Saying thank you...

Yesterday was our 1st Wedding Anniversary ~ and what a lovely 1st year we've had! So today I just wanted to share with you the thank you cards that I designed for our wedding. We decided upon an image of us that we thought all of our guests would like for the front but the special part was the text that we wrote and placed to the right of the photo...

we laughed

we cried

we kissed

we hugged

we ate

we drank

we danced

we loved...

we married

It truly summed up our day!

When I show our thank you card to my clients they always love the wording and ask if they can use the same ~ which makes me smile ~ some clients ask to change words or add words of their own, which is great as then it truly sums up their day!

To find out more about my range of thank you cards please feel free to drop me a line...

Curiouser and curiouser :: Part 1

I have always loved the Alice in Wonderland story so when Sarah of Sarah Vivienne Photography approached me to see if I would be interested in coming up with some designs for an Alice themed shoot she was planning I literally jumped at the chance to take part!

I dropped the designs over to the beautiful Kelmarsh Hall on the morning of the shoot. Whilst there I got a behind the scenes glimpse at the magic that was taking place, flowers being arranged and cute little cupcakes being displayed on lovely vintage china... I left knowing that the final photos were going to be amazing and I couldn't wait to see them!

I am planning to tweak the designs a little, I want them to have more of a vintage feel and I want to include some hearts or spades in them somewhere! When they are done I will post an update but for now, as promised, here are some of the final images that Sarah sent over to me along with some close ups of the designs themselves.

On Thursday I will be sharing some of my favourite photos from the rest of the shoot so be sure to pop back, I promise you they are amazing!

Images by Sarah Vivienne Photography - www.sarahvivienne.co.uk

Top Ten Tips :: 6 - Be prepared...

Sometimes it can take a while to gather all the information you need to send out your invitations, so it is a good idea to start collecting the full names and addresses of your guests as soon as possible. Check the spellings etc as you work your way through your list, this will make the process of sending out your invitations smoother.

Top Ten Tips :: 5 - Respondez s'il vous plait...

Believe it or not some of your guests may forget to write their names on your rsvp cards! So how do you know who has replied? I suggest writing a small number on the back of your rsvp which corresponds to your guest list, or you can go for the personalised option.

Would you like a little more tea?...

Click image to enlarge

Alice: Well, I haven't had any yet, so I can't very well take more.
March Hare: Ah, you mean you can't very well take less.
Mad Hatter: Yes. You can always take more than nothing.

I am working on some Alice in Wonderland themed stationery for a photo shoot that is taking place on Friday organised by Sarah of Sarah Vivienne Photography. When I start a new project more often than not I will put a mood board together to make sure all of my ideas are flowing together well. Above is my Alice themed board and I also posted the board I put together for my wedding day here. I would encourage all brides/grooms or people planning a celebration to give it a go, you don't have to be creative or good with a computer, ideas that are collected from magazines and stuck onto a sheet of card work just as well as computer versions.

I will post the finished designs after the photo shoot has taken place. If you would like to find out more about Sarah Vivienne her facebook page is here and she also tweets here.

The images in the board are all comps from istockphoto

Top Ten Tips :: 4 - Allow plenty of time...

Ideally you should send your invitations out at least 3 months prior to your wedding. Your venue will require final guest numbers around 6 weeks before the wedding so set your rsvp date at around 8 weeks prior to your wedding, this will give you enough time to chase up any late replies.

Top Ten Tips :: 3 - Order extras...

Its always a good idea to order a few extra invitations for last minute guests, changes or mistakes. Ten extra should be enough to avoid the panic when you realise you have run out, if you don't use them all then you can put them into your keepsake box with all your other little memories.

Top Ten Tips :: 2 - Calculate by household...

When you calculate how many invitations you need, bear in mind that often you will only need to send one invitation per household / couple and then one invitation per individual, so you may be inviting 80 guests but you probably only need 50 invitations to cover everyone.

Roses are purple...

“The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart.”
Unknown

Work in progress... An illustrated rose design that I am currently working on, the design is finished with swarovski crystals, pearls and ribbon. I'll post photos when the design is complete!

Top Ten Tips :: 1 - Triple check your proofs...

It is so important to double (even triple) check your proofs very carefully before giving the go ahead to go to print. Read through everything checking the layout, grammar, spellings, names etc and then give it to a friend or family member to check through after you. Often a fresh pair of eyes will pick up any errors that you may have missed.

Invitation :: Julie & Stan

Julie and Stan's theme was red roses and they wanted to incorporate it into their stationery, I chose three images to use throughout the suite which allowed different shades of red to come through. The stationery looked great against the white table linen and gave a real impact on walking into the dining room. They wanted each guest to receive their own menu so the napkins were folded in such a way so that a menu could slide into the top and then a personalised place card was wrapped around the folded napkin.

If you would like to find out more about bespoke design or any of the stationery in the collection please feel free to email me.

Please save the date!...

Save the date cards are a great way to announce your forthcoming wedding and, most importantly, allow your family and friends plenty of time to make the essential arrangements to share in your special day. Although not necessary in all situations, they are a good idea if your wedding falls at a busy time of year for example school holidays, bank holiday weekends and Christmas. They are also great for out of town guests who may need to travel far and lastly if you're planning to marry abroad it enables your guests to make travel arrangements far in advance.



I like the fact that save the date cards give your guests a sneek peek into your plans for your big day, they don't have to be as formal as your invitations which means you can add fun little extras like the quote I added to the above design... "When you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible" from the film When Harry Met Sally... Or like the quirky "She said yes!" wording on the front of the below design, your stationery should be a reflection of your personality so why not add the little extras that make all the difference!



I am currently working on a post card style save the date aimed at those of you who are marrying abroad, pop back for updates on the new design.

If you would like to find out more about save the date cards or any of the stationery in the collection please feel free to email me.

Click images to enlarge

A little peek...

I have been working on some 'Save the Date' designs today, so I thought I would give you a little peek... Next week I will be doing a write up on 'Save the Date' cards and posting some more images of the new designs... Watch this space!

Have a great weekend!

Invitation :: Nicola & Tom

I designed these invitations for my dear friends Nicola & Tom. They requested a classic design to match their beautiful venue Buxted Park, using their wedding colours (shown at the top). Its a two fold design, with the invitation wording on the front, the information in the middle and then a tear off postcard style rsvp at the end. It was a privilege to design and hand finish the invitations for them and I can't wait to until their big day... Pop back after the 3rd of April to see some photos from the day!

Versatile design...

So you like part of one design but would prefer it with another? No problem! When I designed the 2010 collection I did so with versatility in mind, I wanted to create stationery that you could have as much input into as possible. Ribbons and crystals can be added or taken off, I can incorporate beads or pearls that match your dress, or how about some vintage buttons to finish off the look? Lastly the whole collection can be matched perfectly to your colour scheme.

If you would like to find out more about the collection please feel free to drop me an email, I would love to hear from you!

A little bit about me and Beau...

After graduating with a degree in graphic design in 2002, i decided that i wanted to use my hands to make things as much as i wanted to use a computer to design them...

I love to create pretty things, I could sit for hours tying ribbons and making things look just perfect - my passion is creating beautiful stationery that not only do couples love to send but their guests love to receive, from save the dates and tiny lables to order of service and seating plans, I am proud to say that I give each piece of stationery the same love and attention as the next.

Design :: Beau :: Click image to enlarge

Let me introduce the above design, her name is Beau and I designed her especially for my own wedding! The lovely thing about Beau is the circular pattern which is hot foiled onto the smooth white card to give a reflective metallic effect.

If you would like to find out more about Beau or any of the other designs in the collection please feel free to drop me an email, I would love to hear from you!

Sneak Peek :: Laura & Tom

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the stationery I designed for Laura and Tom's wedding... Pop back tomorrow to see some of their gorgeous wedding photos, heres a sneak peek till then!

Sneak peek into 2010...

Beau's new 2010 Wedding Stationery Collection is nearly complete! Over the next few weeks I will be taking photos of each of the designs and then introducing them to you in the New Year. I will also be updating the brochure and eventually the website... Lots to do but its very exciting to see everything coming together!

Invitation :: Laura & Tom

Laura and Tom chose fuchsia pink for their colour scheme so I designed this bespoke invitation set to match. The set included a front sheet, the invitation, information card, rsvp postcard and a matching pink envelope. All four cards were then tied together with satin fuchsia ribbon and a tag detailing their names and wedding date.

Here's a snippet from the kind words they sent to me...
“thank you so much for doing the stationery for our important day, it looked great and you made it so much easier for me!”

We are proud...

...and happy to announce that we are now Rushton Hall's recommended wedding stationery supplier! Pop back tomorrow to find out more about this gorgeous venue.


Image Rushton Hall