Perth Wedding Invitations

The title of my story goes like this. I got engaged in 1995 and married in a hurry I think about 2 months later as we were expecting and family wanted it to be. So I hurriedly searched for invitations.

I found the paper I liked and a simple design on an A4 folded card. Found out the cost and cancelled it on the spot. I remember it being a ridiculous price like $430.00 at the printers down the road. I still have the quote in amongst the receipts of the day in question, as well as the material that I wanted the paper to match and never did still sitting in my wedding day memory box.

I also have the stationery that I chose as it was the only thing I liked that day at a store in Perth city. It came down to that I was sick of looking and picked whatever took my fancy that day, as we had a shot gun wedding time was running out to find the stationery of my dreams.

I open that box every other year and find my daughter rummaging through it at times and look at my stationery choice and I wonder what was I thinking when I bought it. They came in packs of 50 with the place cards included so I bought 3 packs, got mother in law to write as she has lovely hand writing, we had 120 or so invitations that needed posting.

The total cost came to $90 dollars, down from $150. Bargain I must say back then. It’s the little things at a wedding, for me it was allot if you have the time I will write it all down one day. But the stationery was one thing that I wish I had splashed out on. It would have cost nearly as much as my dress but I would have been happy.

I am glad though I went all out on the flowers, I love flowers and knew what I wanted so the choice was simple but with the stationery, there was no one to help or to understand what my needs were and who was in tune to what I wanted. This is where I come in, I do have that knowledge now, as I have been on the other side when there was no choice in how you wanted your stationery, and I wish I had the foresight of designing wedding stationery 14 years ago.

I studied for 3 years to get my diploma in graphic design 15 years ago; I started my business The Ink Shed in August 2008 after having a family. Mainly designing corporate stationery, a friend of mine needed some invites for her wedding, only a very small number needed. So I volunteered my services and she was wrapped with the outcome.

Word got around with her friends and so here we are today, nearly 1 year later and most of my work is with wedding stationery and then babies and family events. Recently I have been asked if we supply bomboniere's so with the demand we now do. If you need something in any colour or out of the ordinary, we live to find supplies for our brides.

The methods we use for our stationery designs are silk screening, block printing, stenciling, hand painting and modern methods such as computer graphics and laser printing. We are learning the age old art of letter press which we now have 2 one large and a smaller one for small printing jobs like business cards and tags.

Supplies are found in the United States and England, this pushes up the cost of the stationery, but it is something to hold on to and pass on as a keepsake. Not that I don’t think that my mass produced wedding stationery will ever be a keepsake. We take our designs seriously and our work ethos is of a high standard and if you’re not happy then we are not happy.

The moral of the story is if I had my time again, I would spend allot on my wedding stationery, so much time goes into making your wedding stationery that you may not realize this is why the cost is so high. Not be a scrooge as 14 years later as of the 15th of July 1995 I still remember the tacky packet mass produced stationery.

To find out more, check out our website The Ink Shed