Custom wedding stationery | Cinnamon Wolfe Photography | North NJ Wedding Photographer

By Lauren and Chelsea

You’ve saved the date, secured the venue, and booked the photographer…so what’s next? Time to start thinking about your wedding stationery! With endless options for the design, finishes, and day of pieces, it may be a bit overwhelming, but we’re here to help!

We are Lauren Reed of Darling+Pearl, and Chelsea Burkholder of Chelsea B. Design Studio, and we are passionate about helping you brand your wedding day through your wedding stationery. Everyone has a unique aesthetic and it is our job to create one-of-a-kind pieces that perfectly represent you and your fiancé.

Process

Getting married and designing wedding invitations is not a normal, everyday thing to understand. A lot of our inquiries start with “what’s your process”, so, to give you a better understanding of what to expect, let me break down the process a bit for you in seven easy steps.

Step 1

You find us and start the conversation! Easy enough.

Step 2

We answer your questions, and send you a basic estimate without getting too in depth. We will give you a general overview of our services, but may not get super specific with your project, unless otherwise asked.

Step 3

It’s a match! You like what we have to offer, and we can provide you with your ideal dream wedding invitations. Now’s the time for you to deposit your money, and send us your design inspiration and Pinterest boards! We will discuss wants, needs, likes, and dislikes.

Step 4

We design those beautiful invitations and send them to you for approval.

Step 5

Revisions, edits, and proofreading! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure everything is spelled correctly, and all the dates and locations are correct.

Insider tip: Read the invitations backwards! When reading from right to left, bottom to top, your brain is forced to process each word individually rather than gloss over the sentence as a whole. ALSO, have a third party look over them with fresh eye, and then proof read it one more time!

Step 6

Once all the revisions are made and the invitations are all prettied up, it’s time for you to make that final payment. This is our kick off to print!

Step 7

We print and ship and get them into your hands! I told you it was easy!

Timeline

Now that you know everything that has to happen once you book with us, here’s a quick little timeline to sum it all up. Just refer back to this throughout the wedding planning process to keep you on track. Once your designer is hired, they will take care of this for you...so you can just take that off of your to-do list!

Printing Options

There are two main options when it comes to printing wedding invitations: flat and letterpress. There are pros and cons to both, it’s just a matter of deciding which is the best for you!

Flat Printing

This is the least expensive option of the two. The actual printing process is much more automated, so it is generally quicker and requires less manual labor overall. Because of this, it is your best option for a short timeline.

There is a lot of flexibility with flat printing, and it offers an unlimited number of colors. This means you can include photo quality images on both sides of the card if you wanted to, (though I don’t necessarily recommend it).

Letterpress

Aaaaaah, letterpress. This is a traditional artform that started in the early 19th century, and printers today still use a lot of the original machinery. This caste iron machinery creates a premium and luxurious tactile quality to the prints as a slight deboss effect is created where the machine hits the paper. Because of this printing technique, there are thicker paper stock options that are available to add variety to your pieces.

Each piece is hand crafted, and ink is added to the machine one color at a time. Because of this process, more colors = more money. Is it worth it? Yes! Letterpress printed invitations are just straight up PRETTY!

Want to save some money?

We get it. Sometimes you just can’t spend the money. However, there are still some ways to be cost effective and still get that custom look and feel that you’ve been drooling over.

You can combine information onto a fewer number of pieces. Limiting the enclosures will save you money in materials and design/printing time. You can then direct your guests to a website for the additional information. Just remember, if you are including a website on your invitations, please consider purchasing a simplified domain name instead of the length URL’s that are given to you. Instead of www.theknot.com/couples/tim-ashley/everythingintheworld, you can instead purchase timlovesashley.com (or .info) for a much easier to remember site. It’s much more visually appealing on an invitation as well...just saying...

Another way to save that mulah is to use a postcard for the response card. This will save you money on envelopes!

Lastly, consider ordering these items at the same time: save the dates, invites, and thanks you cards. This will save consultation time, money at press or when printing, and all ideas will be hashed out with your designer to provide a cohesive feel throughout.

What was that? You want more? Well we’ve got MORE!

>>> Click HERE for our FREE BONUS MATERIAL and Top 5 Tips! <<<

Chelsea B. is a stationery designer out of Princeton, New Jersey, and her passion is to brand weddings with a feminine touch and a pop of color. After planning her own wedding just over a year ago, she can understand her clients on every level, and will make the wedding invitation process as fun and carefree as possible so you can go ahead and enjoy being engaged! (which also means more time for showing off that bling!)

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Lauren Reed: letterpress lover, latte addict, guinness drinker, wife + mommy of 2 AND owner, designer + letterpress artist at darling + pearl.

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To see ALL the posts in the With this Ring series...click HERE

Why are wedding flowers so expensive? | Cinnamon Wolfe Photography | North NJ Wedding Photographer

By Jessica Davis, owner of SOULflowers and co-creator of The Ember Circle

Transcribed and edited by Amber Smith

“Charge what you’re worth and don’t apologize for it.”

This simple statement it easier said than done for a lot of people. It resonated deeply with me because money makes me uncomfortable. This is not an easy subject for most small business owners, especially those in creative businesses. When your art form is your livelihood there is vulnerability that other occupations do not require.

When asked to contribute to this series, it did not take me long to decide what I would write about. I want to remind people why they hire event professionals. Understanding the many aspects of planning a wedding or event is crucial for consumers. I don’t think we should ever stop educating our consumers.

I would like to begin from the client’s point of view. When looking to book a florist for a wedding or event, obvious concerns come to mind: “How could I get this in the most budget friendly way?” I want to encourage the consumer to start thinking differently.

The old saying you get what you pay for is something you should keep in mind when hiring the best person for any job. A good service provider always takes into consideration that people have budgets.

A good service provider will help you figure out where your money will be well spent in order to achieve your expectations.

This leads nicely into the next question that plays on honesty, “How do I know that I can trust whom I am hiring?” In most things it is always important to trust your gut, but the way I run my business is by being as candid and straight forward as possible. I want to educate my client as well as I can so they have an understanding of what all is involved to create their event.

So, “Could I do it myself?” In the age of Pinterest and DIY, people are falsely lead to believe these things are easily achievable. What sounds like a night of getting the girls together to craft, ends up being more expensive and time consuming than fun. There is absolutely something to be said for hiring professionals.

photo by Cortney Smith

I want to now talk about all the work we do that goes unseen. Let’s start at the beginning.

We have our first meeting. The majority of initial meetings are complementary, but the work has already begun. Initial meetings generally take thirty minutes or more. During this time we are getting to know each other and discussing event details. From there, the next step is sending a proposal. So begins the office portion of the job. Alone this task takes ‘x’ amount of hours. Gathering prices, figuring out labor, assembling inspirational materials to send along an overall package to the potential client is all part of this work. Assuming we are hired, this probably means the event is at least six months away.

From the signing of the contract to the day of the event, here are some of the other unseen efforts:

Countless emails, phone calls, and text messages go between the florist and client, but also the various suppliers, wholesalers, wedding planners, venues, photographers, and cake artists.
Additional in-person meetings will take place leading up to the big day.
Then, there is the design aspect, which is taking the client’s wants and needs and personalizing it to create something we can all be proud of.
Next are the other team members involved. Team members are used for the prep work, such as cleaning flowers, prepping containers, building props, making garlands, floral arrangements, bouquets, boutonnières, etc.
Delivery and day of set up, depending on the size of the event, can occupy hours or days of labor.
Break down not only consists of on-site deconstruction, but also post clean up, i.e. washing vases, ridding candle holders of their wax, restocking shelves, cleaning shop, and the returning of rentals, just to name a few tasks.

Photo by Nathan Westerfield

Moving on to the seen, overhead things that as the consumer are probably the most obvious parts of what make up the budget. Flowers, candles, various textiles, and vessels, all of which make up centerpieces, bouquets, and all other floral décor.

Things to consider:

market prices
time of year
type of flowers
quantities
proportion of greenery to flowers

One of the most important things to consider when constructing arrangements is that flower choice and quantity play a bigger role than overall size. For example, bouquet small in size, though comprised of only flowers, is often assumed to cost less than a bouquet that is larger in size but consists of some flowers and mostly greenery. In this case, the smaller bouquet with a higher stem count will be more costly. It is a misconception that bigger must mean more expensive.

photo by Ashley Posthuma

One last intangible but vitally important part of why it is worth it to hire someone like me (that I probably should have mentioned first) is the ground work laid to build the business and reputation it has taken to be successful. To build a reputation, patience and time are needed. Relationships must be forged with vendors and past clients and other industry folk. The tenacity and perseverance expended in the process of building up a business has many crossroads. Pursuing your passion can lead you to intersections where remembering to choose your love of the job can co-exist with realizing your worth.

photo by Alex Blackwelder

When I first got into the business, I remember knowing that my goal was to make this passion a career, a livelihood, a way to contribute to my household’s earnings. I channeled my energies and devoted time towards seeing my passion become what it is today. A career that is a mix of artistic expression and business determination only achieved through training and schooling and years of experience. As consumers we should never assume to know everything it takes for a field we are not a part of to operate. We have to trust who we hire because they are professionals in their field. Doing so allows us to communicate respectfully to feel good about the end goal.

photo by Alissa Saylor

I am Jessica Davis, the owner of SOULflowers and co-founder of The Ember Circle. I got my start in the floral business at age 16 in a beautiful shop in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. I studied interior design then headed west to San Diego where landscape design became my focus. I now live in a small town just outside Nashville, where I started SOULflowers in 2009.

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To see ALL posts in the With this Ring series...click HERE