Welcome to the S2 Weddings category. Part of this new revamp of the blog is that I’m going to put different topics under different categories so that I get to play around with all the aspects of my stationery and communication business, but also so that you know when you don’t want to read a post. For example, if you care about traveling, then you might not be interested in a wedding post of mine. But if you’ve stumbled on to my site while looking for wedding invitations, then you would care about my wedding posts. It’s a work in progress, so we’ll see how it goes, but I hope it goes well.
Without further ado, let’s talk about this STUNNING bridal book I put together for a custom client. This book has been in the works for over a year now, or maybe exactly a year. I delivered said book the week before Christmas 2015, so I did make it within the year mark, but it took a lot of back and forth with the customer, only because I was trying to hand deliver it versus mailing it, and because it stumped me.
I love books. I’ve always been an avid book lover and I’ve also attempted to make my own books. I shared a post a few years ago now, about rediscovering my very first book that I made completely by hand using card board and ribbon to bind it together. I still have no clue how I did that, or how I instinctively knew to put it together in that manner, but I did. It still wows me!
I’m not a book maker per se. I would never tell a customer, “yes, I’m a book maker.” See, there are talented book makers in this world, not accidental book makers like me, but that does not mean that for the right client and project, that I won’t step into the real of book maker. It is an art. And I do have a way with making books. So I am capable and interested. And when this project along, it seemed natural to job into it and offer my book making services and skills.
We had discussed a modern looking book for these cards. The theme of my client’s daughter’s wedding was modern art. Her daughter had a degree in modern art and loves it and is a superb artist herself. Keeping in theme with the bridal shower invitations the customer ordered through Vera Wang, I adapted the laser cutting art into my piece. I also should note that we designed the insert cards to look like Pantone chip cards using the colors she selected for the bridal shower. These cards were mostly color with 1/3 of the space left white for “advice for the bride.”
When I went into organizing the book, I did my best to coordinate the colors in an order based on how many there were for each card. Of course, the control freak tendency of mine wished that there had been some order in how these cards were given out, but that was the least of my worries. No, see the bulk of my worries and why it took me so long from late January to December to get this book done correctly was that I was afraid of messing it up.
I knew that much like a Pantone swatch book, I needed to get the proper binding tool and get the holes punched just right not to mention get the modern design cut correctly.
So I simmered wondering how I was going to get this done and then wouldn’t you know, last spring, I received a free Cricut Explore Air machine in exchange of a review on Amazon. This happens all the time and my review at the time was spot on. (I should go and write an updated review based on how this book turned out!)
With minor adjustments to the scan of the invitation, I used the cricut machine to cut out the image to the sizes I wanted and then using several layers of paper, both a pale cream cover weight paper and a metallic opal standard weight paper that matched the shower invitation put the designs together.
It took me several versions of this. Gluing each piece together alone took time and resulted in glue everywhere and spots on the paper. Being a control freak type-A designer, I always think that customers will see the same imperfections that I do and so I go over and over and over a piece until I get it correct, or at least correct in my eyes.
I am incredibly proud of this piece. I am stunned by it’s beauty. I am amazed that I made it with my hands. I didn’t want to deliver it. I wanted to keep it for myself. It’s one of those pieces that you love for ever and ever. It’s the piece that you know will bring you respect in the design world. It is one of those pieces that you know your customer will love having in their home and will proudly share who made it for them. It is that piece that communicates your goals, mission and aspirations for what you do. It is the piece that has a bit of your heart and soul in it.
Photos of the book are below. This is a pricey piece. It does require a lot of elements even though I use a machine for some of the work of it. Hand punching pieces of paper requires a lot, okay?
Those who are interested can reach me by leaving a comment below or sending me an email to info [at] s2stationery [dot] com.
And for those curious – my customer emailed me and told me that she was on vacation, but she absolutely loves the book. “Sara, it came out great!”
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