an {almost} YEAR in review

(poster in tribute to my 2011 wedding season)

I know what you are thinking, it's August Allie, but it feels like my season is coming  to an end and without any sort of a break a new one is beginning!  

You may have noticed I really broke my promise of blog Tuesdays.  This is because I was working on 26(?!) summer & fall wedding projects.  Please forgive me dear friends. What a year, can I say that again, what an AMAZING year this has been for this little business of mine I started to keep my mind working and make a little extra money when my sweet, smart, beautiful, (slightly silly) Audrey came into this world.  

2008-2009
Brought more business than I thought possible, 24 weddings.  That season I had just 2 brides who came to me for their save the dates as well as invitations.  In the first 16 months I was "in business" I thought I was living the dream! Doing something creative I loved and working with brides I loved even more.

2010
With just 15 wedding projects, 2010 was a year of growth in business and in our family. I stopped advertising, in preparation in welcoming my hilarious, lovely, independent little Lini (otherwise known as the clown). After she joined us and I realized I could juggle my business as well as two little chicks I spent more time than I would like to mention investing in side projects, getting my name out there with shows, MoH and building relationships in the KC wedding vendor world.

Then a little month called November 2011 hit and... BOOM! I have not slowed down since! As it stands, I have completed 37 weddings completed, not to mention the 17 (yes, I said 17) freelance projects I have worked on, including 7 websites designed and MoH.  In a word, or more of a phrase, I'm tired.  

Until next Tuesday, or possible 5 Tuesdays from now, good night America.

(proudly hanging in my office, ready for new brides to glance at it)

keeping you in SUSPENSE!

Way back in November, I blogged about Amy + Chet (see blog) and the options I was coming up with for their big day.  I know that my millions, sorry, billions, of faithful Bird is the Word followers have been sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to see what they went with.  Well, wait no more........drumroll please..........

Aren't they just so lovely.  If you look back at the old post, you will see we did go with one of the designs, changed the red to a pink, changed the size layout and softened the whole thing up a little and after a few rounds of paper proofs we had it!  

She had mentioned several times to me that she wanted to also have a poster created.  I wanted to relieve some of the stress for her, so I designed one with out her knowledge based on the invitations and gave it as a gift.

And they loved it and hung it at their reception! I have considered this being a gift to all my brides......we shall see...sorry to keep you in suspense again...

Custom vs CustomIZED | 2 winners!

Haley and Joey came to me back in the fall to discuss invitations and save the dates for their summer wedding.  Haley had a very specific vision.  The moment she sat down to look at samples, she spotted the exact peony silhouette she had been looking everywhere for!  I can't tell you the feeling I get when I hear a bride say "I have been looking everywhere for _________ (fill in the blank)! And haven't been able to find it until now!"  That is what I do this job for!  I absolutely love bringing brides visions to life, I'm getting a little fired up just writing about it now!

After playing around a little with the peony silhouettes and changing and rearranging fonts we landed on these custom save the dates for Haley and Joey...

 

A few months after the save the dates went out, we started talking about the actual invitations.  We echoed the custom style set in the save the dates,  but tweaked the slightly by changing them from a vertical style to a horizontal one. I don't think it is completely necessary to keep your invitations and save the dates in the exact same style.  If you are going to change the style up keep with the original colors and maybe echo the fonts if using a photo in the save the dates.  Changing the styles too much will just confuse your guests! 

A few weeks after Haley had ordered her invites, Annie and her mother came in for a consult to discuss her invitations and fell in love with Haley's design! Annie's invitations are a perfect example of customizing my designs.  With a little tweaking of the colors, wording and layout of Haley's design we were able to make the perfect invites to suit Annie's big day!