The write words

By Konnie Kara on 12 Jan 2011 No comments

It was my stationery designer for the registry, Lizbeth from Honeytree Stationery, who came up with the idea of having our wedding breakfast tables styled in contemporary bold and bright colours. Lizbeth advised me to choose something that best suited my personality. I have been accused all my life of being a tad flamboyant at times, so I decided to stick to what I’m best at and go for bright pinks, peaches and reds in my stationery and flower design.

I like to think of Lizbeth’s stationery as being pretty but formal enough as to please both parents and modern bride’s alike – especially because the paper she uses is so heavy - 400gsm card to be exact - which is double the weight of many ordinary wedding cards and spells luxury the minute you feel it. My parents loved this because it harked back to a time when British formality and elegance ruled the day (even though they never technically experienced ANY of that, what with being first generation immigrants during the swinging sixties and all that).

For the guests receiving the invites, the feedback I had was amazing - my best friend’s new boyfriend said receiving the invite to our registry was like receiving a little gift in the post because it was so fun and beautiful to open.

Lizbeth’s website showcases her designs and is really cutting edge in that it allows you to virtually design your own stationery, using different art work, fonts and wording examples. If, like me, you want to go that extra special mile and specifically commission Lizbeth to come up with a bespoke art work design or motif for all your stationery, she’ll gladly do so. I went for a bird theme on my cards and emailed Lizbeth some samples of colours I liked (pink, red, purple and orange) and she used that as a base to work on.

There is a reason for this - the birds - a very private reason I am about to make public, because Lizbeth enticed my romantic proposal story out of me and the story of how Vinnie and I met. She did this to help me get my registry theme together which as you know I didn’t have for a long time. I gave Lizbeth an hour long, slushy story over the phone of how we met at a mutual university friend’s party, how I thought I was a snazzy salsa dancer (I wasn’t, and had never taken a salsa dance lesson in my life but I suddenly came over all Latina when the CD got switched). Vinnie on the other hand had taken at least one salsa lesson after he discovered the bar he and his friends were watching the Arsenal game happened to also be running free dance classes that evening. I decided to teach him some moves at our friend’s party and trod all over his toes. You’d think this could lend itself to a theme for the wedding, but the party was in a not very special place a student flatshare dive to be exact.

After dancing and laughing we spent the entire night talking to each other. I couldn’t believe how much we had in common. We decided to go for a walk while the party was still going on and plonked ourselves on a small bit of grass and talked until the birds started singing. We had lost total track of time and those little birdies, tweeting softly in the trees as the dawn broke were a sure fire sign our lives had, in one night, changed. It was the first time I had ever spent a whole night just talking to a man and also the night I knew he was the one. Vinnie proposed to me at dawn, on that same common green, just as the birds were singing, after an adventure-filled day of picnicking, drinking champagne, afternoon tea, a theatre show, dinner, dancing and more drinks - at the end of 2009 .

So Lizbeth had it set - those early morning birds were to be the theme of our registry wedding - and I loved it because I’m such an old fashioned romantic.

Aside from shaping my registry theme around this, I’m also thinking of ways of how to incorporate that theme into the Hindu wedding ceremony too.

Alongside making the right impression with invites, I am tying the stationery theme in with menu cards and also place cards that Lizbeth is making for me. The amount of effort and thought she puts into creating and designing each card – and talking you through the entire design process – is a lovely way of connecting with her brides and it does make you feel truly looked after and cared for! Most of the designs on the website at striking at first glance. On closer inspection, you get to see how much detail actually goes into perfecting the impact they will have on guests.

As stationery, I feel, is one of the essentials of my wedding, and can be for a lot of brides, I asked Lizbeth for some real insight into her work and wedding stationery:

What are the five main questions every bride needs to ask her wedding stationer?

Lizbeth: The five main questions should be:

• What is the lead time on the invites?
• What gsm weight does your stationery use for the cards?
• Will your stationer allow you  to go ‘off piste’ with exclusive details and designs just for you?
• Can you letter press or emboss the cards?
• Can you get a discount if you order other wedding stationery products from the same stationer – you can with us!

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Lizbeth: My inspiration comes from many places (having lived in some wonderful countries) but I have to say that nowadays it comes from our customers who often get in touch with us offering new ideas for illustrations and products. We recently launched the gift tag which is also a tag that is used for name plates, which can be tied onto the chair, glass or cutlery. This was feedback from several customers, very helpful and we are always grateful!

What’s been your most lavish creation?

Lizbeth:  I think the most lavish creation was a commission for a bride who had seen a fresco in a church in Florence and wanted me to replicate the detailing for her wedding stationery - a short trip to Florence was arranged to make sure I got it all perfect for her! It turned out to be a beautiful illustration and has been used many times over.  

What are your current trends for wedding stationery? 

Lizbeth:  I think trends change all the time and we try to stay original and give the bride something different.

How did you get into stationery?

Lizbeth: I sort of fell into stationery as I have always decorated all my own stationery from birth announcements to moving cards to wedding stationery and so on, one thing led to another as more and more friends and friends of friends wanted illustrations for their occasions, thus Honeytree was born!

What do you love about working with brides?

Lizbeth: I love working with Brides as they are so happy, they have such excitement ahead of them not only their weddings but a new life with someone they love, one can only feed off those good vibes.

Which celebrity bride would you love to make stationery for (dead or alive?)

Lizbeth:  I am sure every wedding stationer from here to Timbuktu would say that they would love to do Kate Middleton’s wedding and we are no exception!

What do you love traditionally about wedding stationery?

Lizbeth: I love everything about wedding stationery but I am a bit of a stickler for a good envelope.

What other stationery can brides go for apart from invites?

Lizbeth: The sky is the limit.You can have engagement cards, save the dates, hen night invitations, personalised correspondence cards (with your new name on) and Thank you cards.  Then when all that is over, you can order Change of Address stationery and birth announcements as we print them all!

Can you tell me about your wedding label favours?

Lizbeth: The personalised sticky labels are a great success and are becoming increasingly popular especially as the bride can put all her wedding details on them and I can add a special illustration. They can be used as a decorative touch to favours and can be either circular or rectangular so that brides can use them on flat surfaces such as envelopes and boxes and CD covers,  and also tins and jars and glass bottles. They are so cute and elegant they add the perfect finishing touch to ust about everything! Alternatively you could give guests the labels as favours themselves  - guests can go home and use them on household items as all of them have an adhesive backing.

I have also done wedding tags for wish trees and seating tags too.

What essentials does a bride need to put on her wedding invites?

Wording can be as formal or as informal as you want. Traditionally, they are written in the third person – the hosts invite the guests as opposed to ‘we’ or ‘you’. But essential relevant information includes: who is getting married, ho is hosting the wedding, where and when such as date of ceremony, time and place of ceremony, telephone number and addresses for RSVPs and times and address for the reception venue.

How do you go about choosing fonts with a bride?

Lizbeth:  Choosing fonts are very personal to the bride, but with out website you can see exactly how each font renders on the invite before you click the pay button.  In the new year we are introducing some new fonts to the site, but I think it is important that there is not too much overwhelming choice, we have put some traditional fonts on as well as some more contemporary fonts.

How many cards should bride over-order to allow for mistakes?

Lizbeth: I don’t think the bride should have to be forced to over order, we are always happy to print a few extra invitations if the bride suddenly remembers a long lost relative.

For more information on Honeytree Stationery, or to place your wedding stationery order, call 0844 335 0620 or visit www.honeytreepublishing.com. You can also email Lizbeth at lizbeth@honeytreepublishing.com or follow her adventures in wedding stationery land at http://twitter.com/honeytreepublis.