Elegant Seating Cards for a Fall Wedding

It has been a while since the Paper Princess has posted to her blog.  Let’s just say life has taken over my ability to sit down and write for fun during the last year.  I know I’ve been extremely lazy remiss. 

For those of you who are still following me, I’m pleased to let you know, that I have made it my goal to try and write at least once a month, to get my creative juices flowing again, and also to share some of my more recent paper creations for both work and pleasure. 

To kick off my Fall goal, I would like to share my latest work project.  As many of you know, part of my event planning business entails working with clients on their event invitations, personal stationery and other printed accessories for their special occasions.  This summer, I was fortunate enough to work with a wonderful client on her wedding invitations – a beautifully embossed invitation on ivory stock with mocha ink. *

Regal Touch Invitation

 

The client loved them and was thrilled with the response she received from her guests.  She wrote “I have gotten such great feedback on my invitations.   My guests love the wording.   You did a GREAT job!!  Thank you for all your help.”

As a result, I received a follow up communication from her, asking if I had any place cards that might match her invitation.  She had purchased basic place cards from somewhere and didn’t think that they were “elegant” enough for what she was looking for.  Music to a small business owners ears – we love repeat clients!

I sent her some options from the same company that she ordered the invitations, but she just wasn’t feeling that “crazy” over any of them and was looking for “a[n] ivory colored card, something simple, but elegant.” And then she thanked me for trying.  But I wasn’t ready to give up on helping her. 

I had a flash of creativity and what I thought was a pretty good idea to solve her problem, I could custom design/make them for her.  Here is what I wrote: “M[a]y I make a suggestion?  We could get ivory card stock, print your guests name in mocha ink, in a font you like, and cut them into a 2x2" square. Then we can take those squares and put them in gold or silver place card holders that will stand up elegantly on a table. The guests can then take the holders home and use them to hold either notes or small pictures.  Also, if we make them a little bigger, we might be able to blind embossed the side of the card to make it look similar to the invitation.”

She was game.  I did my homework on what it would cost to make them and prepared a quote for her, submitted it to her and she was on board.

As part of the process, I prepared a few samples for her so she could select which embossed border and location of the border she like most.  Below is the final product. *

I have to say, it was a fairly easy project and of course I only had to make a total of 35 for this very small and intimate wedding.  It just took a little time, thought and creativity to create these wonderful seating cards for my very happy client.

Congratulations to them on their wedding!  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day. 

*Client name used with permission from the client.

TinyPrints Deal of the Day

I can't believe it but summer is right around the corner and like many of you, most of my weekends are already planned with birthday parties, weddings and other fabulous summer events.  Invitations are a great way to set the tone of your party!  Finding the right one at the right price can be a daunting task, especially since there are so many out there and almost everyone is having some kind of sale.

For those of you who are in the process of planning your summer get-togethers, if you are thinking of sending out actual paper invitations, you might not want to miss out on TinyPrints' Deal of the Day.

TinyPrints is a one of the most popular online invitation and stationery stores.  Right now they are offering 25% off on the following Invitations - Summer Parties, Engagement Parties and Wedding Rehearsals!

Deal of The Day

25% off all Summer Party Invitations (See All)
Code:  DOD0616  |  Expires: 6/17/2011 at 8:00 am (PT)
Summer Parties :

25% off all Wedding Rehearsal (See All) and Engagement Party Invitations (See All)
Code: DOD0616  |  Expires:  6/18/2011 at 8:00 am (PT)
Rehearsal Party :

Engagement Party:

I have used them in the past for holiday greetings and announcements.  They are good quality and I have found them easy to work with.

Here are some quick tips to keep in mind when picking and ordering your invitations:

1.  When you pick your invitation you should consider the color, style and theme of your party.  Your invitations set the theme and tone of your party.   If you are having an adults only 4th of July Party and your colors are red, white and blue your invitation should reflect that.

Deal of The Day

2.  Make sure your invitation gives all the relevant information - the who, what, where, why and an RSVP date.  These invitations have the ability to be customized.  Take a minute to sit down and think of creative ways to share your information on the invitation, but be sure to include all the relavant details.  Note:  if you don't want to get phone calls or random emails to your personal for RSVPs, TinyPrints is now offering select invitations with an option to have a FREE RSVP manager website.  You still get to send your paper invitation, but the guests go to the website to reply. 

3.  Give yourself at least two weeks time to place your order, have them printed and shipped to you.  For summer fun parties 3-4 weeks is sufficient time to give your guests to RSVP.  However, if you are having a Rehearsal Dinner or Summer Engagement Party, you will want to give your guests 6 weeks.  So if you're thinking about having that Engagement Party in the beginning of August, now is a great time to be ordering your invitations.

Deal of The Day

4.  Before you order, go through the list of invited guests and make sure you have everyone's current address.  Take a final count and then make sure your order 10-15% over what you actually need.  You always want to make sure you have a couple extra for the "just in case" or "opps I forgot...".   The nice thing about TinyPrints is that all you need is a minimum of 10 and then you can order in additional increments of 5.

5.  Get a Proof.  Take the time to look at the invitation one more time before you send them to final print.  No one is perfect and we all make mistakes.  Getting a proof gives you (and someone else) the opportunity to look at it one more time and catch that mistake or missing information.

So have fun planning your summer parties and don't forget your invitations!

The Power of Paper

Last month I went on my annual pilgrimage to the National Stationery Show in New York City.   This year's theme - Paper Power. 

Imagine, over 500 exhibits of the latest in wrapping paper, journals, paper products, note pads, note cards, invitations and stationery.  Their mission, to give people the ability to use paper a means of or for expression for just about any occassion.  Simply aisles and aisles of cotton fiber papers, recycled papers, cardboard and acrylics (okay that’s not paper, but some of them could pass as they were paper thin) all featuring the latest colors and patterns of the year.

My mission was twofold, one to visit with my suppliers and two, to see what was new in the paper and stationery world.  I had less than eight hours to complete my mission with a lot of ground to cover.  So I changed up my strategy for walking the floor.  Unlike last year where I started with the first aisle, this year, I went right to middle where most of my current suppliers were stationed.   I met with the my sales reps and introduced myself to those who only knew me by phone.  It gave me opportunity to engage in informative and educational conversations about the new invitation/stationery books they were putting out for this year.   As a result, I picked up the new Betsy Hall Stationery book from McPhersons which arrived last week.  Saw what new things are coming from C’est Papier this year and picked up the new Bar/Bat Mitzvah Album from Pioneer Announcements – one of my best selling invitation lines.  It just arrived and I’m so excited!   

 

Bat Mitzvah from Pioneer Announcements



The last stop on the first part of my mission was to check out Checkerboard – a company that I had been thinking about opening an account with – and finally did.   I perused the current and new albums for 2011/2012 and finally decided to order the newest Bar/Bat Mitzvah album from Checkerboard.  It should be arriving sometime in the fall. 

The first part of my mission was complete.  It only took me two hours and still gave me plenty of time to walk the floor for fabulous new finds. 

So with the six remaining hours, I cruised through the aisles working my way from the last aisle to the first.  I met some new exhibitors – not just new to me but new to the show.  Saw the most exquisite hand crafted invitations in today’s most popular color – honeysuckle.  Picked up four new lines of invitations including – Mosaica, Birchcraft, Checkerboard, and Tag & Co.  And I discovered two new journal suppliers both of whom will be perfect for feeding my journal paper habits. 

Out of the Mouth of Babes

The one company I’m really excited about, Journals Unlimited, has a great line of products called “Write it Down!”   The journals come in three different sizes and colors, are the perfect under $20 gift, come in over 60 titles and I can even customize them!  Inside, those that have titles other than Blank Journal, have designated areas for you to put the information you want to record - spaces for dates, favorite memoires, times, locations, etc.  For those of you who are into scrapbooking and are always thinking about keeping a journal to capture the words to go with the pictures, they have the perfect journals for just that purpose. 



Wedding Planner



There is  Vacation – A Traveler’s Journal, Out of the Mouths of Babes – for those kid quotes you’ve always wanted to capture, but didn’t, Birthday- The Birthday Journal, Memories – Our Family Journal, and Kid Stuff – My First Journal.  If you’re a planner like me, they have the Wedding Planner -My Wedding Journal and Day Planner – My Planning Journal.   These are just a few of their many relevant and creative titles.  I will have some available by the end of the month if you are looking for a new Journal!

After a long day of processing the power of paper, I was completely satisfied and fulfilled my mission.  Looking forward to next year's show and I hope my new paper finds for this year will be as exciting to you as they are to me. 

Welcome to the Diary of a Paper Princess

I am a work-from-home mother who specializes in raising a daughter, being a wife, selling invitations and stationery and planning special events for others.  In 2007, I left the security of a paycheck, with the passion to start my own business, the desire to work for myself and the dream of creating a balanced world where I could be a mom, a wife and a professional.  Today, I have a successful small event planning business with a blossoming invitation and stationery clientele. 

When I'm not busy planning special events and social occasions for others, you can find me with my family.  I generally have a camera in hand looking for that perfect photo op.  By the way, did you know that the top and back of a 2 year olds head is great subject matter?

One of the things that I've developed over the years - partly because of my business and partly because of my scrapbooking hobby - is a passion for paper.  I love looking through my inventory, going to the National Stationery Show to see what's new, helping customers pick the right colors and papers for their special order and even taking the time to find the right paper product for my personal needs. 

My guilty pleasure is going to the craft and paper stores.  I can stand for hours (when I have a few) in the paper isles, searching through all the new patterns, checking the quality of the solid stock and feeling the new textured papers.  While I may always gravitate back to some standard color schemes and solid card stocks, I'm always on the look-out for that unique pattern or textured paper that just might do the trick when you have that one photo you just don't know what to do with.

I hope you will join me on this paper-passion journey where I will share my views on what's hot (and what's not) in papers for all your paper needs, deals on invitations and stationery, tips on what to do with outdated papers, ideas for paper crafts and any other paper inspired idea may come to me at 3:00 am in the morning.