Real Brides: Ashley and James take on DIY Invitations

We first met James and Ashley on a CRAZY BUSY Saturday. They are one of those couples who are just...well...infectious. They are both so nice, smiley and awesome that you can't help but be in a great mood after talking to them! They knew they wanted to make their own invitations - already having purchased a DIY kit - but just weren't satisfied with the results. James' mom encouraged them to take the 1 hour+ drive down to our studio after hearing about us on Fox 8 News.

Not wanting the hassle of printing the invitations, they knew they wanted us to provide the printing but handle the rest of the project on their own. Their initial visit lasted about 1.5 hours and we were able to work with them to finalize their design, wording, typestyle and layout. They weren't sure of their final counts - so a quick email and phone call later in the week was all we needed to get the proper amount of product ordered. About two weeks later, their product was here, printed and ready for pickup. The rest is history.....and the couple has shared photographs and a few tips from their DIY journey......

Product arrives - time to dig in!

To conserve paper, we printed multiple pieces on a single 8.5 x 11 sheets. We were able to get 20 tags per sheet, 4 invites per sheet, 5 rsvps per sheet and 6 reception cards per sheet.


James was the designated cutter....

Everything is *perfectly* cut and ready for assembly

Ashley did the spray gluing for the thinner pieces...

And tape gluing for the cardstocks....(this is our tape gun - they are available for rental with any DIY purchase)

Ashley and her mom Laurie working on assembly

James' mom Becky did ALL the addressing of the outer envelopes by hand...and even used the back of the pocketfold as an inner envelope by writing the guests names directly on the pocket.

The finished product - hot pink, orange and white pocketfolds.

We ask all of our DIY clients to complete a brief survey to share with other prospective DIY'ers. Here are the results of theirs:

Did you initially plan on making your own invitations? Yes

Approximately how ling did your project take to complete: 20 hours

Was was the difficulty level of your project compared to what you expected?: About what I expected

Please describe your project in as much detail as you'd like. Feel free to include funny stories, hassles and mishaps, your over all experience, etc. : Advice would be to have a paper cutter! Split the project up over days, I (James) did all the cutting while watching the basketball playoffs and Ashley did the gluing of the invitations while watching movies in the background. With the cutting, be sure to "Math Out" how many sheets of cardstock you will need for each card before cutting and place them in separate piles. When gluing, the gun saves so much time and is easy to use. Make sure to have old newspaper down for the spray adhesive as it travels everywhere no matter how careful you are. Save all left over pieces - you never know when they might come in handy again. Be sure to get your invitations weighed. Our finished invite mailed at $.61 even though it was a standard sized envelope. Again, spread the project over a week as taking your time will give you amazing results! We had a great time making our invitations and now have even more special memories as we did them together.

Do you feel Paper Persuasions was a valuable partner in helping you throughout your project?: Yes. Stephanie was very helpful and spent so much time explaining and helping us pick out and individualize our invitations.

James and Ashley - thanks for taking that long drive down to the studio! You both were a pleasure to work with. Your project turned out amazing and we are happy to have provided the paper products and printing services for your DIY Invitations. Best of luck as you continue to plan the wedding...and Ashley - we hope have a blast at your Bridal Shower this weekend!!

Catalog Invitation Pick of the Week

(Each week I pick one of my favorites and share it with you!)

This week's pick: Silver and White Shimmer Flat Panel




Catalog: Bride and Groom by McPhersons
Price Points
75 Ensembles: $4.43
100 Ensembles: $3.51
150 Ensembles: $3.11
200 Ensembles: $2.92
Approximate price per ensemble including proofing, shipping, and tax. Ensembles include invitation, response card with printed envelope, reception card, and return address printed on mailing envelope.

Catalog Invitation Pick of the Week

(Each week I pick one of my favorites and share it with you!)

This week's pick: 4x9 Seal and Send on White Shimmer Stock




We received an updated version of the Something Different Catalog by Carlson Craft, and were delighted to find something different for a seal n' send option! This seal n' send has a finished size of 4x9, so it's presentation is a little more substantial that the typical seal n' send finished size of 4x5. It is made of a trendy black and white pattern printed on white shimmer card stock and accented with your choice of ink colors for the copy content. Just fold it up, seal it, and mail it - no envelopes used! Your guests tear off the perforated response postcard and send that back to you, saving you postage and saving the environment some paper waste!

Catalog: Something Different by Carlson Craft
Price Points:
75 Ensembles: $3.45
100 Ensembles: $2.91
150 Ensembles: $2.77
200 Ensembles: $2.70
(Approximate price point per ensemble including proofing, tax and shipping. Ensembles include entire ensemble with return address and response postcard address printed)

Here We Grow Again!

Usually on Wednesdays, I share a catalog invitation pick of the week with you. This week I'd like to introduce 3 new catalogs we added to our selection last week! We are always looking to increase our selection of low to moderate budget invitations, and these three do just that!

Bride & Groom by McPhersons
Offering a broad range of styles from Cinderella romantic to contemporary patterns. Here's a peek:







Flower by Carlson Craft
Yes, there a some invitations featured with a floral theme, but this catalog also includes some nice non-floral selections. Here's a peek:






Save the Date by Carlson Craft
An entire catalog of Save the Date choices! From photo magnets to scratch off tickets to detailed itineraries, this book has it all! It's an updated catalog offering extensive color choices and more themes. Here's a peek:







We are proud to be adding these three catalogs to our collection, bringing the total to 31! Stop by soon and we'll help you find the best invitation for you and your event.

Catalog Invitation Pick of the Week

(Each week I pick one of my favorites and share it with you!)

This week's pick: Black & White Floral Patterned Pocket with Tiffany Blue Accents

Exquisite! This invitation combines so many trendy touches - striking raised floral pattern printed on white shimmer pocketfold, bright tiffany blue ribbon and paper accents, vertical pocket, and multiple layers on all pieces. Every now and then, I'll pull this catalog out and flip to this invitation because I think it can't possibly be as beautiful as I remember it being the last time I looked. And every time, I fall in love all over again!

This invitation is offered through Encore Studios, a premier invitation company with a fabulous selection of high-quality invitation ensembles. The level of quality is realized immediately just looking through the catalogs, and even more so when touching the invitations sampled. The paper stock is thick, colors are vibrant, and the printing is the best in the industry. Colors shown for each ensemble can be interchanged, choosing from their entire paper and ink color inventories (upcharges apply for certain paper and ink choices). For the bride who values quality and style, you wont find a better selection than through Encore Studios.

Price Points:
75 Ensembles: $16.11
100 Ensembles: $14.14
150 Ensembles: $13.69
200 Ensembles: $13.49
Approximate price per ensemble including proofing, shipping, and tax)
Ensembles include pocketfold invitation, response card with printed envelope, reception card, and return address printed on mailing envelope.

Briefly Famous!

My husbands cell phone has been ringing off the hook tonight...."Hey...I just saw your wife and her business on the news". I never give him enough credit because apparently he talks about the invitation business to his co-workers and friends quite a bit.

So yeah - this is how it all went down. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and decided I was not only going to skip my morning workout....but wear my sloppy-yet-super-comfy 'paper persuasions' sweatshirt to work today. Didn't do my hair. Didn't do my makeup. Mentioned to Stacy at least three times "I wish I could just go home and go back to bed". At noon Fox 8 calls: "We'd like to feature your business on the news tonight, can we send a reporter to interview you around two o'clock". Well, it was a less than perfect day for it...but we made the best of it.

It was a cute little spot on both the 6:00 and 10:00 news. They basically introduced our business as last years Hot List winner - showed a short video of our custom invitation wall and a partial clip of my *much* longer answer to a basic question about the studio.

So anyways...the Akron/Canton Hot list is back...and we need your votes! Please take a minute to vote for us with as many valid email addresses as you have. We promise - they don't spam you if you do not request to receive email. I've voted in a few of these! If you have an extra minute or two, we'd love if you took the time to rate us and write a brief review about us.

Thanks for your support!

Steph
Click here to vote for us!

Catalog Invitation Pick of the Week

(Each week I pick one of my favorites and share it with you!)

This week's pick: Black and Champagne Flat Panel






I love this combination of soft, shimmery champagne papers with rich black accents. The design is simple and classy, but the dots and encircled initial bring a contemporary feel to it.

Create your own look by choosing from:
28 Ink Colors
42 Lettering Styles
11 Envelope Liner Colors

Price Points:
75 Ensembles: $4.76
100 Ensembles: $3.91
150 Ensembles: $3.56
200 Ensembles: $3.42
(Approximate price per ensemble including proofing, shipping, and tax)
Ensembles include invitation panel, response card with printed envelope, reception card, and return address printed on back flap of mailing envelope.

Paper Persuasions is proud to support Domestic Violence Project, Inc. Help us help them! Donate 5 different items from their list of needs and receive an additional 5% off your catalog order!

Weekly Recap x 2...again! 3/6-3/20/2009

Once again, I wasn't able to post a recap for the week of the 6th, so I'm covering the last two weeks. Although studio traffic has slowed a little lately, we have been keeping busy. We are trying to get a head start on April's production to account for Stacy's vacation to Florida near the end of April, my vacation to Los Angeles in May and our family vacation to the Outer Banks in June. Since these are common times for custom accessories, we are trying to save some room in production for a few new orders and to account for our time away from the studio.

We also are very excited about a referral program that we have taken part in with Bebe Suite, FML Photo Design, Dine-in-Diva, Thinker Toys, The Budding Tree, The Goddard School and Nola's Salon. We were asked to be a part of this program which focuses mostly on incentives for expectant mothers or mothers with young children. Our contribution to the program is a 30% discount on catalog birth announcements, shower invitations or mommy cards....or 10% off custom birth announcements or shower invitations. We are thrilled to be pairing up with these fantastic vendors and cannot wait to start recommending them to our clients! Once we receive our incentive packets, I will blog a little more about each business and what they are offering.

Well...I am sure you have done enough reading...on to the pictures....


Custom Wedding Invitation: Pink, Black, Green with Polka dots and stripes
You've probably seen invitations similar to this on our blog or website before! It's a custom design from 2 years ago that brides just love! With each order, we are always sure to change it just enough to be different from the last. For this order, I especially love the coordinating map which included parking information...and polka dots galore!



Custom Wedding Invitation: Navy Blue and Pink Pocketfold with Champagne Paisley Accents
I can't say enough about this order. I LOVE this Navy Blue and Pink color combination for a wedding...and I love the clients we designed this for! They were great to work with...and I hope they will allow us to feature them for a "Real Brides" post in the future. The coordinating navy blue and pink table cards, place cards, and programs are going to tie everything together...and I just know I'll want to share it with the world!



Catalog Wedding Invitation: Ecru and Fuchsia Pocketfold with three inserts
This bride went with somewhat of a monochromatic look with the invitations...adding just a touch of Fuchsia to a base and top layer of off-white. The order turned out GREAT and I absolutely love the invitation layout. Representing a bold color while keeping an extremely formal feel can be tricky - but we succeeded on this one!


Custom Wedding Invitation: Lime Green and Gold with Kaleidoscope Pattern
Another fun design for another great bride! Her reception is at the Mocha Maiden in downtown Akron - and these funky, cool, fun accents to the print layout really captured the tone she wanted to set for her big day.

Catalog Wedding Invitation: Pocketfold Ensemble
A great invitation at a great price...especially for a bride who only needs two inserts. I love the design that is incorporated into the border of the cards. This particular bride used black ink but this invite can be printed in any ink color available.

Catalog Wedding Invitation: Silver and White with flourish design
Stacy worked mostly with this bride....so all I remember is her 8.8.09 chant. She was really thrilled with this invitation because of the way the date was positioned within the copy. The layout is contemporary so it was much easier to let traditional etiquette rules go to really play up the date.

Catalog Wedding Invitation: White with Peralized dot border, Brown Satin Ribbon
This was one of my favorite catalog invites lately. Chocolate brown looks so rich with crisp white....and I love the elegance that the pre-tied, stick-on satin bow added. This invitation was not designed to include the ribbon, but the bride wanted to add some (offered by a different catalog company) so we had the order printed with a big gap under the monogram so the ribbon would fit.

Catalog Wedding Invitation: Naturally Ever After!
I love this invitation from our new-ish album "Naturally Ever After" by McPhersons. The paper has such a warm, subtle texture to it. My favorite part though is the envelope. I love that it is opens vertically and that you can include a design with your return address.

Custom Wedding Invitation: Black, Teal, Baby Blue, Aqua Marine Flat Panel
These three samples were all for the same bride and all incorporate various shades from her color scheme. She purchased one of our custom sample packages which includes 3 different invitation samples in the color scheme you submit. Isn't it amazing how different each one feels?

Custom Wedding Invitation: Pink Silver and White Pocketfold
This order was for a bride we won't get to meet! She was referred to us by her wedding planner in New York City and we worked with her via phone and email to pinpoint the design she had in mind. Although we do quite a few silver, pink and white invitations we have never done quite this combo...and I loved it!

Catalog Invitation Pick of the Week

(Each week I pick one of my favorites and share it with you!)

This week I'm straying off course a little bit by sharing with you not just one catalog invitation, but an entire catalog we've recently received! Lots of people ask us about incorporating a photograph into their wedding invitation. We have always been able to do this on the custom design side of the business, but up until now, the catalogs have not offered a very good selection of photo invitations. So I am pleased to introduce the newest member of our invitation catalog collection - Elegant Reflections by Stylart.

This catalog offers more than 50 styles of Photo Invitations! Plus, choose from a large selection of Photo Save the Dates, Photo Magnets, Photo Envelope Seals, Photo Envelope Liners, and Photo Thank You Cards! Here's a sampling of options:

Invitations:






Save the Dates with matching Envelope Seals:

Envelope Liners:





Pricing for invitations from this catalog range from approximately $2.00 to $4.50 per ensemble (for 100 ensembles).