On the Pinboard: Sara and Tim's Autumn Wedding

 

On the Pinboard!

Welcome to the first issue of 'On the Pinboard'. We work with so many unique couples who go on to have beautiful unique wedding that we want to celebrate their weddings, to do so we're going to start posting 'On the Pinboard'. Here you'll find wedding pictures and the story of the couples dreams for their day including how Graphic Embers played a part in creating an element of that day.

On the Pinboard: Sara Hodgson & Tim Bishop

Wedding Date & Venue:

Wednesday 10th October 2012, Married in St Mary the Virgin, Hesket-in-the-Forest, Cumbria.  Reception at The Inn on the Lake, Glenridding
 
Did you a have a theme? Describe how you pictured your wedding while planning.
We both love autumn and the month of October so we knew this would be the month we would marry.  Originally brown was going to be the main colour with autumnal leaves and berries creating texture and contrast.  Brown really didn't suit my bridesmaids skin tone though, so burnt orange quickly took over once her dress had been chosen.  I wanted a wedding that was personal to myself and Tim, the colours/theme did not take over, instead they were used to link everything together throughout the day
 
What made you chose to use a professional stationer and do you think it was the right decision?
I had every intention of making my own stationery, but I had so many ideas and knew from experience with other things that in time I would see nothing but flaws so started looking at fayres and on forums to see what was available.  It was without a doubt one of the best decisions I made during the planning of our wedding
 
Did you choose a standard design, a customised design or something bespoke? Did we meet your style requirements?
Matthew and Angela created a bespoke design for us, I emailed stating a couple of ideas I had and I was sent a design proof in various colourways a short period of time later.  The design I was sent was for a more expensive, laser cut design and I instantly loved it!  It was something I wouldn't have been able to create myself, was unusual, bold and textured.
 
Why did you choose Graphic Embers and did we provide the service you hoped for?
I followed Graphic Embers work on their facebook page and the Wedding Ideas Forum for awhile before contacting them regarding our wedding stationery.  They have a strong passion for weddings and the work which they create, they display their creations and leave it up to the individual to approach them, while its their income they do not 'push' for clients, I liked this.  Graphic Embers exceeded my expectations! Both with their amazing customer service and their beautifully finished products
 
What did you enjoy most about working with Graphic Embers?
They were as passionate and excited about our stationery as we were.  We were kept up-to-date on each step.  The invites were truly amazing and I loved both the finished product and the customer service so much that I decided to have all the on the day stationery created to match.  I had every faith in them from the invites, so when they suggested a wooden tableplan I went with it, I had no idea what to expect, but I was not disappointed.  The stationery we were provided with is truely amazing, it is unique and personal, I liked the excitement of waiting for the design proofs, then for the finished product, then seeing it all together on our wedding day.  It was great to see our guests as amazed by the stationery, especially the table plan, as we ourselves had been when we received it.

Photography: 

Wedding photography by  Christopher Birkett of Birkett Photography  www.birkettphotography.com

So far Tim and Sara's stationery has been one of my favourites to create, especially the wooden table plan. I miss working on the quirky and bold stationery with such a lovely client. Matthew and I both wish Sara and Tim all the best in their married life!

Angela

It's just going to go in the bin anyway... Isn't it?

I’ve heard this so many times since becoming a wedding stationer, “people are just going to put the invitations in the bin anyway.” However, this proclamation always surprises me. I have kept the wedding invitations of five cousins and my brother, plus the order of service of another cousin. Over half of these weddings took place well before I’d even considered becoming a stationer so it isn’t because stationery is my ‘thing’ either.  I haven’t got a single favour or any other momento for most of these special days, and I certainly wouldn't expect to be given something, but the invitations make a lovely keepsake in place of such things. 

Perhaps I’m just sentimental but I like having the stationery which documents such an important day.  It seems to me that an invitation or order of service is the perfect keepsake for your guests and family, they document all the important details of your day, your names, the date, the time, the venue. They’re also easy to keep. I know a number of people still have their invitations to my wedding and one even kept my wedding R.S.V.P. card and bought us another one purely because she wanted to keep the set we sent out with our invitations as a keepsake. Some family even still have our engagement invitations. I genuinely like having this little bit of traditional evidence of the weddings I have been invited too.

In fact, I’m very disappointed when I don’t get a solid invitation (or even a phone call or text message in some cases). Two wedding invitations recently have come via word of mouth through family. We missed one of those weddings because the time had been mis-communicated by an hour and we had no invitation to double check the night before. In both cases we’ve been left feeling a bit, well, unimportant? Unwanted maybe? Like we aren’t really worth an invitation (or even an email).

Perhaps this was a cost saving exercise, and fair enough, not everyone can afford luxury wedding invitations. The concept that wedding stationery is ‘disposable’ and therefore the ideal choice to cut from the budget doesn’t really ring true with me, though.

In my experience the invitations don’t just go in the bin. Some will, sure.  Just the same as some people will bin your favours, some will leave your meal or parts of it and some won’t drink the champagne you’ve chosen. However, your stationery could be more of a lasting momento for many of your guests than any other part of your wedding. Guests can’t keep a carefully decorated cupcake, a lottery ticket doesn’t usually mean much to anyone unless it is the winning ticket and most guests don’t end up with a copy of the professional photography to remind them of the beauty of your day.

However, your invitations last and not only that they also give your guests a sneak peek at your day. They can give a hint of style, a clue as to a colour and these hints then serve as reminders for years to come. They can serve as the prompt that accesses memories of your wedding whenever your stationery is seen.

Alternatively invitations can be totally personalised to the couple, they can be a celebration of you as people. A good bespoke wedding stationery designer will be able to incorporate your style and personality into your stationery and create a design that screams who you are almost before the names are read. I have been known to spend more than 30 hours in a week illustrating a single bespoke design, just to get it perfect and create something completely personal to the bride and groom but also using skills informed by years of training and professional experience that can’t just be picked up. And that’s just to illustrate a design, never mind proof it, print it and assemble it.

I don’t create stationery to be binned; I design your stationery with the intention of giving your guests something worth keeping. I want to create something that is perhaps worth more to your guests than the champagne on arrival or the whiskey miniatures on the tables, even if they only realise it when they find the invitation again in a year, two years or five years time and it sparks a memory of just how much fun they had celebrating your big day with you. A good invitation can remain cherished long after the flowers have wilted, the champagne flutes have been tidied away and the wedding hat has been packed away in its box in the attic. 

My aim with every design I produce is to make something that will be cherished, and I’m sure many other professional stationers feel the same.

Angela McGurk

www.graphic-embers.co.uk

WINNER – The North of England Wedding Awards 2012.

2012 Round Up

Happy New Year Everyone!

We've announced a few new concept ranges on our facebook page Graphic Embers which includes some budget options. We'll do a blog post on the ranges once we have samples back and product photos to show but here's a sneaky preview of our 'Couple to Complete' ranges.

The 'Couple to Complete' stationery comes in pack of 5, 25 or 50. Printed with forms for the couple to complete with their wedding details. This allows us to make fantastic Graphic Embers design available at budget prices. We hope to be adding product photography to our website soon but the electronic designs can be viewed below until then.

 For now though, I want to do a round up of the fantastic 2012!

January 1st 2012 came with a bang, getting a call to do a same day consultation for a couple going back to base the next day. That started an ever increasing flow of couples coming to us for their bespoke wedding stationery.

 
On January 5th Matt and I celebrated 4 years of marriage, 8 years together and 5 years of making wedding stationery!

My maternity leave came to an end and in April 2012 I took over Graphic Embers from my husband who had started the business in my stead the previous October, using my business plan and earlier designs to get the business going. We also officially launched the first LED lit, laser cut acrylic wishing trees in the U.K. in April.

In May we discovered that I was expecting our second child, a bit sooner than we had expected, but thrilling!

On July 1st our daughter, Willow, turned one.

By August we had become a nominated supplier for Linden Hall Hotel and now we are responsible for the reception stationery for two of their packages as well as regularly attending their open days. We'll be there tomorrow for their wedding fair, provided the snow doesn't stop us!


Graphic Embers won the stationery category of The North of England Wedding Awards for Outstanding Customer Service in September, and I still cannot express how thrilled I am that our customers voted for us, we are still so grateful for their fantastic comments.

In October Graphic Embers celebrated trading for one year. Matt started a photography course with the intention of beginning his own photography business within the coming years which means Graphic Embers will be getting some fantastic free product photography! We also handed over our favourite item of bespoke stationery in October, an autumn themed laser engraved wooden table plan which is the influence behind our wooden 'Signature' range.

The Northumberland Business Awards were held in November, and we were thrilled to be finalists in the Start-Up category.

Then on December 20th I gave birth to our second child, our son Gryphyn.

All in all 2012 was a busy and thrilling year! We have achieved a lot, as a business and as a family. We have worked with so many wonderful couples and cannot wait to work with more. Our range has developed incredibly to include highly illustrated printed stationery, handmade stationery and laser engraved stationery. My head is full of ideas and we're taking orders right up to the end of 2014! 2013 is already proving to be busy and I can only hope we continue to grow and improve as we did do last year. Thank you to all the brides, grooms and suppliers who made 2012 as fantastic as it was, we are eternally grateful for your support!

Angela, Matthew, Willow & Gryphyn.
www.graphic-embers.co.uk
www.mattmcgurk.co.uk

Competition! Win 50 Save the Dates/Invitations

We are running a competition with Matt McGurk Photography. Matt is going to set up a studio day in February especially for brides and grooms to come along and have couples shots taken. For just £40 couples will get an hour long photoshoot, CD of 4 to 5 images with printing rights and a large (16 x 12 inches) print. Book before Friday 18th January and one lucky couple will win 50 save the date cards (or equivalent postcard invitations) from Graphic Embers incorporating their favourite photograph taken on the day! The date for the photoshoot will be confirmed based on interest, but will be a weekend in mid February. Pre-register your interest now to be entered into this fantastic competition! To see Matt's previous work visit www.mattmcgurk.co.uk. The photoshoot itself will take place in a Newcastle-upon-Tyne photography studio booked specially for the occasion.
To book and for a chance to win please contact either enquiries@graphic-embers.co.uk or contact@mattmcgurk.co.uk

What's New for 2013?

I'm currently 38 weeks and 5 days pregnant, so I thought I should get the new for 2013 post done now, rather than wait for the arrival of baby.

Website & Product Photography:
Firstly, the website has been updated and we have a beautiful selection of new product photographs taken by Matt McGurk Photography, www.mattmcgurk.co.uk who is well worth a look if you're after some product or portrait photography, especially as he's trying to build his portfolio meaning photography through him is a really good deal at present.

New for 2013 - The Signature Range:
We've also launched our Signature Range. This range is laser cut into wood with the table plan then inlaid with mahogany. It's a real keepsake range and well worth a look if you want something really special. We can provide a bespoke design for you too.

 Signature Table Plan

 Bespoke Autumn Table Plan - This Inspired the Range.

 Signature Invitation

 Signature Place Card

 Signature Table Number

Signature Table Plan

2013 Range & Prices:

We've also released our 2013 Brochure & Price List which you can download from our website. The brochure documents our current 2013 range, as well as 'Original Print' items which are from our 2011-2012 range but are still available on request. We hope you find the brochure comprehensive and helpful.

Our prices are based on the cost of the quality materials we use and the time we dedicate to each invitation. The time we spend on invitations varies between fifteen minutes and an hour or more for more complicated designs. Graphic Embers is not a hobby business run around another job, we are a full time business operating 5-7 days a week depending on workload. This means we can offer a truly dedicated service, being able to answer queries at most times (unless we're in consultations). Our prices reflect this dedicated service and the quality of our products.

Ethos:

In 2013 we are also making an effort to support our local economy, we already use a local card stockist and have just started using a local printing lab as well. Our aim is to use local suppliers for the majority of our products and only use our national suppliers when a couple wants something specific that we cannot source locally. All of our suppliers are already based in the United Kingdom or Ireland.

We also aim to continue our award-winning customer service, offering a truly bespoke design service alongside full customisation of standard designs and a dedicated service. We want to do our best for all our couples and look forward to another year of working closely with more unique brides and grooms.

Christmas Working Hours:

We are not taking any more orders, consultations or sample requests this year due to the imminent arrival of our second child. However, I will be around working on some more new 2013 products and existing orders. You can still contact me via email at enquiries@graphic-embers.co.uk although my response times may be a little slower than normal. We appreciate your understanding during this time and hope to be back up and full speed in January!

Regards,

Angela McGurk

www.graphic-embers.co.uk

WINNER - The North of England Wedding Awards 2012

FINALIST - The Northumberland Business Awards 2012

A Few 2012-2013 Products

We've had a bit of a photoshoot today and have a few images to share of our current range. These aren't all of our products, and our older ranges remain available on request, but here's a small sample of what we are doing.

 Anne Hand Made

 Autumn Patchwork

 Bow Hand Made

 Catherine Hand Made

 Discover Scrapbook/Patchwork

 Dragonflies Scrapbook/Patchwork

 Jane Hand Made

 Laser Cut

 Margaret Hand Made

 Princess Pocketfold Hand Made

 Shell Scrapbook/Patchwork

 Signature Table Plan

 Simplicity Hand Made

Victoria Hand Made

Graphic Embers also produce bespoke designs at no extra cost.

Thank you for reading,

Angela McGurk

www.graphic-embers.co.uk

Bespoke Design

One of my favourite things to do is design a set of stationery which is truly unique, something that no other couple will have. It's not always (or ever) easy to get a truly bespoke design right, because more often than not it means starting with nothing but a hazy concept or theme. Often the couple also have a strong set of expectations which cannot easily be expressed, especially if the conversations are happening at a distance, over email or telephone calls, without being able to sit down together and discuss requirements.

However, part of what I enjoy about bespoke design is the challenge and the ability to say yes, I can do that for you. From snow leopard print to autumn leaves, I like to be able to give every couple I work with exactly what they are looking for. Sometimes that means making revision after revision as we experiment and narrow down a concept, sometimes it means spending a lot of time drawing or researching something very specific. Producing something unique rarely includes the use of pre-made parts, either illustrations or embellishments, and that's where Graphic Ember's ability to illustrate and laser cut comes in useful.

So what bespoke design have we done previously and how did we come up with a design?

One of my favourite pieces of bespoke design so far was for a wedding last month. The bride contacted me initially for her invitations (which I unfortunately didn't photograph). What we were given was a theme; autumn. This theme influenced the colour scheme, which in the case of the invitations became brown and orange. From the theme we designed a tree with falling oak leaves, which became the cover design. Oak leaves also featured on the inside of the invitation.

We wanted to have a strong level of contast between dark and bright, which we felt suited the season. After creating a few artists impression images in a few different colours the couple settled on a brown and orange. Honesty to materials played a part in the design, paper comes from wood and we wanted paper, not ink, to be what brought the design to life. This gave the perfect reason for using the laser cutter to cut a silhouette of the design into a brown cover sheet and have an orange insert sheet shining through the cover to create the contrast.

This design then became the bases for the couples Order of Service booklets as well.

Honesty to materials also gave us an idea for a table plan. Why not get to the heart of the autumn material and make the plan from wood? Having discussed an initial concept with our laser cutter we came up with an idea, the table plan was to be laser cut into a wooden plank and inlaid with mahogany. Not the cheapest table plan in the world, no, but something that really embodied the concept, something that would be a piece of artwork and something that could be kept forever as a reminder of the day.

Again, the initial invitation design informed the imagery used for the table plan although it in itself became something truly unique.

The couple made the decision to name their tables, rather than number them. The theme for this would be leaves. With this in mind I began researching leaf shapes, looking for the most distinguishable silhouettes to give each table it's own character which could then be carried through to table name cards and even to the individual menu/place cards. The couple then narrowed down a list of leaves to their favourites, Red Oak, Hawthorn, Horse Chestnut and Maple.

The table names themselves were laser cut from the same brown card that had been the predominant colour on both the invitations and order of service but the templates for these became the inspiration for the combined menu and place cards which alternated colours between orange and brown at each place setting.

This whole bespoke range was developed from one word, 'autumn'. We worked closely with the couple, keeping in constant contact even though we didn't meet the bride until we hand delivered the table plan in the weeks leading up to her wedding. We took a concept, looked at not only the imagery and colours relevant to the theme but also the materials in order to come up with something completely unique, something that no other couple will ever have.

The set took work, it took revisions, brainstorming, a good bit of time. It was also one of the most enjoyable sets of stationery I've had the pleasure of working on. And in return, we've received some of the most lovely comments we could ever have dreamed of getting.

“As a bride-to-be, who has been planning 'my' big day for 18 months I've felt a little let down at the fact
I've never experienced 'The One' feeling that so many other brides have. BUT!!! I can now say I have had my 'The One' experience!!! I am shaking, I have an aching jaw, I want to cry, I'm dizzy with excitedness. Why? Because my amazing bespoke autumn theme invites have arrived!! If you're waiting on an order you will not be disappointed!! Thank you so so much, you have been brilliant, the customer service is as good as the  products you have supplied, I look forward to part two in the summer!” - Sara

There is nothing better than knowing we got it right, we created a collection that worked with the couples idea of their wedding and will hopefully be kept forever as important keepsakes.

We have of course worked on numerous bespoke designs (most of our work is either bespoke or heavily customised). While the autumn stationery above is currently my favourite, with the wooden table plan being the inspiration for our upcoming signature range, I will include a few other images showing some of the other bespoke work we've done.

 Hot Air Balloon - Laser Cut Invitation

 Snow Leopard Print Invitation

 Gerbera Invitation

 Christmas Hand Made Wallet

 Invitation Using Client's Artwork

 Snowflake Invitation

 Las Vegas Travel Wallet Invitation

Indian Save the Date

Of course, the benefit of doing our own illustration and cutting is that we can modify and customise standard designs to suit a specific couple. We're currently working on a variation of our Midsummer Night's Dream laser cut wallet where the butterflies on the inserts have been changed to dragonflies and the colours have been modified. We might show the set in the future once the couple have their order. However, you can see some of our other customised pieces below. 

 Wishing Tree Tags

 Customised Laser Cut Lace Pocketfold

 Customised Damask 002 Invitation

Customised Elegance Wallet

We really do love getting each set of stationery perfect for each couple, that often includes incorporating a bit of their personality, whether the couple wants something completely bespoke or customised. So if you want stationery made specially for you why not contact us at enquiries@graphic-embers.co.uk?

Also, if you like what we do please vote for us (Graphic Embers) in the stationery category of the Wedding Ideas Magazine Awards 2013, there's only three weeks to vote! http://www.weddingideasmag.com/wedding-ideas-awards-2013-voting-form/

Thanks for reading,

Angela McGurk

www.graphic-embers.co.uk

WINNER - The North of England Wedding Awards 2012

FINALIST - The Northumberland Business Awards 2012 (Winner to be announced on November 15th 2012)