| Expert: | Natalie O'Donovan |
| Category: | Wedding Stationery Advice |
Handmade v Homemade Wedding Stationery
Many brides-to-be long for their wedding stationery to carry an air of the exquisite. In order to create such vision the only option is to hand-make many items. These days “doing it yourself” isn’t about having a tight budget, it’s about creating a unique look for the day. In reality, I see many brides who have created their wedding invitations, it’s gone wrong; the work looks terrible; they’ve given up on it. It seems a shame to me that so many good ideas end up in the bin, hence I’d like to share some of my knowledge with you and provide some simple pointers to create an exquisite handmade look.
Before we begin, let’s define handmade and homemade. Handmade is something exquisitely designed and beautifully made, usually by hand. Homemade is where that great idea you had looks...well actually as though you made with a knife and fork. I know all about handmade v homemade; I went to fashion school in London in the 90’s and was taught tailoring. Despite my love for bias cut, tailors chalk and over-locking, my work always looked homemade. I used to drive my tutors mad, my drawings were lovely, but the finished item was terrible. Understanding how one process can have two very different ends has given me an insight as a designer. All my work is handmade, but it’s made in a certain way, following simple principles and subsequently I am well known for the quality of my work.
Here are my top 10 tips for gorgeous, handmade pieces of wedding stationery.
1. Choose fabulous, high quality, papers - Blow your budget on amazing papers. They are beautiful, tactile and your guests will love opening the envelope and seeing something unusual.
2. Consider the envelopes - Can you line them? Can you afford lined envelopes? Tissue lined envelopes give an air of luxury and lining an envelope can protect your work and add an exquisite quality.
3. K-I-S-S - You’ve heard it before but it’s SO important. Keep it simple stupid. A beautiful piece of board, simply folded and embellished with a single button, a diamante heart, a feather or a row of Swarovski crystals can look elegant, stunning and extremely tasteful.
4. Too much detail is distracting - The purpose of your stationery is to communicate with your guests and give them a hint of your day. There is no need to draw 100 butterflies when one looks amazing.
5. Think about the size before you cut the paper! - The reason for this is that you need to put your invitation in an envelope and envelopes are mainly made in standard sizes. You can have envelopes made if you need 1000 and have a huge budget, but this seems unnecessary when you can purchase so many gorgeous standard sized envelopes.
6. Think about a single colour scheme - Use accents of colour to enhance your wedding invite. Neutrals are good; sage green is massive for this year. Carry the colour scheme through to your wording and detailing, it gives the air of a well thought out, well designed invite.
7. Use the correct glue! – This might sound obvious, but when my cousin made her own invites, by the time they arrived they had fallen apart. Good craft glues will stick everything you need.
8. Take your time - Make one and then stop for the day. This will give you time to consider your processes and think about easier techniques.
9. Create something unique - There’s no point in copying what’s already out there because you can do something that is individual for you and that your guests will want to keep forever.
10. Love your work! - The most successful stationery companies achieve success because design comes from the heart and when design comes from the heart it shows.
Good luck! I’ll be attending The National Wedding Show, February 2010 in London and talking about wedding stationery. Please contact The Wedding Community for more details. Happy making!
Article by Wedding Stationery Designer Natalie O’Donovan
Images Courtesy of Wedding Stationery Company Two by Two Weddings
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