So, you have made it through your consultation, made your paper and colour choices and we are ready to rock and roll, right?
Well, sort of! There will be a few things that we need from you before we can get the design work started.
First of all, we will need the text that you would like on your stationery, and it’s hard to design without that! We do discuss what we need from you and how we can help with the wording when you come in for your consultation, but how you acknowledge your families/hosts/traditional or modern wording—that’s a discussion that we need you to have as a couple and involve the family, if needed.
Once we receive that information from you, we take that information and within 10 business days you will receive a digital proof with 2 or 3 design concepts for your review.
Starting with the invitation
We always start by sending options of the invitation first. Because the design for all the other items will stem from that base, we send that portion of the set first, and then send proofs for additional items once the design of the invitation is set.
We currently use an online proofing system called “Cage”. You will receive a link to the proof, and then you are able to comment directly onto the proof by clicking on the areas that you want to be edited.
From the first proof, we then get you to choose which of the options is closest to what you envision. We then go in to refine that one design option until it looks “just right”.
This is where the designing gets real, and we are going to lay it to you straight.
It’s important to remember that each proof takes time to produce. To edit the file, re-lay it on a proofing template and uploading it. Each time a set of proofs is sent out, it will use up some of the allotted design time that we quoted you.
So, the more concise you are with the edits you would like to see, the less time (and moolah) it will take to design. We cannot stress that enough!
This also applies to things like envelope printing. We provide our clients with an Excel spreadsheet for envelope addressing. It is laid out exactly like our merging system requires, and we ask that couples fill it out as outlined, and only provide us with the finalized copy of the spreadsheet.
Once the file is merged into designs (you see the first proof of the individually addressed envelopes), it cannot be merged again. Any further edits will need to be made manually, and will affect the amount of design time. This is why it’s really important that the information be sent to us correctly.
When you have gone through all the text/names/dates/info with a fine-tooth comb (we recommend reading from the bottom up and having an extra set of trusted eyes on it), we ask that you approve the files on the online proof, and then we set all the goodies up for production!
Once everything is approved, we calculate any additional costs (more design time/further add ons etc) and send you the final invoice. Once we receive that, we send the files out for production!
So, the design process is quite a biggie! It may feel a bit daunting, especially because it requires time and attention from both sides, and lots of communication! But, we can have so much fun when we are creating, and we love working with you to make the dreams happen!
