'Whats on up North' reviews You Say I Make Invites

A few months back You Say I Make Invites had the pleasure of designing Wedding Invitations for 'Whats on up North' (www.whatsonupnorth.co.uk) owner, Adam and his bride Katrina. I wanted to share with you the kind words that Adam has recently posted up on the website about the Wedding Invitations. We wish Adam & Katrina all the happiness in married life together x


'Whats on Up North' reviews You Say I Make Invites:
Wedding Suggestions

For a long time now I’ve been meaning to write a post about our wedding. However, it is only over Christmas, with our photos in hand and the opportunity to reflect that I would like to take the opportunity to mention some of the companies which made it such a special day -

When we were looking for someone to do our invites we found it difficult to find a company who were willing to work closely with us on a design. We had a really clear idea of what we wanted but few companies were willing to be flexible enough to make it. Not Lynsey from You Say I Make though. She was extremely supportive and, as she said, your big day should be exactly as you want it.

She sent us over a selection of designs from the brief we gave her and then after we’d selected one she set about modifying it until it was perfect. She promptly emailed back any questions we had and was extremely friendly. The final product was superb – beautiful design, excellent finish and prompt delivery. She does a whole range of other wedding stationary and I would recommend her to anybody.

'Save the Date’ cards

It's a date

So you’ve set the date for the big day, congratulations. A sudden rush of joy comes over you....then it’s followed by panic, what to do next....dress hunting? Florist visits? Invitation designs?...the list is endless, but let’s get the most important thing sorted first: Telling your loved ones the all important date.

Whilst shouting it from the rooftops may get you noticed by the neighbours, what about those further a field? Save the Date cards not only get the job done but they are the starting point to the theme of your Wedding day. They are the first touch point with your guests and give them an insight in to your colours, style and tradition.

I’m sure I’m not alone having received bookmarks and even mugs (yes, I had a Save the Date mug sent to me once!) but why disguise your date, show your guests loud and proud when your big day is and give them something that’s easy to keep. I adore the business card sized ‘Save the Date’ cards, not only is it perfectly shaped to fit in to that purse or wallet and will be carried around day in, day out, but it’s one of the cheapest options available! A business card after all in it’s very essence is made for keeping and sharing, so why not use it to your advantage and give it to all your friends and family to keep your date safe in their diary, hearts and purses.

Here is recent example I did for a newly engaged couple Laura & Phillip who saved their date. They opted for 2011’s Pantone Colour of the Year – Honeysuckle. The ‘Save the Date’ was printed on a luxury 300gsm silk card stock and was Matt Laminated on both sides for that extra lovely feel.

To get your day out there drop me an email lynsey@yousayimakeinvites.co.uk to find out more and find out how you can get your bespoke design, elegant printing and luxurious finish all for 85p each!

www.rockmywedding.co.uk blog!

Naomi @aislerock thanks us!

I recently had the pleasure of designing Wedding invitations for the very lovely Naomi. For those he don't know Naomi, she goes under the alias of @aislerock on Twitter and has an adoration of Tweeters!


Naomi liked a good plan and as such, got the chance to write a few articles on the infamous Rock My Wedding blog. To my amazement Naomi wrote such a lovely thank you to me for designing her uber Wedding invitations, it brought tears to my eyes so I wanted to share it with you all too.

"Invitations. You remember I was doing them myself? I had allocated a good month to get them designed, printed and sent. Queue day two of the design part, I experienced a massive Photoshop fail and in my huff decided to punt out a plea on Twitter for a designer to take over for me as I was failing miserably doing it myself. I received a ba-jillion tweets from designers offering their services, but one stood out from the rest. Lynsey from You Say I Make. She offered me help and encouragement to complete the task myself. She calmed me down, told me not to throw in the towel and kindly sent me email after email of free font websites and design tutorials. After a few more goes… I gave up. It was too much for me to take on at that moment in time and as I had received so much faith and support from Lynsey, I felt totally comfortable handing the whole thing over to her.



I was blown away when I received the box with all our invites… It rendered me speechless. After only a few emails and a 3 week turnaround, Lynsey had managed to capture exactly what I had planned in my head and make it real for me. I was so disheartened when I first started struggling, and I can hand on my heart say that Lynsey single handedly pulled me out of that and created a beautiful set of invitations that have perfectly set the mood for our day. Every one of our guests have raved about them!"



http://www.rockmywedding.co.uk/what-naomi-did-flashing-the-goods-my-big-dirty-secret/ 

When to send out Christening Invites?

What is the etiquette for sending out Christening invitations?

Christenings - I would suggest that you have your invites designed, printed and ready to send 1 month before the Christening date. The main reason for such notice? Chances are you know others who have children and may need to make arrangements, or then there’s always the risk of setting the same Christening date as someone else’s little one in your social circle.

Although it's normal for Christenings to mainly be an adult affair and a good old excuse for "wetting the babies head" - it is actually a very important Religious way. Whilst it is entirely up to the proud parents I've found that most parents opt for a very modern Christening invitation - discreet Cross symbols can really set off a design.

Many Christening invites look generic and simply have a photograph of the baby/child with their name. I would avoid these, I've seen way too many invitation design companies who offer this as a form of "personalising" the invites - in truth it's very standard and you still can't get any personality across with those types of invites.

Also, more and more parents are opting for later Christenings when the child is a little older, I think shop-bought invites struggle with this concept and only design 'baby-looking' Christening invites.

Here is an example of a Christening Invite I made for my friend's little boy - Many people complimented her on the invite design, which was tailored to match little Theo's bedroom!


http://www.yousayimakeinvites.co.uk/christenings.html

When should I send out Wedding invitations?

What is the etiquette for sending out Wedding invitations?

Weddings – I would suggest that you start to plan who you’d like to send invites to and also start thinking of the designs approximately 3-4 months in advance of your date. Sending the invites out to your day and evening guests (if applicable) can then be done approximately 2 months in advance.

Of course it completely depends on the person; I’ve had customers come to me nearly 2 years ahead of their big day and then others will naturally wait until 1-2 months before! It’s always important to consider your invitee’s situation – will they need to book time off work? Do they need to arrange childcare? Etc. In these cases it’s always best to give as much notice as possible.

There’s also the matter of “Save the date” cards, although not always essential it is worth thinking about - especially if your big day falls on a bank holiday or key dates, such as festivals and sporting events. These can be sent a year in advance and act as cheap invitations for your first round of "guest list gathering", Save the date cards are often designed and sent the same size as business cards - don't overwhelm with information and the card can be kept in a purse or wallet as a gentle reminder. You Say I Make Invites can even design your invitations in advance and design a matching Save the Date card for you to send out first or why not use it as a teaser invite?

If you’re thinking about your Wedding invitations, Christening invitations or Birthday invitations, or you’ve got a special occasion coming up then why not get in touch to discuss completely customised invitations with You Say, I Make Invites: www.yousayimakeinvites.co.uk.

Welcome!

First of all hello! Welcome to the You say I make invites blog.

www.yousayimakeinvites.co.uk is a brand new website offering you customised invitations for all your needs, whether that be Wedding invites, Christening invites, Birthday invites or more specialist invites such as Civil Ceremony invites or Baby Shower invites and anything else!

Not only this but the blog will act as a platform to discuss invitations; their uses and benefits in todays society and also tips on invitation etiquette (when to send your invitations, how to address people and RSVP cards) to top tips for creating the best invitation design to match the recipients of your invite.

I hope this will be a really useful space for us to interact in and I look forward to blogging with you all in the very near future.

Lynsey
Lynsey@yousayimakeinvites.co.uk
http://www.yousayimakeinvites.co.uk/
Twitter: @yousayimake