It's A Date Design Blog

An Update and New Projects!

2011-09-28T19:57:00.000+10:00

(My poor neglected blog - sorry to have abandoned you since August!)

Just in case you've missed the updates on Facebook and Twitter, I've been uploading lots of new projects lately! I usually blog about them straight after I upload them but for some reason, I've missed this step, repeatedly. Catch up class! Let's see what I've been up to...

Zalie's 1st Birthday Party Invitation (and party items)
We designed an invitation that had a little birthday candle attached to the front, and folded in a mini-concertina (in the shape of a "Z" for Zalie). I also designed a few other goodies for Zalie: a banner, party bags and hats.

Annabel and Gareth's Save The Date
I illustrated this vintage/throwback postcard for a romantic wedding in Italy - I'm about to start designing their full suite, and I tell you, it's tough work, looking at pictures of Italy all day (and Vanuatu, but that's another story and another invitation!)

Patrick's 1st Birthday Invitation
A favourite from my childhood, and evidently, a favourite of little Patrick's! Illustrating the Hungry Caterpillar was very fun!

Loren and Greg's Wedding Invitation Suite
An invite for my friends Loren and Greg - this was their engagement/wedding present! It spins! The actual event was a few weeks ago and ... oh boy, the styling was AMAZING (not by me, just in case you thought I was getting a bit too big for my boots!) - I am really hoping to feature it, I will need to ask Loren nicely when she returns from her honeymoon!

And the epic...
Joanna and Martin's Wedding Invitation Suite
Music themed, book invite - seriously, the most fun I've had in ages designing a suite, I didn't want it to end. I go into a LOT of detail about the project in my portfolio. Keep your fingers crossed for me that they may like a second wedding to each other in say, two or three years. Lots and lots of day of items to keep me happy!

Preparing for a few late-spring/early-summer weddings and birthdays at the moment and then it will be the holidays, oh boy, time is just flying by! Hope it's flying by in a good type of way for you too!

In The Jungle

2011-08-08T16:01:00.004+10:00

My husband, brother-in-law and I took a spontaneous detour to Melbourne's GPO building in Bourke Street mall yesterday to check out an installation I had seen on The Design Files. Entitled "Spring Orchard", this amazing work is by Amanda Henderson of Gloss Creative - Amanda is an extremely talented visual merchandiser and event stylist/artist, and I am a huge fan of her work, which usually includes many different mediums, en masse and large scale, and a whole lot of colour.

Close up, this piece is made of what I assume to be a vellum and/or card stock and twine, in layers upon layers; I braved my vertigo to get a few iPhone snaps to take home and look at further. I was really impressed by the embossing of the folds of the leaves to add even more dimension to the piece, and the trailing vines of intricately cut leaves that hung from the base of the arrangement.

There is also some far more professional shots of the installation up on The Design Files. I recommend, if you are in Melbourne, checking it out whilst you can.

Update: Gloss Creative have just written a blog entry with behind the scenes shots of the making of this installation here.

DIY Service Station Numbers

2011-07-14T10:19:00.001+10:00

I've been watching a lot of The Block (go team Jenna and Josh!), and I was inspired to hunt down some vintage "service station numbers" (or gas station numbers, petrol station numbers) for our house - the ones that get changed according to the price of fuel that day. I was a little inhibited by the price and scarcity of these cool fixtures of industrial/eclectic decor, so I decided to have a go at making my own, as placeholders til I stumbled upon the real thing.

Above: Jenna and Josh's use of numbers in their recent bedroom renovation, via The Block galleries.

Such a fun and easy project. It's inspired me to make more, maybe smaller, maybe different colours, as table numbers (or similar), and to place in other vignettes around our home. Do you think you would use an industrial touch to your event decor?

If you're also digging the look, I've dedicated a Pinterest board to my 'research' into vintage signage.

Just Added to our Portfolio: Emma and Murray's Wedding Invitation Suite

2011-07-07T12:33:00.002+10:00

Long time no speak, sorry friends! I've just added a big project to my portfolio, the wedding invitations of Emma and Murray. There's lots of details if you follow this link, but I did want to include a few photos my lovely husband took whilst we were assembling. It's not very often I get work-in-progress shots, too hard to wield glue tape and a camera at the same time, so these are a bit special.

Here's some stats that I wrote on Facebook just after posting the finished box off to Emma: "At its thickest, each invitation had 16 layers of card + 12 components each: I've trimmed 1716 individual sheets, scored 630 folds, used over 176m of glue tape, 35m of bakers twine, handmade 111 envelopes, attached 214 stickers, 148 split pins, emptied my magenta toner + lost feeling in 2 fingertips!"

What a job! Emma and Murray got married this past weekend - congratulations guys!

A Non-Working Weekend

2011-06-14T11:08:00.003+10:00

Happy Tuesday - it sure is a chilly one here in Melbourne! The last few weeks (months? eek!) have been busy ones for It's A Date... as such, I haven't had a weekend "off" (defn. "off": from Friday night to Monday morning without turning on the computer, trimming or gluing anything, or opening Illustrator) in a long long time. It's difficult for me to "switch off", and I'm sure you've read many a post about this same topic. The most success I've had with disengaging from work for the weekend is to create a project for myself that doesn't involve computers. Our little house has copped many a DIY project ever since this discovery (that is, unless my project is to watch a backlog of television and movies, I do like that project!)

Three tasks from this weekend have been little but lots of fun (I also had a bonus day off with the Queens Birthday holiday, so that helped!).

1) I painted some pots I scavenged from my parent's farm on my last visit and potted them with some ferns for our bathroom. One of my goals on my 30B30 list is to end up with plants in every room: I feel like they balance out all our gadgets and technology and that constant buzzing in the background. The paint colour is great - it was a wrong colour-match mix for another customer, marked down to $2 a tub at my hardware store, and I liked what little I could see painted on the lid. I've since rationed it out as much as I can to paint lots of other things with it, it's a really lovely warm grey-beige (greige). I am thinking about getting a bigger pot mixed! (This photo is all you'll ever see of the bathroom, it is a cold, badly designed afterthought tacked on the end of our little cottage, and since we rent it, there is no hope for making it any more practical or pretty. I can dream though!)

2) I collected a $6.50 lamp from it's previous owner (via eBay), picked up some gold spray paint, a globe and an Ikea shade and gave it a makeover. The lamp is quite massive (about 60cm tall without the shade), I was really psyched to win it as large lamps can get up there in price! It adds a little touch of glamour to the room now, not to mention an alternative light source to our overhead light.

3) I created a coffee table out of recycled packing pallets for our lounge room.

I thought I'd write about the third project in a little more detail because it is both a work in progress, and something I have wanted to try for quite a while now. It's not a new idea - I saw HEAPS on Pinterest, which gave me confidence that I may be able to pull it off!

The steps were pretty simple:

1. Find some pallets. They're everywhere. I asked politely at a pet store if I could take two pallets from their loading dock after buying my dog a bag of biscuits. I got a weird look from one salesperson, but then the other chimed in and said, "sure, are you making furniture with them?" Apparently someone from a reality television show had been in earlier to ask for the same thing - which isn't a surprise since that show is being filmed in the same suburb that I was in, but, being a home-reno-show tragic, I got a kick out of it! It helps to try to find some that are relatively clean, have intact boards, and are reasonably straight. Mine weren't exactly the same size when placed on top of each other, but I didn't realise this until I got home with them. It doesn't worry me that much.

2. Get the pallets home. This isn't easy if you have a small car (but I imagine a lot easier than carrying them home yourself). The ones I picked were a lot heavier than I imagined, and they were about 1200 x 1000 mm, so that's a lot of pallet to get in the backseat (and a lot of splinters, I won't lie).

3. Sand the bejeezus out of them. I did this more for my dog than anything else, I didn't want his hair catching on them every time he walked past.

4. Nail it together and slop on some paint. I picked a white gloss as we have dark floors. These buggers DRANK the paint like no one's business. One coat of primer and about two/three coats and I still feel that it probably could have done with one more coat. I just painted the bits that would be visible as I intended for there to be a "top" on the table. After considering castors, which were the popular choice on Pinterest, I added little stout legs (which were about $9 each from Bunnings), one for each corner and one in the middle. I also made a valiant attempt at nailing it all together. It wasn't my finest hour. Wood glue is far more to thank for holding this thing together than my Zoolander-esque hammering.

5. Get some wood cut for the top. It's hard to find a piece of wood this big, I lucked out at finding some that was slightly shorter width wise, but I don't think it will matter. I just got it cut at the same place I purchased the wood, because, well... I'm not sure if you picked this up, but I'm okay with a paintbrush and that's about the extent of my abilities.

This is a WIP as the plan is to eventually get some foam cut for the top, and "upholster" it with some designer fabric so it becomes more of an ottoman than a coffee table. I had a slight heart attack at the quote for getting the foam cut so I am not sure how soon this will be, to be honest. But for the moment, we've got some big floor pillows on it for comfort which do the trick. The pallet coffee table ended up costing me very little and it's been great so far for all it's drink resting and foot supporting duties. Also, it's pretty fun to make something with your own hands, even if it's just painting some packing materials!

Now, it's back to work! Have a great week folks!

Just Added to our Portfolio: Kelly and Benjamin's Wedding Invitation Suite

2011-05-24T17:09:00.005+10:00

I think my design process over the years has become this: starting with something simple, and then making it as ridiculously not as possible. Sure, it's all just paper and glue and folds and whatnot at the end of the day, but then again, there are so many ways you can do paper and glue and folds and whatnot, that is the fun of this job.

Kelly and Benjamin's invitation, from the first time I imagined how it would look, (on a routine drive from Melbourne to Bendigo) was going to be one step further into ridiculous and I was super excited. I had recently created Kelly's sister Rhiannon's engagement invitation, and loved the idea of tying them together in a subtle way, so the same lace pattern is used for both, albeit in very different colours and themes. From there, the idea snowballed as the kilometres ticked over, how about a vertical bellyband, how about making the folder look like a vintage clutch, how about adding a quilted pattern to make it look even more like a clutch, how about having three sections that folded out almost like rolling out a blanket, how about ribbon holding a reply card in place... how about a reply card AND an envelope, how about glassine envelopes, how about a colour way of three different wish cards, how about layering the heck out of the paper on the inside, how about watercolour and autumn leaves and swirls and... and... and...

A few weeks later, I was sitting cutting out these. A lot of them. Ridiculous, no matter how fun it is, also has to be functional to some extent because you have to build the things! ~~A lot of trimming whilst watching hours of Fringe~~ a lot of time and effort was required for this idea to work. But I am really pleased with how they turned out and I hope the couple feel the same way.

Two really great things happened during the assembly process: I sourced some perfectly sized glassine envelopes for the wish cards from a US supplier on Etsy (they were the exact right measurement, before I even knew what size to look for, that was just crazy good luck) and Australia Post released stamps that were a perfect match for the reply envelopes. I am sure this is all a good omen for the happy life these newlyweds have ahead of them. Congratulations Kelly and Ben!

It's A Date Launches Our Badge Making Service!

2011-05-19T23:18:00.002+10:00

You may have spotted a few cute little button badges as accessories in some recent invitations It's A Date has put together: for years, I've had three different badge presses here in the studio, happily living under my cutting table, and every so often, a client requests to add some badges with their monogram, elements, illustrations or colours to their suite. They're always received really well by guests (who often end up wearing them to or at the event!), and they do make a perfect pairing to your detailed invitation designs, whether they be a little bonus inclusion, or a favor for your event. I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you a little more about our badge making service and how badges can be used in your special day!

My presses can make three sizes: one inch round (which is probably the most commonly sized badge size you'll find), one and a quarter inch round (just a little bigger) and one and a half inch square (a little bit different!). Here are a few examples of them in our portfolio:

The most recent project we used badges for was Caitlan and Andrew's suite: their design led to badges easily, as button badges are used quite often as music/concert merchandise. Another invitation suite that included badges was Lisa-Marie and Jay's suite: each badge related to an interest or passion of Lis and Jay's, as well as a badge for their initials and their "The Bride Wore Red" custom type.

Erin and Ryan opted to have a button badge decorate each of their favor boxes at the reception, and most guests ended up wearing the badges for the night!

(above photo by Erin and Ryan's photographer, Annie Warren)

Pricing
If you are interested in getting some badges made up for your event, for whatever purpose, please feel free to get in touch! I am able to make any of the three sizes above, full colour, starting at $1* each badge - and bulk rates are available.
(* Design and shipping is not included, please get in touch if you would like a quote!)

Pinterest Inspiration Board
I am slowly compiling a collection of button badge ideas for events on Pinterest in a board called Button Badge Love - I am also trying to credit the designers of each badge (which can be tough, the internet is a big place!)... for the moment, a little blanket message: I DID NOT DESIGN ANY OF THE BADGES ON THIS BOARD. If you like a concept you see, I would be happy to discuss the idea with you further and how to make the result personalised to you, however, if you love the design as it is, I'd recommend getting in touch with the specific designer mentioned to chat further with them.

I hope this post may inspire you to consider badges for your event! They really are great fun and the perfect way to continue your design story throughout your party. So if you are stumped for the perfect little extra, why not get a badge made!

Congratulations Kimberly and Geoff!

2011-05-09T10:25:00.001+10:00

Just a quick note of congratulations to my clients of last year, Kimberly and Geoff - their wedding was featured in the latest issue of Bride to Be magazine. No surprise as they are a very lovely-looking couple, and it was great to read about the other stylistic features of their day!

Bride to Be magazine is on sale in all good newsagents now. Thankyou also to Letter Bird Lane for telling me to flick to page 87 x

Just Added to our Portfolio: Hayley and Brett's Save The Date Postcard

2011-05-07T12:02:00.000+10:00

Another update: this project was SO FUN - I haven't illustrated anything in ages, so this was such a welcome opportunity, and I also got to play with some cool type and some new (to me) Photoshop textures to age the artwork. Hayley and Brett's postcard folds out to reveal a whole heap of information inside, with a little perforated tab at the back to remove to open. I'm sure their guests are packing their suitcases already! Read more about this project here.

A Day at the Beach

2011-05-01T21:25:00.001+10:00

Oscar, James and I spent the day at the beach today, it was lovely - although I don't think anyone had more fun than Ossie! It's a rare weekend that we have away from the computer at the moment, work is still incredibly busy, so it was nice to get out and about with my two favourite boys, breathe in some salty air, and relax for a bit!

The Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

2011-04-30T12:49:00.011+10:00

Like most, I was a little ambivalent about the impending "royal wedding" - my main interest, the invitations, were revealed AGES ago and I think I'm not the only one that sighed with all the missed opportunity of those babies! Although, not knowing much about how these things are done at the Palace, I'm sure they were quite appropriate!

But after watching the live telecast for about half an hour last night (it was helpfully screened at 8pm EST, which was perfect champagne popping time!), I was as sucked in as could be, and enjoyed the pomp and spectacle immensely! There's bound to be a million round-ups and the like around the internet, but I did want to make mention of a few things I was particularly delighted with.

The Nerves!
The first being how bloody nervous both Wills and Kate looked, and also, at the same time, miraculously, how composed. I remember that feeling well, the nervous part anyway! Kate's dad, holding her shaking hand (or was he shaking?) was so sweet. And William sneaking a peek at Kate when he could, lovely! Every time one of them would finish their spoken part, Kate or William would give each other a shaky, cute smile. It was just adorable.

My advice to any one about to walk down the aisle: take a deep breath, smile, fix your eyes on your end point, step with purpose and trust your feet - you won't slip!

The Program
It's available for download here if you want to read it! I have similar feelings about the design of the program as I do for the invitations, but one thing I did note was that it was BIG - it looked like A3 sheets folded in half. An interesting choice, would you consider a program that big for your day? I loved the hand drawn map included in the program, such a pretty touch. Even in these times of GPSs on your phone and in your car, every invitation should have a map, I say!

The Coat of Arms
Another design element I am really interested in is Kate's Coat of Arms. From the Bangkok Post: "Herald Painter, Robert Parsons, sketches the new Coat of Arms for Kate Middleton's family at the College of Arms in London, on April 18, 2011. For a commoner who is soon to become a princess it is the crowning glory: Kate Middleton unveiled on April 19, 2011 a new coat of arms created for her wedding to Prince William. The blue and red crest was commissioned by her father Michael from London's College of Arms and features a design of three acorn sprigs which symbolise Kate and her two siblings, royal officials said." Obviously, getting a Coat of Arms is all part of being in the Monarchy, but every day couples can do something similar in spirit, and commission their own monogram, which celebrates their union and can be used on stationery, not limited to invitations, for their married lives together.

A further description of the design elements included: "The three acorns represent Kate and her siblings, Philippa and James, while the gold chevron stands for her mother, Carole, whose maiden name is Goldsmith. The thin white lines outside the chevron represent hills and mountains, alluding to the Middleton family’s love of outdoors, while the colours red and blue were chosen from the UK flag."

The Decor and the Colours
I wasn't crazy about the trees upon first look. I thought they looked a bit odd in an empty Westminster Abbey, but as the guests started to file in, the look really grew on me... it even became a little magical! I had been guessing the bridal party would have been dressed in blue (I loved the thought of a fresh cool spring palette of pale blue, green, ivory and a neutral like pale gold or taupe) and I was right about three of the four - although Kate's mum looked STUNNING in her pale blue outfit by Catherine Walker. I felt that whilst there could have been more, Kate's choices of flowers were pretty, youthful and thoughtful. And I liked her bouquet. I think Kate and William were very careful not to make their wedding about excess: it was as much a "people's" wedding as it could be and you have to respect that.

More about the flowers: "The Couple have taken a close interest in the designs, which follows a theme that pays tribute to the Language of Flowers. The floral displays in Westminster Abbey feature a variety of seasonal growing and cut British flowers and trees sourced from Royal Estates and other growers around the country. The flowers and plants include blossoms, azaleas, rhododendron, euphorbias, beech, wisteria and lilac. The floral displays in the Abbey will include eight 20 feet-high trees: six English Field Maple and two Hornbeam. All the trees will be growing in planters, which have also been designed by Mr. Connolly and which were made by craftsmen at Highgrove, The Prince of Wales's Residence in Gloucestershire. After the wedding, the flowers and plants will be left in position in Westminster Abbey for the public to view until Friday 6th May 2011. Following this, many of the trees will be taken to Highgrove Gardens, where they will be planted. The Couple's intention is that many of the cut plants and flowers and all the growing plants will be donated to charities or re-planted."

The Dress(es)
I'm not a dress expert, but I think Kate looked beautiful in both her dresses (and such a classic look, to be in McQueen...) although, as someone mentioned on Twitter, Kate would look beautiful in anything! That girl's got class! If you're wearing a big dress for your ceremony, it is worth a thought to have something to change into later, far more comfortable for all those hours on the dance floor! And it doesn't have to be as expensive as your first dress, pick a cute cocktail dress and embellish it yourself if need be. And, YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH A CUTE CARDI! I hope she's wearing some comfy flats, too.

I love what Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie chose to wear - it must be hard growing up in the monarchy - they looked fresh and fun and ready for a party! I imagine wearing something much the same actually, nice work ladies! And you just know they'd be the best fun at the reception.

The Sister
Hats off, Pips, well played! This girl looked AMAZING! I wonder what is going to be the more popular replica, Kate's dress, or Pippa's green reception number?! Speaking of numbers, I hope, at the very least, it crossed Harry's mind to ask for Pippa's!

The Elton
Because... well, he rules. And he looked great!

The Kiss
Awww! And there were two! Cheeky, slightly embarrassed kisses that they were. The look on the flower girl's face in this shot is priceless.

The Planes
The Royal Air Force flew over Buckingham Palace as the newly wed couple waved to crowds from the balcony at Buckingham. It was pretty great. I love planes!

The Getaway
How cute is the little Aston Martin convertible (apparently it's Prince Charles'!) Love this touch! L plates have never looked so good.

The Cake
Well, this was a work of art. The Wedding Cake, made by Fiona Cairns, was designed using the Joseph Lambert technique. For more shots, check out the Royal Wedding Flickr or the official Wedding site. There were two cake designs commissioned I believe.

The End!
Lastly, who doesn't love this video, taken of a clergyman after all the guests had left Westminster Abbey. I think I would be tempted to do this too!

(Source)

Still here, just crazy busy!

2011-04-11T17:28:00.000+10:00

What a big couple of weeks its been - one little problem with waiting to post invitation designs til after an event has taken place is that I really have nothing to show for myself at the moment, despite working day and night on heaps of new projects, all for the coming months. I am so lucky to have clients that a) pick me and b) trust me with this job. I seriously love design, but I can think of nothing quite as rewarding as designing for special events: it's such a great opportunity for a graphic designer.

James took this mug shot on the weekend (ha! I totally went there!) - seems as though there is no escaping design in this house... just the way we like it.

Washington Bride & Groom Shoot - Photography Inspiration

2011-04-02T15:45:00.007+11:00

It takes something spectacular for me to want to 'recycle' something I've seen on another blog, particularly one as well-read as 100 Layer Cake - however this shoot was so creative and fun I really wanted to share it with you.

Image source (above and below): Washingtonian magazine, 100 Layer Cake.

The Washingtonian Bride & Groom magazine recently ran this photoshoot/story which was their translation of the "Dos & Don'ts of saying 'I Do'", with VERY spectacular results. The shoot was art/creative directed by Design Army, and my favourite shots are those that work with unusual environments and really large scale, such as the "Do Handwrite Your Thankyou Notes" and the rose petals littered down the bowling alley "aisle", as well as the dreamy croquet setting... Really amazing work, well done Design Army!

There are some ideas to be gained from a shoot as creative as this. Humor, scale, and personality shine through in photos like this, and if you feel this is an avenue you wish to take with your own event photography, have a chat with your photographer ahead of the day about some artistic ideas for styling your shots. Arrange for some vintage furniture to be available to you (imagine a beautiful ornate chaise longue in a field or vineyard...), get creative with massive paper props, or arrange a "day after" shoot with you and a more relaxed partner - swap your dress shoes for something a little edgier and have fun.

EDIT: Found these two great articles about the shoot - Applied Arts Wire writes about Design Army's process of shooting the article, as does Capital Communicator. Both articles feature this behind-the-scenes video, worth a look:

Happy weekend all!

Practical Advice: The Booking Process

2011-03-26T12:25:00.012+11:00

A note from Lyndsay: This is my attempt to shine some light on a very important process that is part of working in a commission-type creative business like It’s A Date. It’s not as pretty as the design process (a topic for another post) or as technical as the printing process (yet another blog post), however 'booking' is the first thing we do on the way to your own beautiful bespoke project. I hope this post may answer a few questions if you are considering commissioning any type of design project in the future!

The booking process. Sounds official and a bit scary, doesn't it? And maybe even a little over the top for invitations, of all things. However, it's something that I think about every day. "Booking in" is all about dates, really... which is a nice tie-in for my business name. It’s A Date, like a lot of event vendors, takes on projects on a booking basis – if we work together, it starts with a booking. So what is the inquiry and booking process for It’s A Date? For the most part, it usually goes like this:

1. I receive an inquiry via our website contact form or email into our inbox. It will usually have the event date, a little about the event, the budget and the potential client’s preliminary expectations for the end result, as well as their contact details.

2. I email the potential client back as soon as I can with some further general information about our services (far more detailed than what is on our website), any helpful documents I can provide, any advice I can give, and my pricing sheet. I also answer any specific questions I can if any have been asked, and ask a few of my own in applicable. I also let them know of the current date availability in our production schedule.

3. The client may email back at this stage with more questions, or may want to book in a consultation face to face before they book in their project, or they may just be ready to lock it in! I try to answer each and every question I get, and form a good idea of what the client wants from these emails.

4. If I am able to do the project at this time, and the client is happy to go ahead, the next step is that I send through an invoice for a bespoke Design Payment – the initial cost of their bespoke design process – which once paid, books their project. This is a commission agreement –I will design something bespoke for you to these specifications for this cost. I also send through a Design Agreement, which is signed by both parties. The amount invoiced, and the agreement that I will take on the project, is valid for seven days from the date of this email.

5. Once this is received, I take to my production schedule; write in all the details I need to know at a glance about the project, and book in blocks of time with the client’s name on them: for research, design, revisions, printing, and assembly – all dedicated to this project.

6. The fun of the bespoke design process begins!

It’s a simple enough process (usually completed in a matter of hours) but it does raise a few commonly asked questions, which I've included below. In this article, I use weddings as an example as they are the most time intensive projects I take on and the most commonly requested type of event. I use a very similar booking process with other events too but the timeframes and turnarounds are usually a little shorter.

The first thing you need to know is – there is a schedule! Whilst schedules are a little nerdy, it keeps my head clear and my deadlines achievable. I’m a bit of a control freak: I’ve lived by a work schedule ever since I started designing. It makes sense to use one to run my business too.

What is this 'production schedule' we keep reading about? The production schedule I use is a week by week breakdown of which projects are at which stage of the bespoke design or assembly process, and how many hours are dedicated to each project in that particular week. At any time, I can accurately predict what my workload will be like at a certain time (up to about six months in advance!), which helps when I am considering taking on extra projects or rush orders (or perhaps when I’m organising personal events or some time off, which requires quite a lot of planning in this industry!) Quite often I turn a job down because the certain time period it needs to be designed or printed is looking crazy busy. I like to keep my deadlines free-range – happy and with lots of space around them!

I base the time lines I’m working to on both the individual client's requirements (the scope of their project) and also old fashioned experience of how the process goes: after the completion of quite a few bespoke projects in the past, I know designing something one-off is more involved than it may seem and my time as a designer is used accordingly. I know I can only produce a certain amount of mockups a month. I know that I can only print so many invitations, or items, in a week, based on the speed of my assembly and my printer’s output. I know that pushing the production output to the extreme can often result in a very stressed out and tired designer! It makes sense to try to keep things under control as this means I can offer a far better service, and finished product, to you, and it also means I can keep enjoying the work I am doing.

With the aid of this production schedule, if I receive an inquiry about a date in a peak wedding period – generally any wedding dates in February to May, and September to December in the southern hemisphere – I can work out whether I am able to take the job without stretching myself too thin almost immediately. This is why I often ask about the date of the wedding first when we’re chatting about your project. I can let you know if I'm already booked out for that date at the time you are inquiring. It's always best to check in, particularly if more than a week has elapsed since you last asked. The business is starting to get busier, and dates tended to get snatched up quite quickly lately.

But we don’t expect you to come to the wedding... (A funny response, but a common one - I’ve got it after turning down a job just recently) The date of the wedding is important, not just because of the actual day (even though that’s the most important thing to you as a couple!), but what happens in the lead up to the day, in terms of the last part of the bespoke design process. You may have to bear with me, there are a few numbers involved… When I ask for your date, I first work out what my schedule is looking like six to eight weeks before your wedding. Six to eight weeks is (industry standard) the send out date for your invitations – yours might be sooner or later than this, but for 99% of my clients, this is their yay-we’re-sending-the-invites-out time. I ask myself, how many other invites require this send out date currently on the books (birthdays, announcements, etc., as well as engagements and weddings)? If there are a few, and I know the other jobs will have a bit to them in the lead up to their send out, I won’t book any more work for this time.

I need to calculate the send out date, (and work backwards another few weeks to allow for an estimate shipping turnaround) as it brings me to about the nine or ten weeks out mark. This will most likely be my deadline for your job – when your job is expected by you. I’ll check your deadline week to see what else is “due” in that particular week – not just queued for delivery, but what is on the go in general at this time. If three projects need an intricate design mockup conceived and delivered, at the same time that I will be hand-assembling 128 elaborate invitations for Shaun and Aidan, on the same week that I have two consultations with newly booked clients, then things might get a bit hectic. Another consideration is your due week might be the same week Cameron and David need their reception items – gift tags personalized with their attending guest list, as well as a relationship seating chart. This week has been decided on by them, as this is their RSVP week and they’ll have their final numbers at this time, which is my cue to finish and print their job. These are just examples, of course, but as you may understand, everything needs to be taken into consideration when you are a one person business!

Whilst this isn’t iron-clad steadfast – after all, projects can get delayed, or canceled, or even finished ahead of time – it is a good rule of thumb to work to and so far it has prevented what I think of as a bottleneck – too many jobs due at the same time and only one me to do them all.

What... You only book one job at a time?! Not exactly! I book in one wedding project per designer per date – which means if your name is John and Nicole, you are getting married on the 4th of February 2012, and you have already booked in by paying your Design Payment and we’ve started chatting about your design – that I will take on no other jobs with a wedding date of the 4/02/2012. It seems silly, like I am turning away business, and I sometimes worry that it sounds like it too, or like I do not want the work. But this is a process that has saved oodles of stress and has resulted in a beautiful finished product since I started implementing it. It means that I know roughly how long John and Nicole’s wedding design will take from the moment we start, to the mockup approval process, to the trial print runs and revisions, to the printing, trimming and assembly, to the shipping of the finished invites to the couple, and I have mapped this out in my calendar from the date of their wedding, backwards to the moment they booked me. I have often agreed with the clients at this stage how their design process will progress, with little time guidelines, such as, you will receive a printed mockup in the mail no later than November 12th, so the client knows what to expect at every stage. I like that my clients are able to say with certainty where their project is up to if anyone asks, and for them to know what I will be working on for them at any given time.

I do not want another job at the same time affecting the process they have paid for. Booking two weddings for the same weekend, double booking myself, may mean that I am designing two involved bespoke projects at once, or revising two involved invitations at once, or printing and assembling two elaborate invitations at once, or designing two highly-personalized reception installations at once, which can be chaotic, to say the least. I have had it argued that this shouldn’t matter if the couple require the invitation finished at a different date (say, a month earlier, for example, if they want to send their invites out earlier). I can’t explain it, but there just seems to be a natural rhythm to the timeline that occurs when couples sort out their final guest list and we go to print, and it usually correlates with their send out date in a recognizable chain of events. I make a judgment call based on this second project, how the design process will pan out, and nine out of ten times I will say no. Although it’s awful to say no to a project (just ask any small business owner), I have never regretted it, particularly when a project has gotten REALLY elaborate and I’m hand piecing them: I shudder to think what it would be like to be assembling two jobs with two impending deadlines at once!

I get that, but why don’t you just hire more designers, or assemblers, and/or outsource printing so you can do more jobs? This is a really good question and one I’m happy to answer honestly. I like being responsible for the output of my business. Not only do I love what I do, but I stand by it with great pride. What works for me in terms of production may not work for everyone. Down the line, who knows how It’s A Date will expand but for the moment, I do enjoy running a boutique design studio and the fact I can tell you anything you need to know about your project at any given time – not only that but I have the TIME to tell you anything you need to know. I’m never rushing you because another client requires my attention.

So how early should we book? As early as you know you want to work with me - and you will have to excuse how blunt that sounds – as this is the best chance I won’t have to turn the job down. It may be something you’ve been planning for a while (you were just waiting for the date to be confirmed), it may be a gut decision, it could be something you’ve carefully weighed up after A LOT of research.

As soon as you know, please email me and we can get the booking process started. It breaks my heart to have a potential client email me and say, "Okay! Here are our specs, we are ready to go now!" as I may have to reply and explain that in the time that has passed since they first got in contact, my schedule has become so that I am unable to take on another project in their date range... whereas, if they had booked when they first decided they wanted to go ahead, or when they were first in contact, they would have a very excited designer talking big ideas and exclamation marks as their response.

We’ve left it a little later than that... still worth asking? Yep! For the reasons I mentioned earlier – if something has changed, or been canceled, or is way ahead of schedule… there might be a gap where I’m free as a bird! And this free time may mean that I can take on another job, hopefully yours!

I’ve been emailing you and told you I’m interested, we just haven’t paid yet, but we really want to work with you! We’re booked in, right? I’m sorry to say it because sometimes it can be upsetting to hear, but no. The reason the booking process is not final until a Design Payment is made is because this is the only way there IS a booking for sure. As soon as your payment is received, you have claim over your very own bespoke design process with me, and time is blocked out, at every stage of your design process, for you and you only. I do this because every week, without fail, there are clients who promise me they are working with me, “can’t wait”, however long in advance this promise may be, but then they just disappear… no email, no note! It could be because they’ve changed their mind, because they had a few other options they were pursuing at the same time, or simply because they no longer have the budget for a bespoke design. Often they don’t think they need to cancel because they had just been emailing me. Rightly so, I say. Although I also say, if you’re old enough to host an event, or old enough to get married, you really should let a vendor know if you have decided against working with them, particularly if you have interacted with them on more than one occasion. It’s just polite. But that’s another story, and all I’ll say at this time.

Back to the example of the non-committal potential clients. If I had held their date, saying no to other interested clients, because my production schedule was busy due to this “booking”, I would have made a bad decision because you know the end of the story.

I have had this happen with large corporate firms worth millions of dollars, with good friends, with very professional wedding planners, with “dream clients” and with a very high profile public figure. I have learned to start getting excited about a job when it is actually on the books – and I’m more than happy to share this excitement with you when the time comes.

And, needless to say, if I had started a preliminary design ideas session with a non-committal client without any agreement in place, well, I’d just be a goose. I try to avoid bad decisions and being goose-like as much as I can!

Sometimes if there have been a few emails backwards and forth but no booking, I will give a potential client the heads up by saying that “We’re almost booked up for February 2012, just checking in to see if you still wanted to book?” – if you get one of these emails, it’s code word for: another client wants your date and they’re about to book it. I feel awkward doing it, I don’t want to come across as pushy, but at least in this case, the original client will have warning things are getting busy. For whatever reason, if they want to book but were waiting, or had thought that they could book later… the time is now. I do not aim to pressure anyone. But I do like to avoid disappointing someone if I can help it.

I’ve worked with you before, surely I don’t need to do all this again? Surely you’ll make the time to work with me? I love working with clients for multiple events – and I am very lucky that it happens often. Most repeat clients understand the booking process and are very happy to 'book in' again - and the process is very cruise-y if I already know them. They usually do not have to sign our Design Agreement – as they have already worked to it before – but a Design Payment and booking is still required before we begin the project, whatever it may be.

Sadly, if I do not have your project booked in – even if you mentioned a year ago you were planning on working with me for your wedding invites at the time of another event – I may have to turn down your project due to a full schedule. This happened recently and it was very distressing for all involved. I can’t keep a future verbal booking without payment. If you think you would like to work with me, at an unknown point in the future, just let me know as soon as you have your date and we can go through the booking process. Worst case scenario, you can cancel your booking before any design has taken place and get your money back.

Got a question about the booking process? Please feel free to ask in the comments below, I’d be happy to clarify if I can. Thankyou for reading!

Just Added to our Portfolio: .... Heaps of Stuff!

2011-03-16T10:37:00.002+11:00

Mass update to my portfolio as of yesterday: over the weekend, my To Do list mainly revolved around getting a few jobs printed to shoot pictures to put online. I never, NEVER print extras and this is why I have to do them after the fact, in a big lot. Every invitation job I complete, I think, okay, and this quantity includes a few extras for the portfolio... but it never happens - I need the extra prints for something else, or I just don't print them at all. I believe it may be because these little critters tend to get quite fiddly and elaborate, and when you've finished cutting out 120 record sleeves, or hollowed out 40 or so Mills & Boon books, or assembled over 100 paper CD cases, you just don't have the energy to make it five more. I never learn my lesson. Making the extras turns into a big job as a result, but it is a nice excuse for a little meander down assembly memory lane (often with a little bit of refinement, whoops!)

So, the four projects I put up on the site are as follows... (I've picked my favourite picture from each):

Melinda and Ron's Thankyou Card
A vintage photo wallet style card, complete with negative strip pocket.

Charlie's 1st Birthday Party
A collection of goodies I made for Charlie's birthday party, including invitation, party hats and lolly bags.

Rhiannon and Tom's Engagement Invitations
An intricately trimmed invitation designed around the couple's engagement story in Venice.

Kim's Bollywood Birthday Invitation suite
An elaborate boxed birthday invitation, each was placed on a handmade silk pillow for posting! The suite consisted of a Save the Date, main Invitation and matching Thankyou card.

In other news, I'm on Pinterest, which has become something of an addiction. I'm uploading a few projects there, as well as anything that catches my eye that I see the shimmer of inspiration in! I am particularly fascinated with beautiful work spaces at the moment, considering my various studio-spruce-up activities, so you'll no doubt spot a lot of additions to that particular board. I love Pinterest: it never fails to get the design part of my brain kick started.

Just Added to our Portfolio: Caitlan and Andrew's Wedding Invitation Suite

2011-03-10T10:25:00.000+11:00

It's been a lovely 24 hours since I popped Caitlan and Andrew's invites on the site yesterday, here's a little from the portfolio write up: "Caitlan and Andrew's invitation suite will forever be a favourite of mine because it's design focus was not only centred around music, but HEAVY METAL MUSIC, which is Andrew's favourite. Even though black, skulls and Metallica ninja stars do not usually run synonymous with weddings, I think this is what makes this suite all the more special. And let it be said that Caitlan is an amazing woman to forgo the typical for this project, which became a celebration of her future husband (on her specific request) and their relationship together, the best grounds for any design project."

Great things come from projects that are a little less ordinary, it's certainly the point where I feel the most creativity is possible - I also feel very inspired by the simple and genuine stories of love that I hear every day from the clients I work with, and Caitlan and Andrew were no exception. Memories from this project include watching almost the entire first season of Fringe whilst trimming album sleeves with scissors, perforating each folded piece, and making fifty or so extra vellum envelopes by hand when I realised the supplier I purchased the original lot from had closed. Equally enjoyable were the emails back and forward with Caitlan - if I could have clients like her for every job I think I'd be living the dream.

It was with great delight that I checked my favourite blogs this morning and saw that this project had been mentioned on Oh So Beautiful Paper, which is undoubtedly my favourite wedding invitation blog. I actually leave it til last as some kind of delicious reward, every morning whilst I'm catching up on what happened in the world whilst I was asleep, the exact same thing I do with roast potatoes at dinner!

I am equally delighted to announce that It's A Date is now listed on Wedding Invite Love, a site I devoured when it first launched - full of beautiful invitation designs to inspire from around the world.

What a great start to the day. Onto the next project, but as you can imagine, it's with a massive smile on my face!

Just Added to our Portfolio: Birthday Invites for Megs and Mel, and Ross

2011-03-07T18:45:00.000+11:00

Miammi, a previous client, brought me two fun projects last year - birthday invitations for her cousin and her partner, Megs and Mel, who were celebrating turning 30 as well as 10 years together, and Miammi's dad, Ross, who was turning 50.

It's not often in this line of work that you get a request for an invitation that includes fishing paraphernalia as a possible design element suggestion, but Ross' invite was a lovely change of pace - the bright yellows in this design never fail to bring a smile!

Ross' invitation was designed as a C6-sized card, perfect to slip inside a matching envelope to post to friends and family.

I created a beautiful dreamy blue invitation for the girls, featuring photos of the Megs and Mel, designed around the theme of "glow". A favourite feature is their own monogrammed casino chips to reference their love of a flutter!

This invitation was another in our Post-Ready sizing, which do not require an envelope! We left plenty of room for Megs and Mel to handwrite their guest's addresses on the outside for a personalised touch!

Hope you had an amazing celebration guys!

Hooray for Paint!

2011-03-07T10:28:00.001+11:00

I am about to write a blog post about my desk painting adventures over the weekend, but I realised in order to do so, I have to tell another short story.

Sometime over the new year, I compiled my 30 before 30 list, on my iPhone on a tram! I've seen these done on quite a few of my favourite blogs, and since my 30th birthday is coming up next year, I thought this would be the perfect motivator to get some of those "I wish I could..." or "One day I want to..." thoughts crossed off with the excuse that they'd need to be done before my birthday.

So far it's working a treat. Number 11, "Dye my hair blonde" is in progress (after three hours at the hairdressers already: it takes a while to get nine or so years of black hair dye out! My hair is now a brown-red colour which I am not a fan of to be honest, but I have my eye on the prize, even if I take one look at myself as a blonde and reach for the hair dye again!). I had my first sewing lesson two weeks ago, which is part of Number 2's task - "Learn to sew" - thanks Mum! Technically I crossed off Number 24 in February, when we hosted a family dinner for James' birthday, although I may have another go at this one before June next year. Number 19 is "Decorate our studio and make it a lovely place to go to work", and this is where the painting adventures come into play.

I have worked at the same desk since I was in primary school, a very solid pine desk with four drawers either side. It's moved with me twice and I can't imagine working anywhere else. I decided to paint it MONTHS ago, but couldn't commit to a colour, until I spotted these pictures below and decided they would be the colours for our studio (with some glossy black thrown in, you know I can't go without black).

Image Source: (via) Sarah's Party Perfect

Image Source: Ruffled Blog.

My desk is now a dreamy greeny-blue which I adore. I plan to take a photo of the finished result when the result is, err, finished: I still need to source some drawer pulls as the old ones have puppy chew marks all over them, thanks Oscar! The next step is painting our second desk, buying some new legs for it and generally sprucing it up a bit. I also have plans for making a HUGE inspiration pinboard for one of the walls out of a natural coloured linen. We lease the room, so I can't paint the walls unfortunately, but we're lucky in that they are a very neutral colour that won't conflict with whatever craziness I inject into the space.

It feels great to have taken one step forward on this project!

In other news, which is semi-related, whilst the paint was drying I started a massive purge of stuff in the studio, and I'm selling my little prop box! It contains a whole heap of stuff I've used as props for photos, expos and displays, and a few little trinkets that would no doubt come in useful if you do a bit of shooting of your own goods! Please email me if you are interested in making these goodies your own, would love to see them heading to a good home!

Have a great week!

Sorry, We're Away for a Bit!

2011-02-16T18:45:00.009+11:00

Update, as of Wednesday 23rd February: It's A Date is open again, temporarily with shortened business hours for the last part of Lyndsay's surgery recovery process! We will be available (and answering emails as quickly as we can) between 12-3pm daily until further notice - thanks for your understanding (and kind messages!)

Just a quick note to let you know I will be shutting It's A Date's shutters for a few days whilst I pop into the hospital for a very routine and hopefully stress-free operation! Recovery times vary, as always, but it's my hope that the following few days of reading glossy magazines and books (that are now movies) in my PJs ALL DAY will bring on a very speedy return to form, just in time for the busy week we have scheduled next week (ahh, wedding season)!

Long story short, don't despair if you email me/us and there is no reply (other than the first ever Auto-Responder I just set up, are ARs super dorky and antiquated?! I just couldn't bear to have nothing to explain the radio silence...) It won't be long and things will be back to normal!

Image credit: 100 Layer Cake's photo from the launch of BHLDN.

For now, I leave you with a stunning picture from the recent Anthropology line BHLDN launch - currently flitting it's way through the wedding blog universe - you may have heard lots of wistful sighing lately! Of course, I love a pretty dress as much as the next person, but I was even more enamored by the styling of the paper in the background: their decorations line is launching in the Northern Hemisphere's Spring, which I believe is only a few weeks away - very good news indeed. I'm left wondering if I can attempt a similar look in the meantime with some plain white paper decorations and some cold tea... Enjoy!

Practical Advice: Stamps 2011

2011-01-31T10:30:00.018+11:00

Happy Monday! Now if there's one thing that I tend to think about a little more than the average person, it's postage stamps - out of necessity of course, I'm not a collector (although it does appeal to me, all those stamps lined up in an album... spectrum ordered of course... ahh, colour coding...)

I am currently working on a project with a client that requires me to affix stamps to her reply envelopes in the assembly process, which led to me researching what stamps are currently available. I want cute stamps that won't clash horribly with her theme and our design, and I also want quite a few, so they need to be readily available! Sure, you can approach this task in a few different ways: Design your own stamps or source vintage stamps somewhere like eBay (have you done this? Did you find it difficult?) Sometimes, the simplest tactic works, and that may be calling in to your local post office and asking about what wedding (or "pretty stamps", as I annoyingly request) are available at the time of your post! Here's a few I've spotted on my travels this morning.

Love 2011 Stamps

Aust Post have launched a "Special Occasions - Love 2011" range which is quite cute. I'm partial to the stamp on the right above, but the colours on the left could suit your theme if you're going for a super romantic suite!

If only they had made a stamp in the style of the packaging (above) - that would have been such a cute stamp!

More Special Occasion stamps
You may still be able to get these two designs (below) in some stores - these were released last year and another "wedding" set will be released later this year, but I think both these designs are quite sweet and perfect for wedding stationery (love the non-clashy colour schemes!)

Remember if you are posting something bigger or thicker than the postage-preferred sizes listed at your local post office, your cost per send may rise from 60c to $1.20 - but that means you get to use a different stamp, so it's all relative!

Feel like adding some bubbles to your envelopes? Perfect for an engagement or wedding invite!

It looks like there is also a rose bouquet stamp either released, or to be released, in the same kind of style (below):

Looking for something a little different? The "Lunar New Year - Year of the Rabbit" range has just been released - it looks like there are the full range of zodiac signs available if you feel so inclined!

Upcoming Stamps
Not sure about any of the above? Keep an eye on what stamps will be released in the next few months. For example, whilst there aren't pictures available, a range called "Gallery Series (part 1) NGV Flowers" and "Floral festivals Australia" will be released in March. And don't forget, in April of this year, the Royal Wedding stamps will be released - oh boy, a dream come true if you want Will and Kate on your envelopes!

A Tip
If you are planning a wedding or big event in the next year or so, and you spot a limited collection release that ties in with either your interests, your personality or your theme, for heaven's sake - BUY UP! An example - my friend Lis spotted some awesome vintage rock stamps released in Glasgow in the months prior to her send out date , and my reply to her was, what are you waiting for?! In my opinion, they may not still be available at your wedding date, so it's a worthwhile purchase.

Be sure to check with your local post office ahead of time to see if they stock any of these (you can also buy online to save the trip) - some do, some don't - and my advice is not to leave it til the last minute, ie. going in with your box of invites to send out, only to find out that you have to put fish or tractors on your envelopes instead!

Sarah and Nick - 19th November 2010

2011-01-24T11:04:00.004+11:00

It is my pleasure to feature the photography of my clients Sarah and Nick at their wedding of last year today.

Working with Sarah and Nick, as mentioned, was an absolutely lovely experience and I was able to get a sneak peek at their wedding photography by Iain Sim when preparing their thankyou cards earlier this year. I was so impressed by Iain's work that I asked both him and Sarah if they would mind me popping my favorites up on the blog and I was very pleased they both said yes!

Sarah and Nick exchanged vows at what is known as the Onion Patch, on the Murray River Esplanade in Echuca, Victoria, on a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon. This location is picturesque - as the ceremony progresses amidst gum trees and Australian native shrubbery, paddle boat steamers slowly glide past and wildlife abounds. The wharf in the background is also an amazing setting for wedding photography - all worn wood in soft natural colours, the perfect way to offset a stunning couple in their wedding finery. Sarah and Nick's photography was taken around the Echuca wharf and their reception followed at the vine-roofed venue Radcliffe's. From all accounts, a wonderful day enjoyed by all and as relaxed and fun as the couple themselves.

All photography (except invitation shot) by Iain Sim Photography.

Congratulations Sarah and Nick!

Simple Silhouettes - Paper Craft Inspiration

2011-01-22T16:02:00.006+11:00

Happy Saturday folks! I normally steer away from featuring content like this but I'm breaking my own rule and showing you the stunning catalog photos for the new season of Simple Silhouettes - a bridesmaid dresses/accessories retailer in the US. What grabs me is not the super cute dresses (bridesmaid dresses with bright tights? Where do I sign?) but the BACKDROPS, which are phenomenal. The colour! The detail! The butterflies! Would it be totally weird to build one of these for our loungeroom?

All above pics belong to and are from the Simple Silhouettes website.

By the look of the full shot on Green Wedding Shoes, the "arch" is actually a massive oval. Even cooler!

I have always admired the shoots for this brand and previous collections have been no exception. Like this one - a cool paper lolly shop or circus/carnival looks to be the inspiration - love the bunting!

Above pic from 2 Sister's Blog.

Whilst I'm not sure who's behind the latest creations, it does hint of Rebecca Thuss, who created some paper wonders a few of Simple Silhouette's catalogs in the past. Check these out!

Above pics from Rebecca Thuss' portfolio and Flickr.

Now, if you are this way inclined, you can use a similar idea in your event: to decorate your altar, or to set up a cute place for your guests to take photos for a scrapbook or guest book (or as mementos to take home). Photo booths are becoming quite popular but if you have someone who can man the area for the evening, there's no reason you can't set up your own... but I also love the idea of having something pretty behind all those "saying your vows" shots!

Google "paper flower tutorials" to get inspiration on how to make flowers and such out of paper. Whilst mine were not nearly as detailed, I used a similar idea for two previous projects, one being for our own wedding and the other for a bridal expo. I dream of remaking one or both and having it here in the studio to work under!

I would LOVE to make another one, so if you're interested, hire me!

Just Added to our Portfolio: Sarah and Nick's Wedding Invitation Suite

2011-01-18T13:44:00.001+11:00

Another day, another project uploaded (I wish I always worked to that ratio!) - and one of my favourites of last year - Sarah and Nick's pretty Australian bush inspired invitation suite. Check out more about this project here.

Shae and Gino - 10th October 2010

2011-01-17T20:53:00.003+11:00

I had the great pleasure of working with a lovely couple named Shae and Gino last year on their wedding invitation suite, which I have just uploaded to our portfolio.

Shae was kind enough to send me some amazing photos from their special day and I loved them so much I wanted to share them here on the blog.

Shae and Gino were married on the 10th of the 10th, 2010! Their wedding ceremony took place at the Chapel of Saint Michael the Archangel in Leederville, and their reception followed at the Belvoir Homestead, Upper Swan. Shae and Gino's photographer was Joe Galea from Studio Galea, and Joe has captured the spirit and joy of a couple very much in love on the happiest day of their lives. Here are a few of my favourites!

I wish you both all the best on a future filled with fun, adventure, laughter and love!

All photos (excluding invitation shot) by Joe Galea.

J.A.B. + J.S.

2011-01-06T21:53:00.001+11:00

A little treasure found at my parents' house today: my maternal grandparents' wedding invitation, tucked away in a collection of black and white photos. It's the tiniest little piece of card, printed in silver with the most elaborate cut! I love it so much.

2011, You're Looking Good!

2011-01-04T17:29:00.001+11:00

Happy New Year! It's all systems go and all hands on deck today (I ran out of clichés quicker than I would have thought with that sentence!) ... time for a brand new year and lots of new and exciting projects. I made the prediction late last year that 2011 will be the best year yet and it is already off to a wonderful start.

I'm updating the website when I get a short break in between designing, printing, quoting, trimming and mocking up, with invitation designs and photos from the past few months, here's a sneak peak of some of my favourites (Colour! Love it!):

No links yet but keep an eye out as I will be doing my usual write-ups about them all in the portfolio soon, and no doubt cross-posting here too. I'm also working on two weddings that I'm so excited about and can't wait to share - my first ever heavy-metal inspired invitation which is so fun, and the softest, most romantic colour scheme ever - they couldn't be more different and I'm already in love with them both.

So what can you expect from It's A Date over the next twelve months? A very good question. Later this month, It's A Date turns 3 - so I guess we'll have to start moving all the breakables to a higher shelf... There is the launch of our stock collection - which is what is keeping me busy and what will no doubt be generating LOTS of inspiration boards over the coming months... There's some fantastic bespoke projects on the horizon, commissioned by creative, interesting and friendly clients who I am delighted to get to know. And there is me, sitting, typing away at this blog, slowly getting the hang of it all and loving every minute.

Here's to 2011 - may you live up to the expectations put upon you and still have a few surprises in store!

Inspiration Board: Purple, Honey, Black and Red

2010-12-29T20:28:00.002+11:00

Another inspiration board in our series, and this one is a little more rock, which never goes out of style. Inspired by the amazing work We Buy Your Kids are doing in Sydney, their Kate Nash poster was a great base for this board and has quite a few stylistic moves you could borrow for your own big day: edgy handwritten type, stripes, stripes, stripes, loads of black leather and studs, the heady, fresh combination of purple and honey, and a pop of red just to keep things suitably vampy.

Whilst this colour combination probably wouldn't be for the faint of heart, it does make a welcome change to the more predictable colour schemes that tend to go with purple, and if this is more your style then frou frou, why not?! If applied to a wedding, I'd imagine an intimate day with your VIP list, strolling the inner streets of urban Sydney or Melbourne for photo ops, with signature cocktails, indulgent canapés and fashion-industry-style grab bags at a hot bar/restaurant, and a killer after party to follow. And with cute dresses by ModCloth as potential alternative bridesmaid wear, it would certainly be an event to remember...

Sources: Kate Nash Poster by We Buy Your Kids, "I Adorn You" Dress by ModCloth, "Stripe for Success" tights by ModCloth, MOR Black Cherry Plum Candle, 3 Tier Lolita Petticoat (Black) from Etsy, Purple Car via Pintrest by Corrie Bond, Purple and Black bouquet via Hello Lucky, Gold Mine Wedge from ModCloth.

I'm currently designing something fabulous in these colours for the upcoming collection, loving it.

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-26T19:53:00.003+11:00

Whilst it is a day late (whoops!), I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas, dear visitors (or just a great Saturday, if you do not celebrate on the 25th of December).

It's A Date Event Design will be closing our little studio during the Christmas and New Year period, with our break starting on Thursday the 23rd of December 2010, and reopening for business on Monday the 3rd of January 2011 - ready to make some exciting design creations!

I'm also taking this opportunity to do a bit of maintenance for the launch of our upcoming stock range and giving the website the smallest of revamps - please forgive me if things look a little wonky!

Have a safe and happy remainder of your Holidays, and thanks for your support this year... I hope 2011 has great things in store for you!

Practical Advice: Writing Thankyou Cards, Part Two

2010-12-17T13:14:00.012+11:00

Happy Friday! Today I have penned a post for you that has been drafted over and over in my head since I first started It's A Date Event Design, I hope to impart some helpful tips on the task of writing Thank you cards. Thank you cards are cards written to your guests after a special occasion, to express your thanks for their attendance, and possibly for a gift if one was received. This is part two of this post, you can read part one here.

Wording: The all important part - what do you write on a thank you card? Obviously, "thank you" is a good start (and no I'm not being cheeky... okay, maybe a little). My clients usually do two things in terms of the content of their cards:

1. Write a generic message that is printed on every card. Now this isn't for everyone, but it can save your hands if you plan on writing on every card. PLEASE DO NOT WRITE A GENERIC MESSAGE WITH THE INTENTION OF BULK MAILING WITHOUT ANY PERSONAL NOTE. DO, however, write a generic message if you have something specific you'd like to say to everyone. Here's an example of a generic message that can be used inside a card.

Feel free to switch any of these words for something that sounds more "you". The reason I think this paragraph works well is that it is firstly thanking people who may not have sent a gift, but sent best wishes (important if you are sending a card to someone who did not buy you a gift, it won't sound out of place). It is showing your appreciation for these thoughts your guests have sent, and their attendance, if they attended, but if they didn't, the wording doesn't sound out of place. It is also showing that you appreciated that they were involved and are very special to you, even if they were not there on the day.

Ideally this would be displayed on the inside, or back, of each card, during the printing process.

2. Write a personal message that is written on each individual card. This does not need to be an essay, but it is the most important thing you can do - because it shows your guest that you are grateful and respectful of the time (and gift, if appropriate) they have given to you, enough to take your own time to write them a polite note of thanks. This is so important! Think about the time your guests have taken to reply to your invitation, to travel to your event, to pick an outfit, to arrange accommodation, to arrange house sitters, puppy sitters or baby sitters, to arrive on time (with or without chucking the GPS and/or their partner out the window), to give you big smiles and hugs, to take the time out of their life to spend this event with you. They deserve your thanks.

So what do you actually write when it comes to holding the pen in your hand? In my opinion, three things are important:

1. Stress your thanks for their involvement in your day, whatever it may be. For guests that attended, something like:

You may also like to include something anecdotal, to up the personal-ness of your message:

If your recipient could not make it on the day, but sent thoughts, best wishes or a gift, you could write something like, "Thankyou for sending your best wishes to us on our special day, you were in our thoughts (and there in spirit!)"

If your recipient was not invited, but sent thoughts, best wishes or a gift, you could write something like "Thank you for your lovely message of best wishes - such a kind thought and it made us feel very lucky to have you in our new lives together".

2. Once you have established, first and foremost, that you appreciate their attendance or thoughts/best wishes (or whatever is appropriate), it is then time to move on to the thanks for the gift (if applicable). It is nice to specifically mention the gift, and also how you intend to use it.

*Probably a good idea not to mention the amount - I'm not sure how this goes etiquette wise but it seems in very bad taste.

** This is an actual message from one of our thankyou cards (James and myself). We dreamed of a really good vacuum cleaner for ages and were so excited to finally be able to buy one. What can we say? We're neat freaks and we have a long-haired dog, it was great!

How to remember who gave you what? An old old idea but a goodie: don't open any presents til after the event, and get a friend, sibling or parent to sit with a pen and paper, and write each gift down with the sender as you open it - open the card first, and then the gift. Mystery presents without cards? Leave them til the end, and you may be able to do a simple deduction as to who it could be, as to who is left on your list without a gift. This job is made even easier if you keep your spreadsheet of names and addresses from your invites handy, with an extra column for the gift type. Get specific with types of glasses, bowls or household items, if you want to make mention of their use.

3. The Sign-off. Perhaps invite them over for dinner sometime with your new frying pan, or drinks to experience that beautiful new glassware in your kitchen, that coffee table in your lounge room, or a slide show of your holiday pics. It shows how you will use the gift and that you would love for them to see you enjoying it in the future.

With this, you will have a lovely, personalised message of thanks for each guest, that they will read and appreciate when they receive their card.

Further tips that may come in handy:

* If you are a couple, or there is more than one of you hosting the event, write your cards together. Write half, and then swap for the other half to finish. Co-sign. Write two separate messages if you want! But it's nice for everyone to receive thanks from you both, even if one of you doesn't know the guest that well.

* Aim to write 3-5 cards a night. Don't try to get it all done in one night, or one long session. I've seen it done (it's possible) but it's really not that enjoyable. Breaking it up into smaller tasks also gives you more time to make the messages genuine. If you're tired, you'll most likely write the bare minimum, and it will read like that.

* When you are getting your invites printed, get an extra set of labels printed, or envelopes printed, with the addresses of your guests - so two lots of the same addresses. It's very likely you'll be sending a thank you card to each of these guests, so your envelopes will be all ready to go when you go to send out the cards.

* It's hard to get your card out within the first few weeks of marriage, or straight after an event, if you are going away after it. Don't fret though. No matter when your card is sent, it is still better than not sending a card at all.

Best of luck with your cards, I hope this post has been of assistance, happy writing!

Practical Advice: Writing Thankyou Cards, Part One

2010-12-17T11:40:00.009+11:00

Happy Friday! Today I have penned a post for you that has been drafted over and over in my head since I first started It's A Date Event Design, I hope to impart some helpful tips on the task of writing Thank you cards. Thank you cards are cards written to your guests after a special occasion, to express your thanks for their attendance, and possibly for a gift if one was received. This is part one of this post, you can read part two here.

Now, I am no etiquette expert, I leave that to the professionals, but I have developed my own set of loose guidelines which I feel are useful for designing and writing a modern thank you card. As you may have noticed on our portfolio, thank you cards are part of the overall service we provide, predominantly for engagements, weddings and major birthdays. Regardless of the event, a thank you card NEVER goes out of style, and it is ALWAYS appropriate. If there's one thing you take away from reading this post, it is that line.

Design: (You didn't think I'd write this post without some mention of design, did you?!) As with any stationery, the sky is the limit when it comes to the design of your thank you card - although I always think it a nice touch if your thank you card coordinates your invitation suite - a continuation of your motif, a nice close to the set. Whether or not you want to write the actual word "Thank you" somewhere on your card front or not is up to you. Some guests like to write their married names and the date of their wedding which is quite sweet - like a little souvenir from the day.

Above: A mockup (early stages) of Sally and John's thankyou postcard (which was sent in an envelope) - plenty of space to write a quick note down the bottom.

Format: The most common formats we tend to create are side fold cards (like a typical greeting card) or a postcard. I believe these formats are popular for two reasons - the side fold card gives you the ability to write as much as you want, and the postcard format does not punish you if you don't have a lot to write. Both are appropriate, depending on their use. I often recommend to clients to commission a design of both for practical reasons: There are guests at your wedding (or major event) that you may like to write a long message to, which is accommodated perfectly by the side fold card - lots of space to write. There are also people involved in your wedding (or major event) - vendors, friends of family, workmates, etc., who did not attend your event but would still appreciate the gesture of thanks (and also a sticky beak at your photography!) - and a postcard would be perfect to send. I will write more about the actual wording of your thank you later, but in this instance, don't see a postcard as being impersonal necessarily: you can still keep room on your postcard-format thank you card for a personal note of thanks, however a postcard can be a cheaper alternative to the side fold card/envelope/postage cost, and this is helpful if you have a lot to send - the cost may also encourage you to send more out, which is a good thing! You can also attach a magnet to a post card and your guests can pop it on the fridge - just remember to send these in an envelope rather than without, like a regular postcard - magnets and the mail system don't mix.

My absolute favorite thank you card to design was for my treasured clients Melinda and Ron - you may remember their invitation suite from very early this year. Because the format of their invitation was so detailed and different, we figured during the design process that the thank you card should be just as involved. We designed the thank you card to be like an old-school photo envelope (the kind you would get when you took your rolls of film in to the shop to be developed - long before digital cameras!)

Above: A mockup (early stages) of Melinda and Ron's thankyou photo envelope - we also included a funny tick box section of messages to the guests - which was a hit - and room for the all important serious, heartfelt reply.

Apart from just being cool as a concept, there was a method behind the design madness - Melinda and Ron wanted to send their guests copies of their photos, including a group shot of all the guests that attended, a lovely photo of the couple, and a funny shot they thought the guests would like for a laugh. Such a great idea and there is no reason you can't do the same thing, with any type of format card, just slip a few print outs inside the card or envelope and give your guests something of their own to keep. Which brings us nicely into the next category...

Photos: One common request from my clients is can we design something to feature photography from their event. Answer? Very yes! I think this is a fabulous idea - after all, your guests are probably waiting with just as much excitement as you to see how your photos turned out, and this is such a great opportunity to give your friends and family a snapshot to keep. Don't think just because everyone's seen a Facebook album of happy snaps from your groomsman's girlfriend about five hours after the wedding, that guests won't like to see your beautiful portraits - they totally will.

Now, there's another factor to keep in mind in regards to the timeliness of your thank you card send out, and your photographer. One thing tends to be common across the board: professional photographers will take time to send you your final photos - anywhere from several weeks after a wedding or major event, to several months. Photographers do not do this to torture you, to make you wait, or just because they are lazy and would rather watch the Seinfeld boxset (I hope!). They do this because Wedding Photos Take Time to Edit (important point to remember #2). They also do this because they are massively talented at what they do and they want your end result to be perfect, so they take the time they need to get it done. On average, there are over 300 photos, raw, from a typical wedding - to sort through these, edit, and present them to you takes time. I'm on a tangent, but I'm also married to a photographer, so I can't help but be defensive of the process - and I know its a completely necessary one that shouldn't be rushed.

What this means for you is that you may be all ready to go with your thank you cards but be waiting on your photos, and of course, it's a bit useless to print without them, unless you will be attaching them by hand later. There is a way to avoid this: get in contact with your photographer, either before the big day, or shortly afterward, and explain that you would like 1-3 shots of your photography for your thank you card. In most situations, your photographer will be able to have a quick look through your photos, and select three they feel would be a great fit for your card, post-process them, and send them on to you before they send the rest of your photos. Be wary, there may be a cost involved, but discuss this with your photographer to see what terms they are comfortable with. You will also need to make sure these photos are a high enough resolution to print with - usually 300dpi or 600dpi is fine. This could be a whole other blog post, so I will keep it brief, but with open communication, your photographer should be able to help you out.

Above: A mockup (early stages) of Chelsea and Brendan's thankyou top fold card - as they had so many lovely photos to use, we decorated both the front and back with photos by their photographer Darren Roberts (no website).

One way to thank your photographer for being so awesome is to include a URL to their site on the back of your card. "Photography by [Name] www.nameofphotographer.com" doesn't take up a lot of space but it's a very thoughtful gesture - also, your friends may want to know who it was that took such great photos!

Sorry to cut this short, but this is another two parter: the next part of this blog post will focus on what is written on the card... the most important bit!

Cards Cards Cards, Part Two

2010-12-15T12:09:00.001+11:00

Part Two! As a little gift to you guys, I've made more Christmas card designs available as free downloads.

There are two designs to choose from, one with a trio of friendly Christmas trees (Working title, "tree amigos"? Nah, that's a bit lame...), and one for your favourite shoe lover, or as an instructional guide for friends and family (cos who doesn't secretly want a lovely wrapped shoe box under the tree?)

Simply click the design you'd like and save the .pdf, print, trim, fold and you're done! Yay!

Enjoy!

Cards Cards Cards, Part One

2010-12-15T10:26:00.003+11:00

Last week, I had some downtime between weddings, baby announcements and birthdays, and used it to tackle my holiday card project, as I'm sure many people decide to do this time of year... such a great tradition and who doesn't appreciate something other than bills in their mailbox?! My goal was to send each card I put together to someone that had made my year in business a little bit better - whether it be by well-timed words of encouragement, extending the hand of friendship, maintaining a long standing professional connection or simply creating something that had inspired and helped me. It was very easy to put together this list and I hope each card, upon arrival, made it's special recipient happy.

Here are the layouts and a couple of photos I took during the construction process. You'll have to excuse the picture quality - Melbourne was very dark and dreary the day these were taken. Each card was hand trimmed and mounted on several layers of card stock, before being sent in a pretty vellum envelope (my favorite). I wrote a personal message for each one inside.

You may notice this post is in a HP + the Deathly Hallows-style two-parter format - not to build the suspense, or to reward the fans, but because coming up later today is a little freebie for you guys that totally relates to this topic! Yay! Please check in later and all will be revealed...

Happy Monday

2010-12-13T09:28:00.004+11:00

Just a few quick snaps from a little party we hosted over the weekend - you know that saying, a mechanic's car is never fixed? A stationer's party will usually be thrown together at the last minute! But my lovely friends Kim and Em took these great photos and I wanted to share a little of the decor - red and aqua, one of my favourite colour combos.

To make the rocky road "favors" - yes, even at a BBQ, there should still be something to take home! - I followed this recipe but substituted the pistachios and almonds for cashews (my favourite) and added in some crushed candy canes! Then we roughly chopped up pieces and wrapped them in baking paper and twine - a perfect and easy Christmas-y snack! I also made little tags to go on each piece, but do you think I could find them?! Looks like I'll have something fun for next year...

I plan to have a few more Christmas and Holiday themed goodies for you on the blog in the lead up to December 25th so stay tuned!

Sneak Peek: Kim's Bollywood Birthday Invitations

2010-12-07T10:10:00.002+11:00

A funny time of year, is December - whilst we're surrounded by Christmas, most invite designers (and event designers, and planners, and photographers...) are already interacting with 2011, and probably have been doing so for a while. For example, I'm currently working on April events with some amazing clients that I'll be really excited to share very soon! I have my own personal holiday projects on the go in a lovely little pile in our lounge room (where I can catch up on my favourite television shows underneath the air conditioner whilst I cut and paste!) but it's about this time of year I start writing the wrong year on everything.

Another oddity, even though the shops are filled with Christmas colours, the projects that have been going out the door have been anything but! Take for example this beautiful colour scheme I'm working with for new friend and very talented wedding planner Kim. I'm really hoping she'll be happy to share some pictures with me of her beautiful party! Here are some quick shots I took before posting these little goodies off to Kim - loving the vibrant Bollywood-inspired pinks, purples and gold.

I hope your season is equally colourful so far!

Just Added to our Portfolio: Susan and Tim's Wedding Invitation Suite

2010-09-22T15:12:00.001+10:00

Sometimes a theme just lends itself to a particular format perfectly. Susan and her beautiful daughter Gypsy first met with me for a drink on a warm early Autumn's day, armed with an amazingly detailed (and well set out) scrapbook. Filled with clippings, notes and ideas, I flicked through it, amazed at her organization skills and all the different themes that could provide a jumping-off point for her design. One thing we kept coming back to was chocolate. Perhaps we were both peckish? Regardless, the idea stuck, and when Susan's sister offered to make her some lovely handmade chocolates for her wedding, we thought they would be quite a treat (forgive the pun) as a gift within her invitation. We played with pieces of cardboard for hours on end, and carefully planned a sectional mailer to house not only these lovely chocolates, but the details for Susan and Tim's wedding (which were just as delicious), and these invitations are the result: masses of black and white, some really crazy die-cutting action, and lots of love. Bon Appétit!

To read more about this project, click here.

Just Added to our Portfolio: Kimberly and Geoff's Wedding Invitation Suite

2010-09-17T13:17:00.001+10:00

Friday, hooray! Time for another quick portfolio update, the project I put together for Kimberly and Geoff's wedding, which took place last week. A pretty palate of pinks, blacks and white: perfect for their North Sydney ceremony and reception. I loved these ones, the layering, the illustrative nature of the flowers, and the beautiful black mock-suede envelopes.

For more about this project, click here.

Have a great weekend!

Just Added to our Portfolio: Lis & Jay's Wedding Invitation Suite AND A Free Download!

2010-09-14T17:24:00.002+10:00

Those who have visited this blog before (hi Mum!) have probably already spotted our epic project for my best Scotland friend Lisa-Marie and her husband Jay that I completed earlier this year. I've spent the good part of today writing about the process of putting these invites together: I won't lie, they were so much more intricate than I first thought and the assembly time reflected this (and so did the portfolio writing time, which was the perfect excuse to remember the process and play in Photoshop for a few hours).

During the making of these, I taught myself this really odd system of re-covering and re-book-binding, how to disrespectfully take scissors and gluestick to books that were slowly disintegrating before my eyes, all in the name of creating a secret nook for treasures, and how to layout a short illustrated storybook in a way that didn't make my brain break down and sob loudly. There are always different ways you'd do things, once you've done them, steps you'd take to make things a little easier the next time around. But I am so very, very proud of this project. I feel like this was a piece that verbalises what I hoped It's A Date would be all about: making design that is unique, detailed and the next best thing to having the couple on your doorstep with big smiles on their faces. I couldn't be there for Lis and Jay's special day so I sent these instead and I'm so pleased they liked them.

And, I wanted it to keep on giving (aww!) so I made this nifty little PDF available for download from our website of the Scrabble pieces alphabet we used for Lisa-Marie and Jay's invitation design. You can download a high res version to use as you wish, maybe as a cute decoration for your own event - just cut out the letters you would like to use in a program like Photoshop, or by hand with scissors and glue! Just click the image below to view it and save it if you wish.

Enjoy! And if you make anything fun with it, be sure to send me a sneaky peek.

Just Added to our Portfolio: Libbie and Juston's Wedding Invitation Suite

2010-09-09T23:46:00.003+10:00

This suite has been on the list for AGES to upload to our site as it was designed in April of this year, but as it always goes, we've been swamped with assembly and design for what feels like forever, and it is only now getting the attention it deserves in the early hours of this Friday morning: Libbie and Juston's suite is a bit of a departure from our signature style, but definitely a breath of fresh air to create - and who doesn't love a bit of contemporary stripe?!

For more about this suite, click here.

The next few days will be a bit of a portfolio-updating bonanza, so keep checking back for more of our recent projects if you like!

Interview with Madame Bonbon

2010-09-07T11:56:00.002+10:00

I was very flattered to be approached by Meegan at Madame Bonbon to do an interview about It's A Date Event Design recently. The resulting article was split into two posts but I thought I'd also cross-post my full interview here. Be sure to check out Madame Bonbon, it's a great blog on entertaining.

1. Can you tell us about your business 'It's a Date Design' and how you got started?
It’s A Date Event Design began as an evening hobby, like most creative businesses - however it quickly became apparent I was enjoying my few after hours a day working in Illustrator and with cut paper far more than my actual job, so I made the switch to full time designer and haven’t looked back! I have always loved graphic design and paper crafts – invitation and event design is such a lovely way to merge these two elements and I adore working with my varied and interesting clients. Planning a celebration of any kind is exciting and I always feel very honored to be part of the creative process.

2. What services do 'It's a Date Design' offer clients?
It’s A Date offers primarily a custom invitation design service – we work with our clients to produce entirely custom, bespoke, creative invitation and stationery suites that are a reflection of the guest of honor, or couple, and tells their story in a way that is instantly recognizable, familiar and thoughtful. I always try to think outside the box, or envelope, as it may be, in order to present formats to my clients that they may never have seen before, and the more elaborate, the better. Every event is a chance to do something completely different!

A custom invitation suite can often end up being a jumping-off point for the event décor and styling choices of our clients, so we have recently expanded our business to offer a personalized Style Guide for their event in addition to providing a beautiful custom design. We also design 'day of' items which can be used and enjoyed on the day of the event, continuing the client’s design motif throughout their special day.

3. How do you work with clients to create their special event?
Whatever the method of contact (most of our clients are interstate, and some are overseas, so we usually work with clients online rather than in person), the first steps to working with us is a fact-finding mission of sorts to learn as much as we can about the client’s vision for their event and what they want their event to say about them. Most clients will tell you quickly that they haven’t really made any plans for their theme or motif in the early stages – most even say “we need help, we have no idea what to do!” - but once a dialogue starts, most events end up designing themselves. We take key parts of our clients’ story: their personalities, interests, favourite colours, etc., and weave them together to create something that will really stand out from the crowd.

Our custom design service is much like an art commission for a painting or sculpture – we gather as much information as possible from our clients, look at reference material, photos, swatches and sketches for hours on end (who doesn’t love flicking through scrapbooks or blogs?!), and then put all this information and a whole lot of creative energy into the invitation or design, so the result is truly custom, imaginative and one-of-a-kind. I feel very strongly that an invitation is such an integral part of the overall planning process and the event itself that it deserves as much creative thought as the choice of dress or venue! Whilst a typical event will last hours, an invitation is not only the first hint of what is to come for guests, but something that they will view with excitement and interest for weeks on end leading up to the event – it really does deserve to be a source of wonder and intrigue!

4. Have you noticed any hot trends in event design at the moment?
Notably in the wedding industry, (one of the richest sources of design trends that I can think of!), I am excited to find that Australian brides are embracing all the good parts of the DIY revolution, for their invitations and décor design in particular, and applying them to their events in amazing, creative ways: every client I speak to expresses the idea that they may be celebrating their event amid many others of a similar nature in their particular social circle, so standing out and making their event unique to them, is extremely important. I’m also very excited about the advancements in paper-based décor, in particular, the idea of creating paper installations either as backdrops for photo booths, or as décor behind an alter or stage. Paper is such a versatile and relatively inexpensive material to use to decorate an otherwise-bland reception centre or celebratory space. I love seeing beautiful origami, massive blooms of paper flowers and remnants of wallpaper rolls all used to add a splash of personality to a room and I feel like the best is yet to come! I am also a sucker for a couple who invest in really interesting lighting for their reception centers!

5. Are there any event designers that really inspire? (Australia and overseas?).
There are quite a few, as you can imagine, but some never fail to inspire me! For invitation and stationery design, I think the custom work of studios Lehr & Black, Chellé Paperie, The Indigo Bunting, MaeMae Paperie and Mélangerie Inc. are completely awe inspiring. Designers creating truly amazing event spaces and creative direction are Rebecca Thuss, Amy Atlas, Ashley Meaders, Jesi Haack, Bash Please, (yes, please design + bash events) and Joy Thigpen.

6. On a personal note- what is your ideal way to entertain friends/family at home?
My own events never get as much attention as they should, but the main ingredients are copius amounts of finger foods, glasses that never seem to empty, comfy seating and a killer soundtrack. I’m always in a rush to get ready with half an hour til party time, every event we throw (our 2008 wedding included!) as I will have been crafting something last minute and usually still have scissors and a glue tape dispenser in my hand when the doorbell starts ringing! And, needless to say, a quirky invitation and thoughtful thankyou note never go astray!

Thanks Meegan and Madame Bonbon.

Just Added to our Portfolio: Sally and John's Wedding Invitation Suite

2010-08-30T22:53:00.001+10:00

More photos from my little shoot: this time featuring a beautifully coloured pink and green invitation suite designed for a garden wedding for Sally and John in Bendigo earlier this year. To read a little more about this suite and the complimentary items designed for the day of Sally and John's wedding, click here. Here are some of my favourite shots:

PS. Don't forget, we're constantly updating our Facebook and Twitter pages, why not drop by if you're in the interweb neighbourhood?! We'll pop the kettle on.

Lis and Jay's Wedding Invitation - A Quick Photoshoot!

2010-08-23T17:57:00.008+10:00

Last week, on my staycation*, I was determined to get through a rather formidable To Do list, the kind of To Do list people who can't take holidays and don't know how to relax make to get themselves through some self-imposed time off without resorting to a whole lot of Dr Phil (full disclosure: there was actually a bit of Dr Phil, who am I kidding?!). On the list was item #239 (well, not really, but you get the idea...) : "Learn how to use a DSLR and start taking some half-decent portfolio shots". These are a few of my favourite shots of a recent project I completed for close friends and one of our most ambitious formats to date, and it was a perfect practice project for me to shoot.

This project was a labour of love for my dear friend Lisa-Marie to celebrate her marriage to Jay - both are talented writers and avid music fans, so when it came to thinking about the format for their wedding invitation, a pulp novel seemed like the perfect solution. We commissioned good friend Dale Harris of Studio Ink to design a custom type creation for the "front cover" of the book based on hours of research into the pulp novella genre and lots of Old Hollywood movie posters! The cover opened to reveal the invitation to Lis and Jay's nuptials, as well as a short story/scrapbook of how the couple met, a hidden compartment which housed a little button badge pack with gift tag, gift registry information and fold out map, and closed with a little library-inspired pocket and library card inside the back cover, which guests could fill out and return to the couple with their attendance plans. Each invitation was re purposed out of vintage romance novels (many a Mills and Boon was harmed, I’m afraid!) which were stuck together page by page to form the hollowed out secret section and rebound with the couple's custom artwork. The dedication page was made out to each guest in receipt of an invite. The great thing about this suite, apart from being completely "Lis and Jay", is that I imagine many went straight on the bookshelf for keeps - a lovely memento of a beautiful day.

And a few WIP shots, which are always fun! Not on the fancy pants camera though, these photos were brought to you by a product that starts with "i" and ends with "(... can't take photos AT ALL with this) Phone?!".

* It's A Date's "stay-cation" of a few weeks off in early August is now over and it's back to it, working on lots of exciting events coming up! Be sure to get in contact if you'd like us to put together something for you.

Inspiration Board: Delights of Spring

2010-08-17T12:58:00.001+10:00

This board was put together by Rosa, who is currently completing industry experience with It's A Date Event Design. Here's Rosa to tell you a little about her ideas behind this beautiful inspiration board: "This board is a visionary idea for a Delightful Spring Wedding, from small intricate touches of place cards and center pieces to cakes and backdrops. All components adding to a final spring dream wedding full of pretty oranges and lovely tones of greens."

Sources: Peach bowl from Style Me Pretty, Windowsill image, and cupcake wrapper mobile from Green Wedding Shoes, Quilled Details by Ann Martin from Inspired Bride, Bird wedding cake and wedding dress with Australian native bouquet from Once Wed, Pear placecards from Ice Cream Social, Honey Brown Ale as featured on Head Vs. Heart, Jasmine Tea Tin as featured on 100 Layer Cake, Butterfly and canvas favour as featured on Ruffled Blog and DIY Paper Crane backdrop as featured on Ruffled Blog

Thanks Rosa!

Just Added to our Portfolio: Tannaz and Kane's Wedding Invitation Suite

2010-06-02T22:50:00.002+10:00

Another update to our portfolio section, this time for Tannaz and Kane - the stylish black and white wedding suite that you may have spotted from the thumbnail on our main page. This was such fun - an intricate collection of fold outs, cards and stickers! Enjoy!

The Brief: Tannaz and Kane, a super stylish pairing with exquisite taste, were a fabulous inspiration for their own invitations: their suite just had to be as contemporary, elegant and layered as the couple were. This invitation was a completely new format for us, with some amazing little touches that made it one to remember!

More about this project can be found here.

Just Added to our Portfolio: Melinda and Ron's Wedding Invitation Suite

2010-05-31T19:05:00.002+10:00

We've been taking some time out to update the website with all our wedding projects (which would account for the past few blog entries!) and we were super excited to finally post this project: the invitation suite we designed for our wonderful clients Ron and Melinda. It's travel-themed, intensely layered, and one that we'll always remember! Enjoy!

The Brief: This invitation package was designed to represent a love story that spanned continents, flourished in the beautiful locations of Paris, Lisbon, Calais, Amsterdam and Brussels, before settling down in Australia. Not only is their story amazing, but the couple, Melinda and Ron, are pretty darn amazing too. It was an absolute pleasure putting this invitation together, and such a creative, fulfilling experience to bring this vision to life.

Click here to read the full story.

Just Added to our Portfolio: Sarah and Matt's Wedding Invitation Suite

2010-05-26T15:48:00.003+10:00

Just added this vibrant project to our Weddings portfolio today, but you can read on below for the full scoop...

The Brief: Hot pink and orange: these were the colours already chosen by Sarah when she first got in contact with us, and we knew right away it would be a very vibrant project, jam-packed with all the details that Sarah and Matt had already organised.

Photography:
The first step, and an important component of Sarah and Matt's design was their "engagement shoot" that the couple commissioned with the idea that the resulting photos would be used in the design of their invitations. As this shoot was with their wedding day photographer, it also gave the couple the opportunity to become familiar with their photographer's style, and would give them an idea of what it would be like on the big day. Sarah and Matt's children were also part of the engagement shoot.

Sarah and Matt also worked with us to develop an overall theme to their wedding invitation suite which guided our entire design process. Early on, Sarah mentioned the idea of having a candy buffet at the reception as an alternative to table favours - and guests could take home something sweet that reminded them of Sarah and Matt's wedding. From this idea, and Sarah's preference for butterflies, hot pink, and a folder-style invitation, we developed their candy-themed invitation suite. At the time of the design of the invitation, Sarah and Matt were also interested in using bunting for their decorations - which is always a fun idea!

The Invitation:
The folder was a simple one-pocket folder with a hot orange bellyband - the front was trimmed to be slightly narrower to reveal some of that lovely hot pink pattern of the pocket. We also hand cut Sarah and Matt's monogram shield out of heavy card stock and carefully adhered one to the front of each folder. The inside of the invitation was a little booklet that we designed to be like a little insert that you find in chocolate boxes, that instructs you on what each chocolate's flavour is:

The first spread of the booklet was the poem that Sarah wrote to invite her guests to the wedding, it included the date, time, dress and reply before date and was a great alternative to a traditionally worded invitation, which suited Sarah and Matt's personalities more accurately. Each booklet was also customised with the guests' names in this spread. The second spread, continuing the chocolate box motif, included accommodation suggestions and gift registry information. The third spread was all about the map and directions to get to the event.

Reply Card:
The reply card was a stand-alone DL card, a popular option for our folder suites, which was able to be filled out and sealed, and then posted back to Sarah and Matt. This time, the design elements used were to reference the candy buffet specifically - different silhouettes of the containers Sarah planned to use for her display. When included with the suite, this tucked in behind the main invitation folder neatly for guests to use.

We completed the look by wrapping each invitation folder carefully in hot pink tissue paper and placing it in a vibrant orange envelope, with the guests' address details printed on each, ready for post!

It was quite fun to work with such a different colour scheme and to develop this fun look for a wedding invitation suite. Congratulations and all the best to you both, Sarah and Matt.

Just Added to our Portfolio: The Bendigo Gym Centre Surprise Reunion CD Case and Artwork

2010-05-25T14:43:00.001+10:00

This was such a fun project, and one that had to be kept under wraps as the event was a surprise! We love working with new and interesting formats, and designed this great CD case for a very special gift to those celebrating the reunion of the Bendigo Gym Centre.

The Brief: Shioban and Emma approached us with a fabulous plan for a gift for those attending a lovely surprise reunion of the Bendigo Gym Centre - a treasured and much loved institution in Bendigo. We designed a super cute and simple CD case to house compilation albums that Shioban and Emma put together, as well as CD artwork for that final, polished touch!

More about this project can be found here.

Just Added to our Portfolio: Four New 21st Invitations!

2010-05-20T19:09:00.001+10:00

It's been a busy couple of months, as a party season always is: whether it's a birthday, a wedding or a new arrival*, everything always seems to happen during these lovely, breezy, late summer, early autumn months! As such, we're taking the time to update our portfolio with some fresh work, which you may like to check out!

Such a lovely spectrum of colour schemes! Casey's pretty pink photo montage invitation, Adrianna's sea green collage collection of her favourite things, Sallie's burlesque-inspired sunny yellow invitation and Dale's sophisticated black and white card. Each project fun in it's own special way, each event I'm sure, a night to remember.

* Speaking of new arrivals, it's with great delight that we share our most sincere (and ecstatic) congratulations to our clients and friends Erin and Ryan Trembath, who welcomed Charlotte Grace Elizabeth into the world on May 16th. You may remember Erin and Ryan's wedding invitation suite from 2009, it only seems like yesterday we were chatting weddings and now it's babies! We are very happy for you both and can't wait to meet little Charlotte!

Just Added to our Portfolio: Chelsea and Brendan's Wedding Invitation Suite

2010-04-27T16:33:00.004+10:00

Just added this lovely project to our Weddings portfolio today, but you can read on below for all the details!

The Brief: Brendan and Chelsea had not picked their bridesmaid's dress colour when they first began planning their event stationery, and were completely open to suggestion, so as an alternative source of colour inspiration, we based this invitation suite on Brendan's suit! Blooms of white and green give this invitation the perfect fresh, vibrant feel, to compliment their late spring wedding.

The Invitation:
We designed Chelsea and Brendan's invitation to be in several components - a main double-sided DL card, which housed a pull-out fan in photo corners (the actual invitation) with tassel on one side, and a pull-out wish card, with glassine envelope and ribbon, on the other side. An additional card, which when folded formed the RSVP post-ready card, was also included in the envelope.

When expanded, the fan became a special compilation of photos and thoughtful wording. We designed a monogram for "Chels and Bakes" as they are known to all their friends, and included their special instructions, such as a list of 'vital ingredients' to have a good time at the reception, as well as an invitation to spend the Sunday of the wedding weekend sharing a pub meal at their favourite local hotel. The fan also featured a map to the venue, as well as photos of Chels' and Bakes' parents on their own wedding days, as a loving tribute to the special people in the couple's life.

Wish Cards:
The wish card, a way of Chels and Bakes collecting best wishes from their guests in a fun and alternative manner, was designed as a side-fold card that slipped neatly inside a delicate glassine envelope. Each envelope was adorned with a white metal eyelet, and strung with a length of complimentary ribbon. Guests could fill out these cute little cards and bring them along to the reception, where Chels and Bakes had set up beautiful white wish trees. The end result was stunning and added to the decor of their reception centre.

Reply Card:
To encourage guests to send through their attendance plans, RSVP or reply cards were designed to be self-sealing with an adhesive strip, and all arrived pre-stamped with special wedding-themed postage stamps. All guests needed to do was tick the boxes and send them back to Chels and Bakes. Most arrived back with a cute little note from the guest as well, which was a wonderful surprise for the couple.

Reception Items:
In addition to their invitation suite, we were also able to contribute several designed items to the ceremony and reception. Small items like complimentary table numbers, menu cards and seating charts can be a great, inexpensive way of referencing your invitation suite and also creating a beautiful cohesiveness to your wedding, and we were very pleased that Chels and Bakes felt the same way! The following photos are of the tables set up at Silk's Function Centre in Bendigo. They looked fantastic!

Wedding Favours for Guests:
One point of difference that really set Chels and Bakes' wedding apart was their choice of favours. They decided on an alternating gift of wine and a cheese basket for each guest. The wine had special meaning to them as it was gifted from close family friends who owned a prestigious winery. We customised tuxedo-cuff-style wine labels which slipped over the wine bottle and were secured with faux-diamond "cuff links" - adding a bit of sparkle to the tables! The cheese and biscuits were such a fun favour to create - we put together individual 'baskets' for each of the favours, made out of printed cardboard, lined them with silver tissue paper and then added a cute gift tag to the biscuits, which were tied with a black ribbon. The end result was something guests really appreciated and were raving about!

Seating Chart:
The seating chart, a last minute but beautiful addition to the wedding reception decor, was a simple list of guests on each table, but we used the same type and patterns as the invitation. It looked stunning posed near the entrance to the reception and is a lovely keepsake for Chels and Bakes.

A photo of the wish cards set up at the reception:

Ceremony Storybooks:
For the ceremony, we also designed 'storybooks' - an alternative take on programs or Order of Service cards, that informed guests of the bridal party attendants, as well as told a story of how Brendan and Chelsea first met, as well as instructions to share a drink at the reception bar before the reception began. It was such a cute little book, A7 in size when closed, and a treasured little memento for guests to keep after the event.

Thankyou cards:
It seemed only fitting that once it was time, that the Thankyou Cards that Chelsea and Brendan sent out be in "their" theme, so we were delighted to create a cute little card for them. It featured the photography of Bendigo photographer Darren Roberts, who did a great job of capturing Brendan and Chelsea's beautiful day.

Chelsea and Brendan were a delight to get to know and were such thoughtful hosts - no detail was overlooked and it really showed. Hearing about how much their guests enjoyed their wedding and all the little extras that were created was the greatest thrill for It's A Date, and we are so proud of the results which can only come from working with a super creative and excited couple! We wish you the very best for your new lives as husband and wife, and look forward to what the future holds for you both!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T17:51:00.004+10:00

To all our treasured friends and clients of It's A Date Event Design - we hope you have a lovely break over the Easter weekend! We celebrated with the adding of chocolate eggs to vanilla cupcakes, could there be a better combination?! Happy Easter!

Photo by James Sann Photography.

PS. Happy one and a half year anniversary James! Time flies when you're having fun. xx

Nemesha's Gift Basket

2010-01-19T17:24:00.003+11:00

Another gift basket post - I am such a hamper convert now that I've realised how easy/versatile these little projects can be and how fun they are to put together. This basket was made for our lovely friend Nemesha for her birthday on the weekend, and we had some help as to the theme: she loves the outdoors and had put in a gift request with her attentive husband for the RACV Tourist Park Guide. From there, we selected a few complimentary gifts to go with it: a cute flask from IKEA, a gift voucher to Kathmandu, and then filled the basket with yummy "outdoors-y" treats such as mixed nuts, organic chocolate, and yogurt covered fruit... maybe not all those things are healthy, but they all looked delicious!

My favourite part is always the wrapping, and I used a few wired scented flowers I had in my studio, brown string and pretty ribbon, as well as a cute brown paper envelope for a gift card, and lots of cello! It can be difficult to pick a present from all the different options available out there, but I'm guessing that if you make it personal, and all about the person you are celebrating with, then you can't go too far wrong.

Inspiration Board: Aqua, Red and Silver

2010-01-13T17:24:00.007+11:00

Another inspiration board, using another tour poster as a starting point. It certainly helps that the Avett Brothers album has not left my iTunes playlist for several weeks! I'm also kind of obsessed with the idea of having bridesmaids in winter jackets if you were getting married in a cooler climate... I just think that would look neat and is a nice twist on traditional dresses!

Sources: Aqua Gift Wrap, Avett Brothers tour poster by Subject Matter Studio, Boston '09, Lift Airlines brand and identity by Monina Velarde (found via DesignWorkLife), "Reach For The Blue Sky" coat from ModCloth, Red Dahlia picture, Red and Aqua bridesmaids from Project Wedding, Red Converse Shoes, Red and Aqua tablescape from Coco+Kelley, Red and Aqua trinkets from Martha Stewart and Keepsake Kites from Martha Stewart.

GPO Wedding Expo

2010-01-04T02:18:00.004+11:00

It's A Date Event Design was recently involved in creating stationery and decor for the 2009 GPO Wedding Expo, which was held in the Balcony Room of the GPO Restaurant here in Bendigo. It was a great honour to be asked to contribute some of my ideas and stationery design to the expo, which were utilised on three different display tablescapes, and I had a wonderful time collaborating with Miranda of The Eternal Vase and Lisa of GPO, and a local events hire business. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure!

"Very Cosmopolitan" Table
Inspired by the decor of GPO and the elegance of the Balcony room, this table scape is all about cocktails and a glam night out. My favourite elements were Miranda's cocktail glass masterpieces - beautiful plumes of red tropical flowers and little crystal decorations. I created the menus, table favours, wine labels, place mats, gift/name tags and stickers.

"Green Garden Party" Table
This table was so fresh and fun, I really think the colour scheme lends itself to the ultimate in a relaxed, sophisticated garden party. Apples are pretty fun props too! I created the hanging tree tags (which can be used as wish trees or just as decoration!), the apple placecard flags, placemats, table number and cider tags.

"Feathers and Lace" Table
The vintage glamour look is still so popular that decorating a table in this style was almost a given! There is a travel element to this table as well, which is fun! I created the table number, champagne glass favours, placemats, gift tags and gift bags.

All photography taken by James Sann Photography - of course!

We also prepared a "Supplier's List" of where we got all our decor bits and pieces as a .pdf document, if you'd like to view it or download it, click here. Great fun and a fantastic night ... looking forward to lots more tablescape design, and projects with these lovely ladies in the future!

James Sann Photography: Sarah and Matt

2009-12-29T19:22:00.002+11:00

James is finishing up on the post-processing of another wedding we shot in Echuca earlier this year for Sarah and Matt. It was a bit of a family affair as I had also designed their invitation suite for their wedding. I'm sure you'll agree that they make an absolutely stunning couple and Sarah's attention to detail of all the beautiful pinks and oranges that she used in wedding design were unique and unusual - a job really well done.

James also did a brilliant job of capturing what a lovely and emotion-filled day it was. I love the dreamy quality of this shot and how Sarah's headpiece looks in the sun.

Here is a detail of the invitation suite - it featured a chocolate box themed booklet to tie in with Sarah and Matt's candy buffet plans for the reception:

Congratulations Sarah and Matt!

Inspiration Board: Mustard

2009-12-27T20:42:00.004+11:00

I thought it might be fun to make a colour/pattern inspiration board based on how certain music makes me feel. If I can keep it up, I'll try to make it into a series for all you indie-music-loving brides-to-be out there.

This board would be perfect inspiration for a garden wedding: something low key, perhaps with picnic baskets, a barrel full of icy Coronas and some great tunes by a backyard DJ... Bliss.

Sources: "Huntington Beach Wedding" from WeddingChicks.com, Golden Yellow Cakes (illustration) from abd-cbh.com, B&W Fabric Sample, Florence Broadhurst/Signature Prints, Tommy's suit, detail, from Green Wedding Shoes, Yellow Gingham Picnic Basket from Martha Stewart, California Poppy Dress by Modcloth, "Lucia #3" from Design Sponge, Grizzly Bear "Fly Flower Poster" from Insound, Syrup bottle placeholders from Country Living, Yellow Leaves, Old Tree from WeHeartIt.com, Kate Spade stationery from Black White Bliss.

James Sann Photography: Presentation Folder

2009-12-22T16:26:00.003+11:00

As a quick, fun project last night, James and I made a cute folder to give to his clients when he is presenting them with their DVD of images. I think it is a great way to showcase his work and also make a DVD case a little bit more exciting!

A Night at the Movies Gift Basket

2009-12-12T23:05:00.006+11:00

James and I put together this gift basket for James' sister and her partner for our Secret Santa gift, themed around a night at the movies. Kari and Jason have a new infant son and we thought a night out at the flicks might be a nice treat for them. This is another first attempt but I think it turned out well, and I would highly recommend giving it a go if you're at a loss for a gift: particularly as this kind of thing suits any type of budget, you can make it very personalised and it's so easy to do yourself.

The basket included a voucher to Village Cinemas, a bottle of red and white (Kari and Jason's favourites), cheeses, biscuits, and my favourite: two little boxes filled with microwave popcorn, candy and various chocolate varieties, perfect for bringing along to the movies. I created wraps for both the bottles of wine, little noodle boxes for the snacks, and cardboard cut out letters for the "K" and "J", tied with twine.

The patterns I used were from the amazing resource that is the Wedding Style Guide download section. As I'm not particularly inclined to use typical Christmas colours, I really loved the light blue, red and caramel together, it looks so modern and fun. Cellophane and ribbon keeps everything together for our travels to deliver it!

Photography: James Sann.

James Sann Photography: Claire and Adam

2009-12-02T18:26:00.000+11:00

I'm very lucky to be married to a photographer who lets me tag along on wedding shoots: I get to hang out with him and his amazing clients in lovely locations, learn more about taking wedding portraits and capturing those candid moments, as well as try my hand at styling some of the shots (which I really enjoy). However, there are some crazy moments when you are traipsing through long grass in a paddock in the middle of nowhere with arms full of equipment and thunder booming ominously behind you, where you think, "this is insane, what are we doing?!"

But then you see the shot, and realise how much vision your husband has, and you are very very proud of him.

Congratulations Claire and Adam!

Halloween 2009

2009-12-01T19:11:00.002+11:00

James and I hosted a small screening to celebrate Halloween this year. James is an avid film fan and picked some very entertaining films for us to watch. We sent out these invitations the week preceding Halloween (because I really can't resist even if it's only a small, informal gathering!)

I decided to have a go at creating a snack buffet for our guests referencing the theme we happened to pick for the evening, which was the "True Blood" television series. We had such a fun time putting it together: we made custom labels for our own "True Blood" concoction (which, incidentally, was a mixture of Agrum and red food dye, which tasted quite delicious!), and other delicacies such as "Poison Profiteroles" and "Stake-Through-The-Heart Cupcakes". Here are some pictures James took of our efforts.

I can't wait to do something like this again next year.