Hey friend!!
I’m SUPER excited to be featuring one of my favourite stationery designers on the blog today to chat about why professionally designed stationery is super important for couples planning their dream wedding!
Meet Liz, a professional stationery designer from Cambridge who has designed DOZENS of breathtaking invitation suites, signage & decor, menus, place cards, seating charts, and SO much more!
She has some AWESOME tips that you need to hear in order to make your wedding dreams come true! Keep reading!
6 Reasons You Should Hire a Professional Stationer to Make Your Wedding Invitations
By: Liz Kotsamanes, updated June 17, 2020.
1. The Rules of Wedding Etiquette
There are a lot of tricky etiquette issues that can go along with weddings and wedding invitations. Why? Well, relationships are complicated! Parents may have split, remarried, or sadly, passed away. Stationers know how to tactfully word just about any family situation. These etiquette ‘rules’ are fairly specific to weddings, so they may not necessarily be something you are familiar with, and as such, could cause an unintended gaffe.
In addition, we know how to word invitations to make it obvious just who is in invited, but in a tactful way. Rather than trying to stress over how to politely tell your mom’s cousin twice-removed that she can’t bring her 7 kids and their boyfriends/girlfriends, let us do that for you through the correct wording and addressing of your invitations!
Looking online seems easy, right? Good luck finding something consistent! Wording varies wildly from one website to another, and a lot of it isn’t correct. We use time-honoured, long-established etiquette that has been carefully researched. Instead of wasting your precious wedding planning hours trying to figure out how to word something just so, let the experts take care of it all.
2. Design Aesthetic
Designers know design. We know which fonts look best, what size text to use, what colours look great together, and so much more. We can articulate the ideas and mood that you might struggle to put into words or to get on paper. We can make suggestions as to how to best pass along or collect information for your guests. For example, a recent client needed a way for guests to reply to multiple events, but not everyone was invited to all of the events. I suggested a perforated reply card for each event, and it worked perfectly for the client’s needs.
Stationers also know how to beautifully blend ideas into one gorgeous, cohesive design. We can take a basic concept or idea from you, and turn it into a work of art! If you want something truly custom to your special day, a stationer is the person to do it. Many people like to keep invitations as a keepsake from your wedding, so give them something that really represents you as a couple!
3. Time Management
You’re busy–dress shopping, choosing a caterer, photographer, venue, bridesmaid dresses–the list is endless! You need someone to help save you time, and possibly even money. When those generic invitations show up (from a mass market printer who offers cheap business cards) and you want to cry because you hate them and then have to start over, you will wish you had hired a stationer in the first place, and not wasted your time and money.
Your invitations didn’t show up on time? Now you have to call your guests one by one to invite them–who has time for that? Sure, maybe you could buy some digital file invites online and DIY, but where do you go to get them printed? How do you word everything properly? Forgot to include the ceremony time? Oops! Now you have to get them printed again, wasting time and more money! Trying to print them yourself? Get the Advil ready, you’re gonna need it!
When you hire a skilled professional, you’re not just the next order in the queue. We are here to help with whatever you need–you get personalized service and, high-quality, polished invitations and stationery for one of the biggest and most public days of your life.
4. Elevate your Wedding
No more boring invitations! Do you really want the same invitations that everyone buys from the craft store, or an online printable that doesn’t really go with your theme or vision? A custom invitation is truly that- an invitation that reflects you, the person you can’t wait to marry, and the day of your dreams! Your theme can be carried out through all of your stationery, from your Save the Date Cards, to Invitations, to your “Day of” stationery, such as menus and table numbers and even favours. Having a really customized wedding? Think of your wedding invitations as a ‘sneak peek’ of your wedding day. Set the scene for your big day- your invitations tell your guests what to expect ahead of time. High quality paper and careful, well-planned design speaks volumes.
Let’s be real–you just might find that you even get nicer gifts because your guests will know before they arrive that your bash is going to be seriously swanky! Stationers can vary their techniques based on your budget, so you don’t need to break the bank- you can get the design you love at different price points. If you have large budget, then you can always add techniques such as letterpress or foil to really make them stand out! If you send out generic, mass produced invitations, they just don’t tell your guests to expect the amazing, meticulously and truly personalized day that you have agonized over for months, or even years. People can tell if your invitations were store bought or custom made—trust me.
5. Quality Control (aka You Get What you Pay For!)
When you don’t work with a professional, you don’t really know what you are going to get. Inferior print techniques, low-quality paper, or items you forgot to include can be disastrous! Stationers know what to include, when to include it and most importantly, how to include it. We have experience working with brides (and grooms!) such as yourself. Yes, it is going to cost more than a DIY, but the value we add to the process is worth it. We have experience in both design and print processes, so you don’t need to worry about bleed and crop marks, CMYK colour vs RBG, Pantone swatches, vector graphics, design software, and all of the other things that go along with design work, not to mention all of the tricky wedding etiquette that I touched on earlier. These things can take years to learn.
When you hire a pro, you get someone with a wealth of knowledge. You basically get a one stop shop for all of your print, etiquette and design questions. There is no need for you to be concerned about fixing anything that doesn’t turn out when you tried it yourself, you don’t have to google anything, or stress about how to invite someone sans kids. We can help you create a complete brand for your day, while taking the worries off of your shoulders. The process is easy, quick, and stress-free, because you don’t have to worry about a thing! We take care of it all in one place. Need something customized that you aren’t able to order because it isn’t offered with the ones you picked? No problem, because we can source the things you need and create a cohesive look all throughout. Want the invitations to match the dresses or florals? We can do that! We have the hook ups to get all kinds of really interesting, and unique items customized for your day.
6. Wedding Photos
You are paying for a quality photographer, who will capture every part of your day, from when you’re getting ready, to the ceremony, to the all-important photos of you and your love, the family, the friends, the cake and everything else that makes your day so special! What couples often forget to think about is those wedding stationery photos– a beautiful flat lay photo (like the one above) of your gorgeous, custom wedding invitations will be a cherished keepsake, right along with the invitations themselves. You can include those special personal items such as jewellery, shoes, flowers, or other precious keepsakes in the photo, capturing those painstaking details that might not have been noticed, except by a few close friends or family members. A stunning flat lay that incorporates your stationery is a photo opportunity that shouldn’t be missed, which is why you really want to invest in invitations that speak to who you are as a couple, and incorporate your personal wedding brand for those photos that last a lifetime.
At Liz Kotsamanes Designs, we communicate with you throughout the process to make sure that your custom design is everything you envisioned and more. Plus, a stationer can assemble, address, and even mail your invitations for you! Who wouldn’t want to have one less task on their wedding To Do list?
Ultimately, weddings are expensive- there is no denying it. As the person getting married, the choices are really up to you- the things that you value the most will be the ones that you spend the most time and money on, without a doubt. You may not have realized the value of a good stationer working for you when you were first starting the planning process, but it isn’t too late! A stationer can bring your wedding from ordinary to extraordinary!
Liz Kotsamanes is a professional stationer, specializing in luxury and event stationery, located in Cambridge, Ontario. You can visit her website at www.lizkotsamanesdesigns.ca
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