Guest Post: Cortni of Blonde & Brindle Design Co Answers Your questions about Wedding Invitations

Hey Friends! Today's blog post is hopefully going to help my new brides reading this. I teamed up with the ever so talented Cortni of Blonde and Brindle Design Co to write this guest post. I worked with her last may on designing this beautiful invitation suite for a wedding styled shoot. She is writing this guest post to answer some common questions new brides may have about hiring an invitation designer, how long the process is and much more. Keeping reading to learn more about Cortni and her years worth of knowledge about wedding invitations. All the images in this blog post is featuring an invitation suite she designed and styled. We hope this helps any of the new brides reading this to decide on if hiring a professional invitation designer is right for you. Thank you for stopping by and reading!!!

BLONDE AND BRINDLE DESIGN CO

Instagram: @blondeandbrindlellc

Facebook: @blondeandbrindle

hello@blondeandbrindle.com

https://www.blondeandbrindle.com

Who are you + why did you become an invitation designer?

I’m Cortni, the owner of Blonde & Brindle Design Co. I’m the blonde behind the designs and Bell is my brindled, four legged, fur ball; together, we’re Blonde & Brindle Design Co.

Growing up I always had a bent for creativity—and knowing that someday I would be raising a family, I wanted a college degree that would afford me the opportunity of being able to work from home when that time came. Graphic design seemed to check all the boxes—I could work in a creative industry and it would be a career that could easily be done remotely. I didn’t fully know at the time that it would mean running my own stationery business!

Like many other stationers in this industry, my journey started with the creation of my own wedding invitations, back in 2012. With a fresh degree in Graphic Design, it was a given that I would create my own invitations. The years following, I designed sporadically for family and friends. It wasn’t until 2015 that I made Blonde & Brindle official—all while working full time. In 2017, I quit my full-time job, had my first baby, and continued to grow Blonde & Brindle. Now, seven years later, my hope—and ultimate goal of working from home and raising a family has come to fruition and I wouldn’t change a thing.

What is your process like?

My ordering process has been fine tuned to eliminate overwhelm and uncertainty that can often emerge during this portion of wedding planning due to a highly saturated market. My mission is to make this the easiest and most enjoyable aspect of wedding planning. I not only work with my couples to best optimize their budget, I curate color palettes, make suggestions based on their wedding aesthetic, and will even source new colors and materials to ensure the papers are the perfect representation of their wedding on paper.

It all starts with a discovery form and optional consultation. Some couples know exactly what they want and don’t need any assistance and some get paper paralysis and don’t really know what they want, and that’s okay! I offer as much assistance as needed.

Once the discovery form is received, I send along a personalized quote and design mockup based on the selections made, inspiration provided, and/or what we discuss in the consultation. The booking is secured by payment of a 50% retainer and signed agreement.

To ensure a seamless design process, I supply a customized timeline that outlines important dates; spreadsheets for addresses; and content forms to collect all necessary details. Over the span of a few weeks, we work through proofs and revisions to make minor adjustments to text, colors, and overall layout.

Upon approval of the proofs, the balance is due and production begins! Once I receive the printed pieces and materials from my trusted vendors, I quality control each piece and assemble, if premium assembly is included. Once the final invitation has been inspected for superior quality, everything will be packaged for shipping or brought directly to the Post Office to be mailed on my client’s behalf for a hands-off, stress-free, experience!

What is included in a typical wedding invitation suite?

A typical wedding invitation suite will include the main invitation and mailing envelope, the reply card and response envelope and one or two insert cards. Whether or not insert cards are necessary depends on the wedding. The three most common uses for insert cards are:

• Accommodations—If a lot of guests are coming in from out of town and need to make hotel arrangements, often times there is an insert letting guests know where there has been a block of rooms reserved for discounted rates.

• Reception Information—If the ceremony and reception are at the same location, perfect, we put a line on the invitation that says ‘reception to follow.’ If the reception is being held at a different location, a separate insert card should be used for those details.

• Wedding Website—A wedding website insert is a great catch all for the miscellaneous details or to take place of multiple insert cards by directing guests to the website for all wedding related information.

Embellishments and upgrades that are optional, but often included:

• Traditional inner and outer envelopes

• Envelope Liners

• Wax Seals

• A fastener such as: belly band, ribbon, or twine

• Vellum Jackets

• Vintage Postage

• Envelope printing

• Custom Venue illustration

The best thing about the Blonde & Brindle wedding collection is we can go as elaborate or as bare bones as desired. Everything is sold a-la-carte to allow my couples to craft the perfect wedding paper package. There’s no settling for less and there’s no accepting more than what’s needed.