Clare, and our journey to create her dream invitations!
CONSULTATION
Thursday, February 16, 7:36 p.m.
Five months prior to Clare’s wedding, she contacts me to inquire about invitations and we schedule an in-person consultation.
Friday, February 17, 9 a.m.
I meet with Clare to discuss the details of her July 8th wedding: the overall feel of her wedding – traditional ceremony with a casual and relaxed cocktail reception; the locations – St. Bernard Church and The Mansions on Fifth; and the color scheme – pine and blush.
Also during our initial consultation, Clare picks out the shape and structure of her invitation. She chooses a modern and functional pocket card in dark sage, a beautiful paper patterned with pink magnolias, and a lovely natural linen stock. I’m IN LOVE with her choices!
PROPOSAL
Tuesday, February 21, 1:34 p.m.
I put together the proposal and contract for Clare’s wedding stationery and email it to her for review.
Tuesday, February 28, 9:03 p.m.
Receive email from Clare stating that “We are go for launch!!!!” and asking what the next steps are. Reply, share her excitement, and ask her to mail out the signed contract and deposit so we can get started.
Monday, March 6, 12:15 p.m.
Find Clare’s contract and deposit mixed in amongst the junk mail.
4:53 p.m.
Order all the necessary paper and envelopes for Clare’s invitations, along with that of three other couples with summer weddings.
DESIGN
Thursday, March 9, 2:30 p.m.
Begin working on the initial design of Clare’s wedding invitations. I also have a few deliveries for other clients today, so I don’t get as far as I’d like.
Friday, March 10, 11 a.m.
Arrive back home following my daughter’s field trip to the Mt. Lebanon police station (so cool!) and put the finishing touches on Clare’s initial design. Send it off and hope she likes it!
7:04 p.m.
Receive an email from Clare with feedback. She LOVES it! I do a little happy dance then quickly make her minor changes and send back to her.
Thursday, March 16, 1:25 p.m.
PAPER DELIVERY DAY!! I haul two massive boxes into my office (paper is HEAVY!) and check that everything is accounted for. I also let my kids make a huge mess playing in the packing peanuts 🙂
Tuesday, March 23, 1:06 p.m.
Finish up the initial design of all the inserts for Clare’s invitations and send off for review.
Friday, April 7, 4:30 p.m.
After some back and forth with Clare making sure the wording, details, and designs are absolutely perfect on every part of her invitation, I send the artwork to print.
ASSEMBLY
Monday, April 10, 12:52 p.m.
Receive a message that Clare’s invitations are ready to be picked up from the printer – in record time. It’s always so exciting to open the box and see the printed versions for the first time! They turned out exactly as I had hoped!
Tuesday – Saturday
Print the envelopes for Clare’s invitations and work on assembly. Unlike the designing which is done during the day in my office, the assembly part of my work happens in my cozy basement in the evening while watching TV, so it’s a bit more relaxed.
Sunday, April 16, 10:35 p.m.
Assembly on Clare’s invitations is complete and they’re packaged up and ready to go!
DELIVERY
Wednesday, April 19, 8:15 p.m.
Meet with Clare to deliver her invitations – she loves them! Seeing the look on a bride’s face when she sees her invitations for the first time is an incredible feeling!
“DAY OF” STATIONERY
Friday, May 12, 6:25 p.m.
Time to get started on Part Two of Clare’s wedding stationery! In addition to the invitations, I will also be creating her ceremony programs and thank you notes. I send her some examples of ceremony programs that she can use as a guide.
Thursday, May 25, 2:29 p.m.
I use the information Clare sent for her program and put together the initial designs for that and the thank you notes using the same theme and design that was used on her invitations.
Tuesday, June 6, 10:33 a.m.
After a little back-and-forth on the content of the program, both pieces are approved so I send them off to print!
Monday, June 19, 10:15 a.m.
Pick up Clare’s wedding day stationery from the printer and package it up.
Tuesday, June 20, 2 p.m.
Meet with Clare one last time to deliver her programs and thank you notes. She is as happy with these items as she was with her invitations, and that makes the whole process totally worth it!
As you can see, a whole lot of behind-the-scenes time and effort goes into designing and creating the stationery for a wedding, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything! I consider it an honor to work with each of my couples on such an important element of their wedding!
While you can’t be there in person, Kimberly, I know you’re there in spirit, cheering on each and every client on her big day. Thanks for peeling back the curtain for us!
If you have some catching up to do, check out a wedding day in the lives of Traveling Heart Productions, Sapphire and Lace Design and La Pomponnee Beauty Artisans. I’ve still got a few more up my sleeve so keep your eyes peeled.
You can also revisit some of my favorite posts from this series in the past!
This was so fun to write! Thanks for including me! 😀
This was so awesome! Thanks so much for sharing. ?
You’re amazing!! I love working with you so much, and it’s clear that all of your clients feel the same 🙂