How to Create a Successful Wedding Stationery Business

It’s the most memorable day of someone’s life, but long before the ceremony where they get to say “I do” there’s a lot of planning, hard work and decisions to make.

Along with the outfits, the venue, the cake, the flowers and the photographer, one of the key considerations for the happy couple is all of the print collateral they need in the run-up to the event.

And that’s good news for anyone thinking about launching a wedding stationery business, as there’s a real chance to build a strong company if you get everything in place.

Printing wedding stationery is a really important part of the to do list, and if you’re thinking of going down this path and get those planning to marry to use your services, then you need to prepare.

If you have an existing business and this is just going to be new potential revenue stream then it’s just a matter of adding it to your list of services. If you’re starting from scratch however then you need to set up a business account, think of a name, sort your branding and also investigate the competition.

Put together a marketing plan and see who you can target and where there might be a gap in the market you can fill. Questions to consider if you want to become a stationery designer:

- What makes my designs stand out?
- Who is my target market?
- What are the costs of personalised stationery?

Practice your designs
Mockup your stationery designs and create artwork that is easy for you to personalise. For example, you could illustrate outlines of graphics and images so that you can change the colour depending on your client’s colour palette

Choose a professional print provider to print the products
Whether you’re designing wedding notebooks, invitations or photobooks, make sure to choose a print provider who can cater to all of your needs. This way you can keep your costs down on delivery and benefit from the best customer service possible. Luckily, it’s a simple process because of WTTB’s easy-to-use digital platform where you can just see what your client wants and upload the artwork.

Work out your costs
Working out your costings is all important then you’ll be able to decide what to charge for your services.

Build up contacts
Build up your client contacts, starting first with family and friends, then expanding it to include clients, potential clients as well as gathering names and contacts of those already working within the wedding business. You can learn from them while also offering your own services.

Set up an online platform
Set up your own website while also researching and choosing the platforms where you will showcase your services – shopify, squarespace and etsy are good starting points.

Choose your product base
But of course, most importantly of all is to decide on your product range – and luckily there are plenty of options to choose from.

Your stationery range should map out the happy couple’s progress from start to finish. From the excitement of saving the date to sending out the wedding invitations – plus RSVPs – all the way through to wedding menu and table settings to the final thank you cards. Your design needs to ensure that whatever style is chosen, be it traditional or classic to bohemian or rustic, the atmosphere, colour, font and images match and reflect the choices all the way from save the date to thanks you cards. Having a diverse portfolio of designs also helps build up your reputation and makes choices easier for the couple.

The wedding invitations are obviously going to be key to any offering, but there’s plenty of other ideas you can put to your client. If you’re especially proud of a wedding invitation design, don’t be modest - post up your personalised wedding stationery on the likes of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter - with the couple’s permission of course if it shows their names - to show off your range. If you’re looking to bring in a new business and sell your own designs start off with posting some samples on etsy, squarespace or shopify.

Those carefully crafted wedding invitations, in your very own wedding stationery design, need to not only look beautiful but contain the correct details for guests. They need to state clearly vital details of the venue where the ceremony is being held, plus details of the wedding reception afterwards and any transportation arrangements.

You might also consider attending wedding fairs where you can bring hardcopy samples and speak to others in the business. Don’t forget traditional advertising in wedding magazines, always a winner.

Save the date cards are the first indication for many guests that a wedding is in the air! Making a strong yet beautiful statement with your design is the first step in the wedding process.

Next in your expanding portfolio should be the wedding RSVP cards. Onus is upon guests to return the specially crafted RSVPs, a vital element that triggers off all the subsequent planning.

As the person who is responsible for the design process from start to finish, your challenge will be to work with the families involved in creating a beautiful yet standardised design that carries itself throughout all aspects of the stationery – while also highlighting a clear message for guests of the time and places that events are taking place.

Once the official wedding ceremony is over guests turn their attention to the real celebrating. This is where you can really shine – helping everyone find their places at tables, providing gorgeous customised table names (if someone doesn’t steal theirs you should feel insulted!) Then there is the venue planning to cater for: table name cards name place cards for each guest and the overall wedding table plan.

Last but not least are the all-important wedding menus one of the highlights of your printed wedding stationery portfolio. Your focus will be upon ensuring that the menus are clearly yet beautifully designed. They must, of course, contain all of the food choices available for guests in a simple and well laid out format that can be summarised at a glance. Your challenge will be to summarise often complex food requirements - vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, gluten free, dairy free options - into a well-designed yet uncluttered menu that is easy to read.

And when it’s all done and dusted, after the couple are officially united, next on the list are the personally crafted thank you cards to guests for joining them on their big day and for any wedding gifts. It’s an old-fashioned touch in a modern world that shows a lot of class by thanking friends and family who helped make the wedding day special.

Good luck in achieving your dream of running a successful wedding stationery business – with some hard work and great contacts under your belt, your clients should soon be saying “I do” to your work!