Hi, I’m Christine and I’m an invitation designer from .cevd. {custom invitation studio}. First off, I would like to thank Kelly for inviting me to contribute to her blog.  It is so much fun for me to be a part of this series as I kinda live for paper products and I am hoping to show you a bit of what goes on during the design process.

My work is a bit different than some other invitation studios around, so my process is in turn a bit different as well.  I work on a strictly custom basis, which allows for absolute control and creative freedom for the client. I am just there to get their ideas out on to paper. And it typically starts like this:

The number one most important thing to know going into the design process is your budget.  Once you have that figured out, everything will be so much easier. As Becky said in the previous post, there is a significant cost in the set-up of letterpress printing, and this is the same with flat printing and engraving alike, though with flat printing the overall cost isn’t as high. It is good to know this going in so you might be able to weigh your priorities money and design wise. It isn’t a fun conversation to have, but it is always the first one I have with my clients.

After the business side of things has been hashed out, I like to proceed to colors. This is one of my favorite parts as I get to pull out all of my paper samples. I might actually have gone into this business just for the little rectangles of colorful paper; I can’t get enough of them.

After paper comes ink color, and the possibilities are endless. I recently had a client come to me with an old envelope addressed to her grandmother in a dark brown ink that she wanted to use for her invites.  It took us about 10 minutes to decide between about 5 browns that were so close to one and other I kept getting them mixed up. Her invites are currently being printed and I am so excited to see them.

Now comes the absolute most fun part of my job. Sitting down and grinding out all of the details of my clients’ lives. I grill them about everything they do and love, and then i ask them the theme of their event. It always helps to know where they are coming from before I start brainstorming graphic elements. Then, along with the clients, I go through numerous samples and revisions until everything is just right.  During this process my walls are plastered with quick print outs, so I can be absolutely sure of scale and balance.

Finally, the joy of the final approval and the sending off to print. I am typically giddy at this point as I can hardly wait to see everything. It takes about 3-5 weeks for me to get letterpress and engraved invites back, and that timing is cut a bit shorter with flat printing. During this time, I hang the final proofs together so I can keep track of what is out of my office.

After I have looked over every piece of paper that is included in the invite, I package them up and send them out. It is so wonderful to be a part of a complete process and have a gorgeous finished product in my hands in the end.

Good luck with your invitations; it can be one of the most fun parts of the planning process, so enjoy it. I always hear brides say that seeing their actual invitations all of a sudden makes their wedding real. It is the first of a long list of exciting things that take place during the planning of your wedding and you should love them all!

Tags: invitations, Kelly Oshiro Events, santa barbara wedding, santa barbara wedding coordinator, Santa Barbara wedding planner, santa barbara wedding planning

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 10:14 am and is filed under Guest blogs, Inspiration, Invitations, Santa Barbara Vendors, SLO & Paso Robles Vendors, Vendors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.