Stationery Spotlight: Bliss Weddings & Events

I have a confession to make. I love paper products! So naturally when I opened the Bliss Weddings & Events studio I wanted to share this love of mine with my clients. This isn't something that I adverstise openly. That is because this service is only available to clients who have contracted the planning services of Bliss Weddings & Events.

Our collection of stationery books that is more on the contemporary side but with a nice touch of tradition and elegance.

Our collection consists of Modern Checkerboard Weddings, Something Different, Pockets, Candlelight Collection, Save the Date, and Paper Duvet. A common misconception about selecting invitations out of an album is that they can not be customized. This is only partially true. In a number of the albums we are able to customize the color of the paper, color of the inks, the font styles and the verses being used.

Also, since we love our clients so much. We offer a 10% discount on all invitation and accessory orders!

My Favorite Things: Verse It

Not quite sure how to say it? Verse It can help. Simply choose your occasion and the type of verse you need and voila!

Kim & Derek: The Video

Our friends over at Prodigy Video were on hand for Kim & Derek's Sept 19th wedding in Columbus. The music video was just released and it's fabulous. Watching it brought back all the great memories from their beautiful day. It really reminded me of how much fun we had at the reception with Rich from the Usual Suspects Crew as our DJ.

Photo courtesy of Suzanne Guldenzopf

Stationery Spotlight: TearDrop

Name: Holly Hatam

Company/Business Name: TearDrop

How long have you been in business? 2 years

Where do you get your inspiration from? I get my inspiration from everything and anything around me. Whether it be a rusty door, my cats, a song, a flower and most importantly my brides and grooms.

Do you have a favorite style of invitation (formal, whimsy, contemporary, etc)? My favourite style of invite is our new collection called Love Stories. We have designed invitations for every style of bride and we designed our invitations to tell a story. So we have designed an invite for the food lover bride and groom, the summer couple, the fall couple, the rustic couple, the urban couple etc.

Do you specialize in a type of stationary (letterpress, print, engraved, etc)? We specialize in letterpress, engraving foil stamping

Average cost of your invitations: If you were to choose a design from an existing collection, the price starts at $1200 for 100. For a completely custom design the cost starts at $2600. And what is great about our designs is that even if you choose a design from an existing collection, you can still customize it in the paper, envelope, ink colors, type, wording and we even change the hair and facial features of the characters to look like that specific bride and groom!

Tip or advice to brides/grooms designing custom invitations or stationary suite: Remember that your invites represent your personalities and your wedding. Tell your guests your story, show them your quirks and don’t be afraid to be different and step out of the typical traditional invitation suite. Your invitations give your guests a glimpse of your wedding day, you want them to feel exited! Your invites are something you will cherish for years to come, so we have the mission of making each and every invitation a piece of artwork that all your guests will keep and cherish forever.

My Favorite Things: Crystal Solitare Ring

I am in love with this ring! Isn't it so glamorous? Erica Weiner is the designer. I'm hoping one makes it way to me for my upcoming birthday!

Happy Shopping!

Kasey

Drink Up: Banana Split-ini

The Banana Split-ini

1/2 cup (4 oz.) Grey Goose® vodka

1/2 cup (4 oz.) white crème de cacao

1 medium, ripe banana

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

1/4 cup milk or cream

Optional:1/4 cup (2 oz.) bananaliqueur (crème de bananas)
Garnish:1/2 banana cut lengthwise chocolate syrup

Combine all ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth. Pour into large martini or parfait glasses. Garnish with a wedge of banana drizzled with chocolate syrup.

Stationery Spotlight: Seedlings

Name: Jenny Zemanek

Company/Business Name: Seedlings, LLC

How long have you been in business? 4 Years

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Anywhere and everywhere I can, but most of my inspiration comes from the bride herself. I love when a bride comes in with an idea but she’s not quite sure how to bring it to life; it’s fun to rise to the challenge of putting a design on paper that previously only existed in her head. There’s also the bride that has no idea where to start and that challenge comes in trying to create a design based on her personality and come up with something she loves but didn’t know she was going to.

Do you have a favorite style of invitation (formal, whimsy, contemporary, etc)?
My style tends to be more contemporary. I gravitate towards simple, elegant but still fun designs that bring a little flair to the stationery suite and get guests excited to see how the rest of the wedding will turn out.

Do you specialize in a type of stationery (letterpress, print, engraved, etc)?
Most of my invitations are printed digitally, but I do offer offset printing or letterpress if that is something the bride is really interested in. Engraving is usually very expensive, so in my experience it’s not a very popular printing method (though it’s gorgeous!)

Average cost of your invitations (a range is just fine):
Since everything is so custom, it really depends on the type of paper, embellishments and number of invitations ordered, but a solid range would be $4-$9 per invitation set (includes invitation, outer envelope with return address printed on the flap, reply card and reply envelope).

Tip or advice to brides/grooms designing custom invitations or stationery suite:
Have fun with it! The beauty of coming to a graphic designer for your wedding invitations is there are no limitations and the possibilities are endless. There are no select few ink colors, no select few paper choices, design motifs, monograms or anything else; we can create anything you want. This is the bride’s dream day, a day into which she is going to invest hours and hours of planning to create an event that reflects her and her fiancé, and I love being a part of that and helping them set the tone for that event with an invitation that no one has seen before. It brings an element of surprise and anticipation for guests when they open that envelope.

Trendspotting: Colored Dresses

Do you dare? 
I personally haven't seen any of these at any of our client's weddings but I think for the right bride they would be so beautiful.

Sneak Peak: Nykie & Joe

Nykie and Joe wanted a fun Halloween wedding but that had an element of Tim Burton and elegance. Sounds like an interesting combination? I was so intrigued and so happy to help Nykie & Joe create this wedding that fit them to a T. Here are a couple pictures that I snapped. I can't wait to see the pro pics. I'll share those as soon as they arrive!

Drink Up: 1.21 Gigawatts

For all you Back To the Future fans out there this one is for you! I thought this sounded so yummy and brought back a few good memories of one of hte best movies ever!

1.21 Gigawatts

1/2 shot Hpnotiq
1/2 shot Vodka, raspberry
1 splash Grenadine
5 oz. Red Bull

Pour raspberry vodka and Hpnotiq into shot glass. Now pour a splash of Grenadine into the shot glass. The grenadine will sink, layering the drink. Pour Red Bull into a pint glass (about 1/2 full) and drop the shot glass into the Red Bull.

Enjoy!

Stationery Spotlight: Wedding Paper Divas

I thought I'd do a series for November highlighting some of my favorite stationers. First up is Wedding Paper Divas!

Name: Lea Armstrong, Public Relations Manager/Spokesperson for Wedding Paper Divas

Company/Business Name: Wedding Paper Divas (http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/)

How long have you been in business: Wedding Paper Divas has been in business since 2006. It is the sister company of the online stationery retailer, Tiny Prints. The early success and popularity of Tiny Prints proved that consumers are looking for quality paper products. As a result, Tiny Prints’ founders created Wedding Paper Divas.

Where do you get your inspiration from: A wedding is often one of the most important days of a couple’s life together, and that’s why we work with talented designers who create sophisticated, modern and classic stationery pieces that will reflect the style of any event.
In addition to offering beautiful stationery, our primary goal is to offer an online shopping experience that is better than the in-store shopping experience. We want to give couples the opportunity to conveniently order high-quality wedding stationery online, while offering a “white glove” customer experience that one would come to expect. This means that all orders go through a multi-level quality assurance process that ensures that every order is processed and reviewed for everything from typos and mistakes to etiquette rules.

Do you have a favorite style of invitation (formal, whimsy, contemporary, etc): I personally love the bold colors offered in our signature collection. Some couples feel like they need to shy away from color in their wedding stationery, but I think it’s a great way to set the tone for a beautiful event.
I also love many of our new invitations in our Signature Ecru Collection, which feature watercolor designs that feel romantic and whimsical.

Do you specialize in a type of stationery? The Signature White and Signature Ecru collection from Wedding Paper Divas uses the highest quality digital printing press available. This means that rather than use toner similar to a laser printer, our digital press uses liquid ink for high quality results.
Additionally, through a partnership with stationer William Arthur, we also offer the Wedding Paper Divas Letterpress Collection, which represents the marriage of our contemporary designs, state-of-the-art technology and personalization tools with the most traditional printing method available.

Average Cost of your invitations: Our Signature Collection ranges from $1.64 - $2.59 per invite. The Letterpress Collection starts at $3.33 per invite. Pricing for both collections depends on quantity.

Tips of advice to brides/grooms designing custom invitations or stationery suites: When it comes to weddings, personalization is always popular and couples love to feature monograms and photos, as well as unique colors or fonts. We think personalization is great, but the key to a beautiful stationery piece is not to overdo it. Keep it simple.

Below are a few samples of the Divas' work. There is a link at the bottom of our blog as well if you are interested in doing a little shopping!

My Favorite Things: Style Me Pretty

I love the Style Me Pretty blog. It's so stylish and chic! Abby is just so creative with her ideas and the inspirational images she posts. If you aren't a reader you should be!