The set up a traditional wedding invitation is done very intentionally. The top section is the host section. This is for the person or persons who are hosting the wedding to joyfully invite the guests to the ceremony. What it all boils down to is  - who is picking up the tab for the wedding? Traditionally this is the brides parents. These days it is common for the grooms parents to also help pay for the wedding. If multiple people are contributing or you do not want a novel on your invitation, you can also use "Together with their families" like the invitation below.  If the bride and groom are paying for the wedding they should be the ones doing the inviting. It can be worded a lot of different ways depending on the situation. If you have a tricky situation feel free to ask me about it and I will let you know the "proper" way to word it. 
   The wording of the request line is also important. For example " the honor ( or honour if you are British) of your presence" should ONLY be used for wedding ceremonies taking place in a house of worship. If you are getting married outside of a house of worship you have many other options. A popular option is  "request the pleasure of your company". I frequently use " invite you to celebrate with them at the marriage of their daughter".  
 Have any questions? Let me know! 

    One of the perks of hiring a custom stationery designer is that you get full access to our knowledge and experience in the area of invitation etiquette. I hear all the time "I haven't been married before so I don't know how this is supposed to work". Don't worry! I will take the guesswork out of it for you. What I usually instruct my couples to do is fill my form out with the information - just fill in the blanks. If you have a tricky situation with step parents or anything else, just give me the who's who and I will set it up according to "the rules". The rules are the etiquette guidelines that have been handed down for many years. Why bother with some antiquated rules? It comes down to manners and people's feelings. You would never want to offend someone with your invitation to the happiest day of your life. Or look back on your invitation in your scrapbook and know that something was incorrect. Your invitations set the tone for your event and in many ways the beginning of the next chapter in your life. You want them to be perfect and joyous. 
​     Whose rules are they? Well, I use Crane & Co.'s Blue Book of Stationery but I also refer to Emily and Peggy Post when needed. It is a great book, it covers wedding invitations, general invitations, monograms thank you notes and every day correspondence. It is a handy book to have on hand for addressing envelopes as well because it gives you the correct titles and forms of address for many professions including politicians and military officials. It is very handy to have   on hand - don't trust just googling you will see many people confused about what is polite and what is not. 
     So I will start writing every so often on one topic of stationery etiquette or another in this blog. If you have questions or concerns about etiquette please let me know and I will be sure to address them. 

It has been a week today since the expo and I think I am finally recovered and caught up. Our new booth that my husband built for us was a huge hit. It was quite a bit more time consuming to set up and tear down that our previous booth but it was well worth it. I am so proud of him for his hard work. We met so many new amazing couples and this week has been filled with inquiries, follow ups and consultations. I love the new ideas and color choices and I can't wait to start creating! I am running my wedding show special all month which is free envelope addressing for up to 75 envelopes, almost a $100 value. To quality, you must place a deposit for your order this month ( which means you can book me even if you do not need your invitations for a while) and say you saw it on my blog or at the bridal show. 

Happy New Year! Welcome to my new stationery blog! This year will be my eleventh year in the stationery business. What started out as a dream has grown into a thriving business with a showroom, two employees and a full time career. I love what I do, it is one of the greatest gifts I have been given and I am thankful every day for my clients and the opportunity to do what I love. 
   2016 was a year of enormous growth. I am changing things up in 2017 so that I can work smarter and not harder, I am adding new designs and streamlining my process to make it quicker and easier for everyone. When planning goals, I have to ask myself - what do I really want? I want to create beautiful custom designs that couples will love and cherish for a lifetime. That is what I really enjoy. So that is my focus for 2017- new designs, easier process and more focus on custom. 
   We are currently gearing up for a bridal show this coming Sunday, January 8th, at the Charleston Civic Center. It is the largest show we attend with over 1,000 people in attendance. You can find information on it here https://www.facebook.com/charlestonWVweddingexpo/?fref=ts.  My husband is putting the finishing touches on my new display today and I can’t wait to unveil it to you. I will show you before, during and after pictures so if your looking for bridal show booth ideas I will be sharing some secrets!
​  I love working with other local creatives so this year I will be handing out these amazing coconut oil, cotton candy flavored chapsticks to brides who stop by my booth. They were made by local artisan https://www.facebook.com/KeepitNaturalwithRachel/?fref=ts . I think I shocked her when I ask her to make 500 of them! I created the custom labels and they are ready to go! 
    Hope to see you there!