Alternative Weddings - Handfastong

Alternative Weddings are becoming more and more popular.....

Had to take Saturday off while I attended a friends Handfasting on Saturday. What an amazing day. I think it proved you don't have to spend a fortune to have the most brilliant time. Good friends, good food and a lot of laughter makes the day.

Here's a fantastic photo of my Wishing Tree Tags, gently carrying prayers and wishes off on the wind. The tree was 7 sticks of twisted Willow bought from the local florist.
Photo by the amazing Sarah Laurel Photographic

You can find more of Sarah's Photos here: http://www.sarahlaurel.com/

Alternative Weddings are becoming more and more popular and I'll blog more about this sometime soon.... so keep your eyes peeled. And if you are interested in having some personalised Wishing Tree Tags for your Wedding/Handfasting. then get in touch. http:inspiredbyscript.co.uk 
Or you can call in at the shop, 288a High Street, Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL7 8DW

Hot Pink and Purple Numbers and Postbox - Emily & Lee

I just LOVE 2 tone Wedding Themes.

When Emily contacted me I was more than a little excited 

about using Hot Pink & Purple together.

First the Wedding Post Box

Purple bordered card,

Hot Pink foil,

And dual coloured Butterflies and ribbon.

How gorgeous does this look?

I made the number cards the opposite way around.

Hot pink bordered card,

Cadbury's Purple Foiled Numbers,

And purple butterflies.....

By gluing only half the butterfly down

the other half can be bent upwards,

giving the impression of a butterfly in flight

Don't you think they look great?

And here's the butterfly cutter I used

by Martha Stewart.

They are a bit pricey if you are a DIY Bride,

but it's by far the nicest Butterfly Cutter on the market.

I also have Table Seating Plan Cards to make and matching Menus......

I'll post pictures of them as soon as they are made.

Any more 2 Tone Brides out there?

What colours are you putting together? 

I love to hear your insirational thoughts.

Either leave a comment

or email me at inspiredbyscript@yahoo.co.uk

All designs, photographs and article content

(c) Sue Simspon 2013

http://inspiredbyscript.co.uk

Personalised Will You Be My Bridesmaid Cards

I was asked to design and create some

Personalised Will You Be My Bridesmaid Cards

So out came the nibs and the ink 

And out of the pen came the letters....

This was the final design for my client....

But I decided to design a couple more

one for a Bridesmaid 

And one with top hats for the guts......

These cards would also make lovely thank you cards.

Just a quick post today as it's bank holiday Monday

and I'm starting a full weeks holiday.

Hope you all have a great day..... Sue x

When to send out Wedding Invites

Question from Bride:

"When do I send out Wedding Invitations?"

Well, not so very long ago, the standard answer would have been 6-8 weeks before the Wedding, but times have changed. 

Other factors to take into account these days are: 

Work and Lifestyle: People have busy lives and are usually planning what little time they have off, months in advance.

Hotels: Many weddings take place in locations now rather than in Churches  and many of these locations offer a package deal. Hotels in particular are keen to know final numbers, well before the Wedding date.

Distant Families: Many family's no longer live close by and are spread right across the country. If the Wedding is to be held at location not close to family and especially during holiday times, there may be a problem with accommodation. 

Stationery: For those Brides who want something that extra special, rather than 'Off the Peg' Stationery, you need to know that many of us are booked up well in advance, not only with Wedding Invitations but 'On the Day' items as well. I myself, took 13 Wedding Orders in January and as you can imagine there are only so many hours in a day and so many weeks in a Month. So getting your order in as early as possible is imperative if you find stationery you particularly like. 

So.... my answer to this would be:

As soon as possible! Especially if your 

Wedding is during busy, holiday periods.

I suggest 6 months is a good idea.

Also.... the sooner you get them out,

the sooner you have one less thing to think about 

and can get on with the rest of your planning. 

In my experience, the sooner you get them out,

the more time you will have for chasing up 

the people who lag at replying to your invite. 

What do you think?

How soon before the Wedding 

did YOU send out your cards?

If you are not already married, 

when are you planning 

to send out your cards?

It will be interesting to know what others think 

Add a comment below or email me (Sue) at

inspiredbyscript@yahoo.co.uk

I'll publish your answers in a later blog post

Personalised Gift Tags for Wedding Thank You Gifts

Where do you go for those 'Little Extras'? 

If you have an idea  and need something a little different,

made especially for you and to your EXACT requirements 

with no extortionate design fees,look no further.

Contact Me (Sue) 

Using this contact form

or call 01609 776 866 

I make no bones about it.... here at Inspired by Script, most of our best ideas come from Brides and them asking 'us' to solve a problem. Now, if you are not creative where do you go? Who ill make exactly what you want using your ideas? or even worse, Who will convert your ideas into finished items when you don't have a clue about design?

I was asked to create some 'Thank You Tags' for a client. These are 5.25cm x 10.5cm.

Each one is personalised with the recipients name on and you can choose any colour ribbon so it matches your whole colour scheme.  Anyway..... here's what I came up with.....

The answer is simple....

COME TO US!

These first designs are Daisy's

Available in any colour

Then we have the joined hearts

And you can choose your own ribbon colours too

They look great attached to your 

little Thank You Gifts and 

each one is personalised with the recipients 

name on them, making them extra special

They are also available as a single heart....

In any colour

Or.... if your theme is stars.....

No problem

These are n the theme of Purple....

So whatever your ideas,

whatever you need,

we can custom make anything that is printed to suit

your ideas and budget, 

with no extortionate Design fees either! 

Make your day more personal to you,

more quirky and more memorable.

Of course, I love creating things for people using their ideas, so if you have any special request please call in at the studio during opening hours

Tuesday - Saturday

10.30am - 4.30pm 

288a High Street, 

Northallerton, DL7 8DW. 

Tel: 01609 776 866 

or email us USING THIS CONTACT FORM

NEW Personalised Wedding Cards

I feel there's been a slight lull before the storm as many of my Brides are getting married in August, it will be a busy June and July for me as I work on their 'On the Day' orders. Seating Plans, place cards, wedding post boxes and guest books to make.

So, I've taken advantage of the quite down time to come up with some Wedding Cards. All these can be fully personalised. 

Style 1

Style 2

Style 3

Style 4

Style 5

and there's more to come :-)

Designs copyright 

(c) Sue Simpson

Inspired by Script

Wedding Awards - What do they mean?

I am on an eternal mission it seem to try and protect my regular Bride and Groom readers.
This week it's about

WEDDING AWARDS!

So... the item  or service you need has a flashy website.
Proudly on their site or blog they are proudly displaying a badge stating that the y were
some sort of Wedding Industry Finalist or Winner. Great news! you think to yourself.

• Here's s site that can be trusted!
• I mean, it's won an award for gods-sake!
• So they must be really good?
• Highly recommended? 
• They are actually Industry experts! So they can be trusted on many levels.

If you are thinking all the above is true.... then you need to read on and see what I found out!

For the last couple of years and certainly within the last 6 months, I've seen award after award pop up and more and more websites and blogs proudly displaying everything from Wedding Magazine Awards to so called Wedding Industry Expert Awards. The awards are given out almost willy nilly and most are nothing more than a marketing ploy!

MOST and I use that word wisely MOST of these awards involve some or all of the following:

• The supplier of good and or services pays a fee to enter (£50 is not uncommon)
• A view of the award giving site looks pretty dapper and rather posh! (Remember... it's designed to get money from those who enter!)
• The participant goes wild on Facebook to get everyone to place a vote for them. Please note, this is not directly proportional to the number of CLIENTS they have dealt with and who have been satisfied with their work. In fact... Joe Blogs can enter himself as an Expert, without even taking a photo! It's as easy as setting up a website, buying a few stock photos from the many companies out there, paying a fee and getting people to vote! In reality, that person can win an award by hiking up their votes through friends, family and other social networking places and/or have very little competition in their local area that have entered.... Therefore WINNING by default! 
• They offer little or nothing in the way of Prizes... other than a certificate.
• Finalist (everyone that entered)  is invited to their Award Giving ceremony... but entrants have to pay 'Big Bucks' to attend. (Which they do because they think they are in with a serious chance of actually winning!).

WHY IS MY BACK UP!

Lately, I was inundated with businesses in the Wedding Industry pleading with me to VOTE FOR THEM. I looked on the website to find that this Award company was actually based in the US! The competition was to be decided by so called Industry Experts (to be frank, I googled their names and websites and some of them need some serious help if they really ARE experts!). Then 2 days later I see that Everyone I know who entered actually had displayed on their Facebook pages, blogs and websites that they were Wedding Industry Experts Winners 2013! The results were out just a couple of days after the award had ended and was awarded on VOTES! No need to have experts adjudicate in the first place then? To be honest... I was sick and tired of the request from people who have just started out in the business and have very little if any, experience, never mind wanting to call themselves EXPERTS! 

At best, these awards are no more than a popularity contest. Yes... they may get more hits to their websites.... but hits and sales are completely different statistics!

SO WHY DO I 

HAVE A PROBLEM 

WITH THIS?

From the Brides point of view:

I am seriously concerned that Brides and Grooms seeing these badges on a website, gives them false hope of quality of goods or services. 

The award is NO MEASURE of how good the company is.

How long they have been in business.

Whether they can be trusted

or even if they are actually GOOD at what they do!

From the Wedding Suppliers point of view:

I am concerned that it's mostly NEW or very YOUNG businesses that get swept up in these so called Awards. They pay out money to enter, some even have to pay for a certificate if they actually get to the finals (which of course they do!). They somehow 'believe' that having this award will bring in more business... It WON'T! Brides haven't a clue what the award is for and to be honest, most working on a tight budget could be terrified of anyone displaying the word EXPERT on their site as been far too expensive and out of their league.

To Brides: Most Industry Experts.... don't need a worthless award to prove they are good in their field. Most of us are far too busy with work, not to even care about these awards.

Take these awards with a pinch of salt! Ask to see your suppliers portfolio of work they have done for past clients. 

To Businesses: BE CAREFUL! You have to think like an advertiser and marketing expert. You can be sure.... there's a LOT in it for these people and VERY LITTLE if anything in it for you! .... except perhaps for less money in your bank account. 

The only REAL way to build up your business and gain trust from Brides and Grooms is to actually offer the best service possible and have the recommend you to friends. Give value for money, go out of your way to LISTEN to your clients..... Your business will prove your success in your field, not some award which was gained by how many clicks you managed to get! :-)

What are your feelings on this?

Brides: What do you think of these so called AWARD BADGES?

Businesses: Have you been fooled in this way?  

Has this made you think about these awards in a different way? 

Award Company Givers: I am open to discussion for you to agree or deny these observations. So pleas FEEL FREE to leave a comment or contact me direct on inspiredbyscript@yahoo.co.uk 

I look forward to hearing from you.