Once Upon a Time Wedding Stationery

10/08/2023

My Order Book is now closed until January 2024 for new Bespoke Design orders & also rush orders.

I am still taking orders of existing designs & fitting those in around the lovely couples I'm currently working with.

I am also taking wedding stationery bookings for 2024 - 2025.
Production slots can be secured without knowing what design you want right away with a deposit that will then go towards your balance.

Spaces for orders are limited for a while though, as from September I have added other commitments for a few months, so will be working in the studio all day (9.30 -7.00pm) Tuesdays & Wednesdays, with some weekday evenings too. Maybe the odd Sunday if needed!

Current couples will still get priority as usual, I'm very much looking forward to working on those orders! 💜

Please feel free to get in touch anytime to discuss further.

10/08/2023

A couple of Fridays ago my Nephew Stuart married the wonderful Miss Pendergast!
It was a fabulous celebration on a lovely sunny day at The Georgian Townhouse in Norwich.

As their wedding gift I offered to make their Wedding Stationery.

The Aimee & Stuart Collection consisted of Bespoke Designed
Save The Dates, Ceremony & Reception Invitation sets.
On the Day Stationery included a Table Plan, Welcome Sign, Order of the Day Sign, Guest Book, Place & Menu Cards, Table Name Cards, Drinks Tokens & Gift Bag Tags for the children.

After the ceremony Aimee & Stuart had booked Bert's Amazing Creatures who brought along a Snake, a Bearded Dragon, Geckos, Guinea Pigs & a Rat. I totally avoided the Rat but I would have happily brought home the other amazing creatures!!!

In the evening 4 Aces Casino set up the Black Jack & Roulette Tables, handing out Funny Money to the guests printed with a photo of the new Mr & Mrs Jones. Brilliant! I surprisingly won some (only with another Nephews help!) & then I lost it all. It was so much fun. I've still no idea what I was doing though!

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Jones, love you lots ###x

💜 Welcome to the Family Aimee!! 💜

13/06/2023

Facebook is nagging me for leaving it so long since my last update!! I'm not much of a social media fan, I like using it for looking at stuff, I'm just not a fan of posting anything myself though. But that's just a 'Me Problem'! I must do better!

I have been extremely busy with all sorts of things, work, family, & home renovations...which are still ongoing! So for a while I had limited the amount of work I was taking on.

I also now have a change in commitments so have cut my working days in the studio down considerably which also means I will have limited availability, I will be taking on fewer new couples from now.

29/11/2022

💜 Now about to start work on the final orders of the year before I finish for Christmas 💜

🎄🎅🏻🎄 ( I have set aside the first few weeks of December to reorganise the studio, sort out the boring paperwork, & tackle the elephant in the room that is my website!! I can guarantee that Christmas music will be playing whilst I work! ) 🎄🎅🏻🎄

29/11/2022

How cute are these cookies?!
Its such a lovely idea for Wedding Favours! 💜

Miss Darcys Bakehouse

Buttery cookies make such a lovely addition to your wedding table.

22/11/2022

I will soon be finishing working on orders & samples until the end of November before my Christmas & New Year holiday.
I will only be replying to messages & emails during 1st -14th December before I completely close until January 2023!

Samples, orders, quotes & consultations will start up again in January so please feel free to get in touch to be booked in.

As January is traditionally my busiest month of the year for new bookings I'd recommend getting in now before all the newly engaged couples of Christmas & New Year do!!

29/10/2022

I now have no more availability for the Bespoke Design Service until the New Year.
I may be able to squeeze in one or two orders if chosen from most of my existing Design Collections before I close for Christmas - my last day being 30th November 2022 then my order book will be open again on 4th January 2023.

A new price list will be available from 1st November, if you have the old one please note this is no longer valid.

Thank you - Cheryl 💜

08/09/2022

Rest in Peace your Majesty

25/08/2022

Just a reminder that I am on Holiday from next week for two weeks.

I will be replying to emails & messages up until 12pm on Sunday 28th August then I'm switching off & chilling with my family!

Today is the last day until I'm back at work that I will be ordering stock, as I don't want that arriving during my time off.

Enjoy the rest of the summer holidays folks, if the weather turns cold & wet you know who's to blame!!

- Cheryl
💜

14/07/2022

💜 My Bespoke Design Service Availability is getting low! 💜

I currently have spaces from next week until the end of July for one or two non Bespoke orders. My order book is full for August with a few spaces left for non Bespoke orders depending on size.
I then have one space left for a Bespoke Design in September and then, other than non Bespoke orders, that may well be it for the rest of the year!

I will then be limiting myself to just 2 Bespoke Design clients per month, if that. The reason for this is that it takes up a lot of time from start to finish, eventually I do make a loss, so I need to leave enough room in my order book to work on orders from existing design collections as equal priority rather than prioritising Bespoke Designs.

I am still having a think on how best to change my working process in the future but limiting the amount of Bespoke Designs I take on is a start for now. I still want to be able to offer this service because I enjoy it so much but I need to go about it in a much more realistic & practical way!

I'm hoping by next week I will have this figured out!!

💜

05/07/2022

Lengthy post warning, so grab a cuppa...

As expected with or without prior warning my suppliers have been increasing their prices for some time.
I've avoided it for as long as possible but I can no longer bury my head in the sand & will have to look at updating my own price guide.

Today I noticed that one of my most used cards in particular has become low in stock & has had a price increase of over double what I would normally pay. Another popular card won't be available for several months now either.

Recently during the time I have given quotes, waited on over due invoices & late confirmation of placing orders, the prices of materials needed for those delayed orders increased considerably meaning that the little bit of profit I make inevitably gets eaten in to. I have no idea how long this will go on for, whether those prices will hold or increase regulary, so I need to be flexible.

Because of this I need to look at the way I work & will as of now only be holding the prices of quotes for 7 days. After the 7 day deadline I will double check the supplier costs & amend the quote if necessary. Hopefully that wont happen often, if at all, but I need to cover myself & my out goings 🤞

I will also be changing the length of time that quotes & invoices remain valid to a 7 day deadline too.

Late invoices over 7 days will be cancelled & double checked to cover any possible increases & resent, again with another 7 day deadline. Delays will affect production dates too.

I single handedly put a lot of time, care & effort in to my work, I often work long days & through the night...there's no over time pay or holiday pay. When I work out my time from first point of contact with a couple to the very end of working together, I'm really lucky if I hit close to the national minimum wage.

I absolutely LOVE my job SO much & appreciate every single order placed, but it is a job not a hobby - I still need to pay my bills, feed my family just like everyone else does.
At this point I'm worried about how much longer working on wedding stationery will be viable, prices on everything seems to be going up but wages aren't, with this in mind I will likely be changing the way things are done very soon...but that will no doubt be covered in another long winded post once I've properly figured that out!
💜

27/06/2022

I’m working on samples & orders up until Wednesday this week as I’ll be taking some time off with no access to email or messages. I’ll be back in the studio next Tuesday.
If we’re in the middle of discussing wedding stationery or you’re about to place an order this needs to be done as soon as possible to avoid any extra delays. I won’t be ordering stock after Wednesday this week or until next Tuesday.

The countdown is on 👊 One week until the ❤️