Perfect Match Designs

Facebook Page

2011-07-27T22:52:00.002+01:00

Just wanted to put up a post here to say I won't be posting much here any more. I'm updating my Facebook page on a pretty regular basis and sharing a lot of photos of recent work that's been completed and it's probably the best way to keep up to date with what I'm doing. Please take a look at the page and "Like" it to get all the latest news. I am going to do a little prize giveaway when I reach 100 followers so watch this space!

Christine x

www.facebook.com/perfectmatchdesigns

Perfect Match Designs at Corrine Smith Design, Kilmarnock

2011-04-24T16:10:00.005+01:00

I'm delighted to say that I now have some stationery samples to view in Corrine Smith's lovely shop in Kilmarnock. Corrine is an award winning wedding accessories designer and her tiaras, jewellery and accessories are all stunning and she has 3 VOWS awards to prove it! Check out her website at www.corrinesmith.co.uk or why not make an appointment to visit her shop and see her beautiful work for yourself. You will not be disappointed.

Ayrshire Wedding Show Prize Winner

2011-01-31T14:25:00.003Z

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the stand at the Ayrshire Wedding Show at the weekend. Don't forget to check the back of your price lists for the free sample discount code. You can order one free sample of your choice from the website, just enter the code when you proceed through checkout.

If you liked the stationery but weren't quite ready to make a booking at the show, don't forget you can always make an appointment to come to the studio for a consultation at any time, just get in touch.

The winner of the prize draw for a £100 wedding stationery voucher was Jacqui Morrison from Irvine - congratulations to Jacqui!

Next show is in three weeks time at the SECC.

Wedding Showcase at Turnberry Resort, Ayrshire

2011-01-18T17:28:00.004Z

I'm delighted to announce that Perfect Match Designs will be participating in a fabulous, unique bridal event at Turnberry Resort on Saturday 5th March 2011. In conjunction with Wedding TV, Turnberry recently ran a competition for one lucky couple to win a £25,000 wedding. The lucky bride and groom are Claire & Francis, a local couple from Ayr. They will be married at Turnberry and while the bridal showcase is on, Claire & Francis will not only be getting married, but we will be able to watch the ceremony via live feed. This sounds really exciting and a bit different from the normal wedding fair!

Perfect Match Designs will be the only wedding stationer at this event and I'm delighted that a 5 star luxury resort like Turnberry recognises the quality of my work and is happy to recommend me to their clients.

Tickets to the event costs £20 to include a glass of bubbly and a delightful afternoon tea served in the Caldeonian Suite. To reserve your tickets please call 01655 334 175 or email rsvp.turnberry@luxurycollection.com

This really does promise to be an event with a difference and I can't wait!

Spring Wedding Fair Special Offer

2011-01-04T09:00:00.000Z

I will be attending my first wedding fair of the season at Ayrshire Racecourse on 29th - 30th January 2011. I will be running a very special offer for brides to be at this event!

If you place your order for your wedding stationery (worth more than £250) with me at this event and confirm with a £50 cash deposit on the day, you will not only receive 10% discount on your whole order but you will also receive a FREE GIFT ON THE DAY. I'm not going to tell you at the moment what the gift is other than to say it's got a lovely bit of sparkle and it will come in very useful when you're doing your wedding planning!

Already booked me for your 2011 wedding?

2011-01-03T09:00:00.000Z

If you've already booked me for your wedding stationery in 2011, now is the perfect time to start thinking about scheduling your appointment to come to the studio to start finalising all the details for your order.

During the consultation, you will be able to review all the current samples and designs and we will discuss in depth exactly what you're looking for - designs, colours, items and numbers required. I will then make your sample up for your approval and we will start the proofing process on your wordings - generally just get the ball rolling on things.

I am available during the week, days or evenings or at weekends so anytime suits although Saturdays are my busiest consultation days. Please send an email to christine@perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk or call me on 01292 479299 to book your appointment.

Free Sample Offer Extended to 31st January 2011

2011-01-02T16:53:00.005Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As a special little New Year's present, I'm delighted to say that the free sample offer has been extended until 31st January 2011. Just enter discount code "FREESAMPLE" in the box when you checkout. P&P is free on samples so pay absolutely nothing. Choose from one of our fabulous designs and have it made in the colour of your choice. This is your opportunity to really see that quality of the materials I use and get a first hand idea of how the design will look in your colour scheme. Take your pick - it's free!

New Website Up and Running

2010-11-15T14:52:00.003Z

FREE SAMPLE OFFER!
I'm delighted to say that my new website is up and running today. I have been working on this for the past few weeks and it still needs a few "tweaks" here and there but I though I would go live anyway!

It has the same basic design as my old site but the main new feature, and one I'm really pleased about, is that you can now order and pay for personalised samples online. I tried to get this up and running on my old site but just couldn't quite get it to do what I needed it to do. This new site is much better. You can select your design, choose your shape and size of invitation, customise your colour scheme and where appropriate and depending on the design, you can enter names, initials and wedding date to have your designs completely personalised.

To coincide with the new site, I am offering a free sample until the end of the year (hope I don't get inundated with too many requests!).

To get your free sample, just enter "FREESAMPLE" as the discount code when you checkout. There is free P&P on all samples as well so it really is a no obligation chance to get a free sample.

What have you got to lose?

Check out the new website here www.perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk

Catching a breath.....

2010-08-18T10:54:00.016+01:00

As the end of August fast approaches, I feel like I can finally catch a breath after the hectic summer I've had. I was fortunate enough to to be fully booked with orders for May, June, July and August, with May being my busiest month and the late bank holiday weekend of 28th / 29th May was by far my most popular weekend this year. I made stationery for 5 weddings that weekend which is a record for me since I started the business 3 years ago.

Unfortunately, I also picked May to go on a two week holiday which, in hindsight, was not one of my better ideas although, in my defence, it was booked last year before I knew just how busy I was going to be. Although we had a fabulous time on a Caribbean cruise and in Florida, I returned from my holiday on 25th May and had to hand to hand deliver 3 lots of on the day stationery for that weekend. I delivered to a mother of the bride in Glasgow, a local bride in Troon and met a groom in the car park of a Marriott hotel on the outskirts of Edinburgh (the glamour!). But thankfully, everything was made and delivered on time - the moral of the story? No more holidays in May!

June and July flew by in a flurry of orders, there really was no let up and it was just solid stationery making the entire summer with just a brief break around the 21st June as we celebrated my husband's 40th birthday with a family party and a couple of days in the Lake District where we stayed at the fabulous Linthwaite House Hotel.

So as I come to the end of August, I have a couple of "on the day" stationery orders to fulfill for August, then things will really quieten down as we head into the Autumn. All invitation orders have been completed for weddings up to November and with only a handful of orders in November and December, I am looking forward to a little breather.

I do turn my attention however to the wedding shows which start up again - they seem to come round so fast. My first will be Scotland's Exclusive Wedding Event at Glasgow Concert Hall on 28th / 29th August and then I will be at the Scottish Wedding Show at the SECC on 9th / 10th October. In preparation for these events, I have also been trying to fit in some designing so I can show off some lovely new Envelopments samples.

I am well and truly up and running with all the Envelopments product range and absolutely loving working with it. The quality is fantastic, the ordering and shipping from USA has been trouble free so far and my customers seem to be very impressed with everything. I am pleased I decided to take the plunge at the start of the year and sign up to become a dealer. When I attend the autumn shows, my designs will be exclusively Envelopments so I am looking forward to some new, fresh ideas to show people. Here are a few images of some of the samples I have been working on so far, loads more on the website.

I have also continued to connect with lots of other great wedding business owners on Twitter, Facebook and on the forum which I run. I really value the advice and support we give each other as we all try to build our businesses. It can be challenging running a small business from home and when you need a bit of motivation or a friendly word of encouragement, it's reassuring to know there are others in the same position.

So that's my update for just now, I thank each and every one of my customers who I had the pleasure of working with over the summer and I look forward to the autumn season and bookings for 2011!

Perfect Match Designs is now an Envelopments Dealer!

2010-02-04T12:01:00.007Z

I am delighted to announce that Perfect Match Designs is now a licensed Envelopments® dealer. I have purchased their design studio and license which will allow me to offer their gorgeous products to brides across Scotland the UK.

Envelopments are an American company based in California who pioneered the pocketfold style of invitation that has become so popular in this country today. They offer Pocket Fold® enclosures, Z cards, Folded Cards and Portable Pockets® in a huge range of stunning matte, metallic and textured cards along with co-ordinating vellums and papers. The range is really unsurpassed in terms of quality and I can't wait to start incorporating them into my designs.

Their style of inviations lend themselves really well to inclduing enclosure cards such as RSVP cards and envelopes, guest information cards where you can give your guests lots of information about your big day including church and venue addresses, suggestions for overnight accommodation, gift list details, menu choices/dietray requirement requests, bus transportation..........whatever you like really.

I hope to have some designs up and running soon which incorporate the Envelopments products but in the meantime, why not check out the Envelopments website to get your creative juices flowing!

Where did January go?

2010-02-04T11:37:00.002Z

Well I can't believe it's February already, January flew by in a flurry of activity and orders and was very busy indeed. By the end of January, I had completed nearly all my orders up the the end of April and was starting work on May orders and finalising proofs for June weddings. So all of that means that I have not blogged for ages as I've just been too busy. February is still crazy but I am trying to slow down a bit and keep up to date with everything, working 15 hours a day is not good for anyone.

I have already done my first wedding fair of the year, the Ayrshire Wedding Show at Ayr Racecourse which was a great weekend, lots of brides to speak to who are getting married in 2011 and 2012 so the diary is filling up nicely for those dates and I also picked up some new bookings for the later part of 2010 for the quieter winter wedding months. My next shows are Scotland's Exclusive Wedding Event at Glasgow Royal Hall on 13th - 14th February and the week after at the Scottish Wedding Show at the SECC. I will be offering a 10% discount on all orders placed on the day when you secure your date in the diary with a £50 deposit so drop by the stand to view all my gorgeous designs. If you want to book at the show, you don't even need to know final numbers or colours schemes, we can come back to these later, nearer your wedding date.

Availability wise, I am now fully booked for all wedding dates up to July 2010 with full availability for August 2010 onwards so get in touch if you are getting married after August 2010!

Next post is about another major development in my business which also happened in January!

Further Envelope Upgrades for Bespoke Customisation

2009-11-06T13:58:00.003Z

So I blogged yesterday about upgrading my standard white and ivory envelopes to the gorgeous 135gsm envelopes from GF Smith and today I have been working further on my envelope range and have now added a huge range of beautiful coloured and textured envelopes to my collection. This will allow me to offer even further bespoke customisation to my customers who are looking for true custom designed wedding invitations.

The range includes smooth envelopes in gorgeous bold colours, pearlescent and lustre envelopes in pretty pastel shades, and a couple of ranges of textured envelopes including a to-die-for "leatherette" finish.

I can't wait to start offering them to my customers!

New Upgraded Envelopes for Wedding Stationery Orders

2009-11-05T10:33:00.004Z

I have taken the plunge and decided to upgrade my standard envelope stocks and will now be using gorgeous 135gsm white and ivory envelopes from GF Smith, who are one of the UK's leading paper manufacturers. They have some amazing products including the Majestic cardstock and papers and their Marble White is by far and away my most popular colour, I use it time and time again for my customers' orders so I am pleased to be adding more of their range to my wedding stationery collection.

I'm sure that my customers will appreciate the extra quality in the envelopes, they are super thick and will really stand out from the crowd rather than the lighterweight envelopes I (and most other stationers) have been using. They are more expensive for me to buy in, however I will not be increasing prices, just think of it as an added bonus!

I am always trying to stay one step ahead of the game as the handmade wedding stationery market is becoming very competitive and I think it's important to offer something that can't be found elsewhere. I can't wait to start using them and customers with wedding dates from around May 2010 onwards will be receiving the upgraded envelopes in their order.

Client Wedding Venues Updates

2009-10-19T14:03:00.002+01:00

I though it was about time I updated the list of Scottish wedding venues where all my lovely couples have held their wedding receptions as the list is growing by the week. Because I have now extended myself to exhibiting at wedding fairs in Edinburgh, the list of venues in Central and East coast Scotland is growing. I look forward to adding to the list.

Brig O'Doon Hotel, Alloway
Lochgreen House Hotel, Troon
The Piersland House Hotel, Troon
Turnberry Hotel, Turnberry
Gailes Hotel, Irvine
Fairfied House Hotel, Ayr
Ross Priory, Gartocharn
Cameron House Hotel, Loch Lomond
Glenskirlie Castle
The Park Hotel, Kilmarnock
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Western House Hotel, Ayr
Barony Castle, Peebles
The Argyll Hotel, Isle of Iona
Airth Castle, Airth
The Drumossie Hotel, Inverness
Ballathie House Hotel, Perth
Blairquhan Castle, Ayrshire
Barcelo Marine Hotel, Troon
Buchanan Arms Hotel, Drymen
Murrayshall House Hotel, Perthshire
Lochside House Hotel, New Cumnock
Savoy Park Hotel, Ayr
Seamill Hydro, Seamill
Enterkine Country House, By Ayr
Lea Park Hotel, Grangemouth
Moor Park House Hotel, Kilbirnie
The Cruin, Loch Lomond
Glenbervie House Hotel, Larbert
Hilton Glasgow Grosvenor Hotel
Norton House Hotel, Edinburgh
The George Hotel, Edinburgh
Pollokshields Burgh Hall, Glasgow
Inchyra Grange Hotel, Falkirk
Hawke & Hunter, Edinburgh
Melville Castle, Edinburgh
MacDonald Holyrood Hotel, Edinburgh

Samples, Samples and More Samples!

2009-10-12T12:02:00.004+01:00

Well I have been inundated with sample requests over the past few weeks which is a nice problem to have. It started with the wedding show at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, then the Scottish Wedding Show at the SECC, then Thee Wedding Show at Murrayfield and then all the consultations which people have booked since them to come and visit at the studio in Prestwick to discuss ideas further for their wedding stationery. All in all, I've probably made about 30 sample wedding invitations in the past 4 weeks in every design and colour combination imaginable. It's all good fun creating ideas in lots of colours and I love that I can colour match nearly any colour requested becasue of the unique way I source my materials. I probably have at least 250 colours available to match!

I've also been lucky enough to now be working with two or three couples who want something really unique and I am working with them to source materials to come up with invitations that will be truly bespoke. Watch this space for further details.

If you would like to purchase a sample wedding invitation, you can do so directly from the website at www.perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk and the shopping cart will allow you to pay online via PayPal with a credit or debit card. Samples are priced at £3.00 each. Alternatively, why not book an appointment to come to the studio in Prestwick, see all the designs and I will make you a sample free of charge in your chosen colour scheme. It really is the only way to see your ideas and your colours made up to appreciate them fully. Email me at christine@perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk if you would like to come and visit.

Anyway, off to make up some more samples....!

To name or not to name?

2009-09-25T14:16:00.006+01:00

At the wedding show at the weekend, I had on display two of my master table plans / seating plans which attracted a lot of attention. What did surprise me was the amount of people who had never thought of giving the tables at their wedding reception names rather than numbers. Most of my previous customers, by the time they have decided to have table plans made by me, have opted to go for the name option rather than numbers.

Naming your table is so personal to you as a couple and it really allows you to get creative and come up with something that reflects you as a couple. It's just a bit more interesting that numbers and can provide a talking point for your guests. So what are some of the ideas I have made for my clients?

The outright favourite (I have done it over and over again!) - Destinations and places they have visited together on holiday with the top table often being the honeymoon destination or where they got engaged.
A Las Vegas theme where all the tables were named after Las Vegas hotels
Scottish lochs, mountains and munros (I've done them all........!)
Hotels that the couple has stayed in all over the world
A Rainbow theme where each of the tables was a colour of the rainbow
A "Love" theme where all the tables were named "devotion", "trust", "passion", "romance", "cherish" and so on......
Different brands of champagne
An F1 grand prix theme with different F1 circuits (wonder if it was the bride or groom that chose that chose that one?!)

So, hopefully some inspiration here if you are looking for ideas to name your tables! Table Plans from Perfect Match Designs are priced between £50 - £80 so do get in touch if you would like to discuss your ideas.

Scottish Wedding Show is Over!

2009-09-20T22:05:00.002+01:00

I have spent the last 2 days at the Scottish Wedding Show at the SECC, exhibiting my handmade stationery. The show was very busy on both days and I was really pleased with the response to my stationery. I spoke to lots of couples and brides to be, discussing stationery ideas. If you visited my stand, thank you very much for stopping by, I hope I can be of service to you.

To all those who requested samples, they will be with you shortly, please be patient at this busy time - after the show is a hectic trying to get everyone's samples made up but they will be with you.

To all those that booked appointments to come for a consultation at the studio - thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you soon to discuss your ideas in further detail.

And finally.......to all those who paid deposits and placed an order, thank you very much. I know that you have a wide choice of stationery suppliers to book with and I thank you for choosing Perfect Match Designs. I am looking forward to working with you all in the coming months, to create your wedding stationery.

Letterpress Stationery - should I go for it?

2009-09-13T22:55:00.005+01:00

I've mentioned before on this blog how much I love the letterpress printed wedding stationery that is so popular in America, not quite so popular in the UK but gaining in popularity. With this in mind, I have been researching the technique and looking at the possibility of buying a vintage letterpress printing machine. I would love to give it a go so that I could add letterpressed stationery to my range but to be honest it's all a bit overwhelming and daunting trying to work out exactly how it all works, what parts and accessories I would need to get started and whether I would have the skills and the patience to get it right.

So if anyone is reading this and knows anything about letterpress printing, please please drop me a line (christine@perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk) and point me in the right direction! I would really love to hear from you.

Wedding Fair at Lochgreen House Hotel, Troon

2009-09-12T13:01:00.003+01:00

I'm delighted to announce that I have been asked to participate in a wedding fair at the wonderful Lochgreen House Hotel in Troon on Sunday 8th November 2009. What is so special about this event is that Lochgreen have selected only one supplier from each category and I was invited to be their stationery supplier. Lochgreen is a wonderful wedding venue set amidst beautiful grounds and if you haven't already booked your wedding venue, then I thoroughly recommend a viewing of Lochgreen - you will not be disappointed. Why not come along to the wedding fair on 8th November from 12pm - 4pm and view the hotel and grounds for yourself and see everything set up for a wedding.

As well as attending a wedding there myself a few years ago, I have worked with many couples who have been married or held their reception at Lochgreen and I have heard nothing but praise. Look forward to seeing you at the wedding fair!

Prize Draw Winner Announced!

2009-08-26T16:14:00.002+01:00

At the wedding show at the weekend, I ran a prize draw for somebody to win a £100 voucher towards their wedding stationery. I have just made the draw and I'm delighted to announce that the winner is Fiona from Barrhead, just outside Glasgow. Congratulations Fiona, I will be in touch very soon with all the details.

Thank you to everyone who entered, I will be running a similar draw at the SECC Scottish Wedding Show on 22-23 September so you can enter again if you're going to be there!

My wedding show weekend is over!

2009-08-24T16:49:00.004+01:00

I spent the weekend at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall exhibiting my stationery at Scotland's Exclusive Wedding Event. It was extremely well attended and there seemed to be more stands than ever so it was great to be a part of that. I showed quite a few new designs on my stand but as always, there were one or two designs that seemed to catch everyone's eye, namely the Pocketfold style invitation which includes your Invitation, Guest Information Sheet, RSVP Reply Card and Return Envelope. These are ideal if you want to make sure your guests have all the information needed for your event to run smoothly and a much neater way to package everything together without having slips of paper fly out of your invites when your guests open them.

People were also drawn to my designs that incorporated my stunning diamante ribbon buckle sliders. These really are beautiful and come in different shapes to suit your own taste. Designs with the diamante buckles start at £3.95 for day invitations but they really are of the highest quality and worth every penny and doesn't every bride want a little bit of sparkle on their wedding day!

See my full collection online at my website www.perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk now with new invitation gallery with lots of new photos uploaded.

Get Free Tickets for Wedding Show

2009-08-13T13:59:00.003+01:00

I will be exhibiting at Scotland's Exclusive Wedding Event on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August 2009 at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. I have some complimentary tickets available to any brides who would like to get in touch and claim them. First come, first served....please form an orderly queue ladies!

This is a really excellent show with lots of suppliers in a lovely venue, plus the benefit of it being held in the city centre means you can combine it with some shopping or lunch.

Tickets are normally priced at £8.50 so grab a bargain and claim your free ticket by dropping me an email christine@perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk. Promise to visit my stand and look at my stationery and I might even stretch to two tickets. Don't say I'm not generous!

2009-08-02T14:51:00.007+01:00

I just completed the "on the day" stationery for a wedding I was working on and the table plan came out great so I thought I would share it. The colour scheme was black and red and the table plan was embellished with Jet and Light Siam Swarovski Crystals and finished with red satin ribbon. I also made co-ordinating place cards and table names. My clients were delighted with the finished product.

Just Getting on with the Work........!

2009-07-31T12:46:00.005+01:00

Well it's been a busy few weeks since I last blogged. I have been getting into the swing of running the business on a full time basis and have been enjoying it very much. My days seem to have fallen into some sort of routine, mornings being spent answering emails, doing the accounts and invoicing, stock ordering etc. and then the afternoon and early evening spent at the crafting table making lovely stationery. I like to get the television on in the studio and get settled in front of some easy watching like Dr Phil, Oprah Winfrey or Ellen or maybe a spot of cookery from the Barefoot Contessa. I also dip into the Wedding Channel sometimes and catch Bridezillas and count myself lucky...!

So over the past couple of weeks I have finished a set of day and invitations for a couple getting married in the far north of Scotland, they came to me by word of mouth recommendation from a past customer (I love it when that happens!), I also finished all the table stationery for a wedding at Turnberry which turned out to be gorgeous, a black and red theme and I provided all the place cards, table names, seating plan and an order of the day card for all the guests.

Other work I have completed includes a very large invitation order for a wedding at Seamill Hydro Hotel, silver and black themed order of service and table stationery for a wedding at Lochside House Hotel in New Cumnock, chocolate brown and ivory stationery for a wedding at Lochgreen House Hotel in Troon anda sage green and ivory pocketfold invitations order for a local couple.

So, plenty to keep me going. I think the crazy rush of the summer wedding is over so I'm just thinking about some special offers for the winter weddings. I have put a special 15% discount offer up on the website www.perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk, for all weddings between October 2009 - February 2010 so please do get in touch if you are interested in this offer.

I've got a new full time job (well sort of....!)

2009-06-15T16:42:00.004+01:00

I have been running Perfect Match Designs for nearly 2 years now and in that time I have built it up from something of a hobby to a steadily increasing business. I ran it alongside a "day job" and worked on the wedding stationery at the weekends and in the evenings. However, at the end of last month I left my employment and am now delighted to be running Perfect Match Designs on a full time basis. I am very excited about this because not only does it give me a lot more time to devote to developing the business even further, it means I no longer have to work 14 hour days to get everything done!

It also means I can now book appointments with brides to be at any time to suit, during the day, evening or weekends, offering them much more flexibility. Already, I can feel myself getting more organised and less stressed trying to cram everything in.

If you would like to make an appointment to see my entire range of stationery, please don't hesitate to call me on 01292 479299 or email christine@perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk

I'm available any time.....!

Just signed up to Twitter

2009-06-12T21:39:00.004+01:00

Well I just signed up to Twitter this evening, as I have been hearing and reading so much about I thought I would give it a go. I have tried a few of the other social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook before but just couldn't get into them so I am still skeptical about Twitter but will give it a try. One thing I did find was that my preferred use name christinefindlater was already taken (there's someone else out there called Christine Findlater?!!) so I tried to sign up as perfectmatchdesigns but that was not allowed either as it used too many characters. I didn't want to go for perfectmatch as that may incorrectly link me to a dating site(!), so I eventually settled on pmdwedding.

Check out my Twitter at www.twitter.com/pmdwedding

Perfect Match Designs to exhibit at the Scottish Wedding Show

2009-05-23T21:07:00.002+01:00

Perfect Match Designs has just signed up to take a stand at the Scottish Wedding Show which is being held at the SECC on the 19th & 20th September. I will be located on stand 428F so please do make sure you visit to see all my stationery. I will be showcasing some new designs and colour schemes which I am looking forward to creating soon. I will have special offers available throughout the weekend so look out for some discounts!

A source of inspiration for Perfect Match Designs

2009-05-15T22:41:00.005+01:00

I love many things American (not all!) and visit the country regularly on holiday - or should that be vacation!- and since I am now officially turning into a wedding stationery geek, I have been browsing some American websites for inspiration and ideas and to get a feel for how they do things over there. First of all I had to learn the lingo:

A bespoke invitation is a "custom made invite"
When they display all the items that are available in one design, that's called an "ensemble"
The order of service or order of the day is called the "program"
The RSVP card is called a "Response Card"
Instead of a table plan at the reception, they use "escort cards" (quite a nice idea and one I will add to my range I think)

As in many other areas, the design trends for the UK market can often follow on after they have been established in America. For example, the pocketfold style invitations that I make for many of my brides were first seen in America, pioneered by a company called Envelopments, the original pocketfold company. This style of invitation is now widely available in the UK.

The American bride also seems to favour a more traditional "letterpress" style of invitation. This is an old fashioned way of typesetting on a printing press that seems to be popular with the modern bride. One website I like to look at is Hello! Lucky, their designs are really beautiful and take skilled workmanship to transfer the design to the press. This style of letterpress invitation is available in the UK but for some reason does not seem to enjoy the popularity that it does in the USA. This is an image of one of the designs from the Hello! Lucky website.

Some of the other American wedding stationery sites I like to browse include Paper Cup Design and Bella Figura. I also like to keep an eye on some of sites of the retail stationery stores including Kate's Paperie, which I love to visit whenever I am near one and also Mrs John L Strong and Alpine Creative in New York.

I am heading off the States in less than two weeks and can't wait to get my fix!

Perfect Match Designs signs up for two new wedding shows.

2009-05-15T22:31:00.004+01:00

This week, I just signed up to attend another two autumn wedding fairs. Firstly, Thee Wedding Show at Murrayfield Stadium on 3rd - 4th October. This is a brand new show and I'm looking forward to showing my handmade stationery designs to brides on the East coast! The event is being held at Murrayfield Stadium which is an excellent venue and I'm sure Paula and Charmaine at Ilka Events will put on an fabulous show.

I have also taken a stand at the West End Wedding Show on Sunday 25th October which is being held at Oran Mor at the top of Byres Road in Glasgow. Again, this is a new event and I'm looking forward to meeting lots of prospective clients.

I look forward to meeting you if you are planning to attend either of these wedding fairs.

Upcoming Wedding Fairs

2009-04-23T23:16:00.002+01:00

Perfect Match Designs will be attending a couple of wedding fairs over the summer. The Butterfly Trust is a Scottish charity dedicated to supporting people with Cystic Fibrosis and their families. They are holding a charity wedding fair on Sunday 21st June 2009 at the Barcelo Marine Hotel, Troon from 10am - 4pm. Why not come along and support this worthwhile charity while meeting some of the area's best wedding suppliers.

In August, I will be exhibiting once again at Scotland's Exclusive Wedding Event which is held twice a year at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. This is one of my most worthwhile events and I always get a lot of orders from this wedding fair. I am looking forward to exhibiting once again and when the majority of my summer wedding orders are completed, I will be working on some new designs to display at this wedding fair.

Perfect Match Designs - Client Wedding Venues

2009-04-18T13:23:00.006+01:00

Well I'm posting again after a quiet period that was far too long. I have been incredibly busy over the past few months, attending the Spring wedding fairs, having consultations with lots of lovely brides-to-be and of course, making their stationery. I am right in the middle of probably my busiest period of the year just now - that is making the orders for the July and August weddings. I think I'm just about on schedule!

I had this idea the other night that I was going to write a list of all the venues and hotels that my couples have held their wedding in and it's really quite a list as you'll see below.

Brig O'Doon Hotel, Alloway
Lochgreen House Hotel, Troon
The Piersland House Hotel, Troon
Turnberry Hotel, Turnberry
Gailes Hotel, Irvine
Fairfied House Hotel, Ayr
Ross Priory, Gartocharn
Cameron House Hotel, Loch Lomond
Glenskirlie Castle
The Park Hotel, Kilmarnock
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Western House Hotel, Ayr
Barony Castle, Peebles
The Argyll Hotel, Isle of Iona
Airth Castle, Airth
The Drumossie Hotel, Inverness
Ballathie House Hotel, Perth
Blairquhan Castle, Ayrshire
Barcelo Marine Hotel, Troon
Buchanan Arms Hotel, Drymen
Murrayshall House Hotel, Perthshire
Lochside House Hotel, New Cumnock
Savoy Park Hotel, Ayr
Seamill Hydro, Seamill
Enterkine Country House, By Ayr
Lea Park Hotel, Grangemouth
Moor Park House Hotel, Kilbirnie

It's nice to think that from Turnberry to Inverness, I have played a part in all these weddings and I hope there will be many more to add in the months to come.

Bespoke Design - What Does it Really Mean?

2008-11-12T22:23:00.007Z

Most handmade wedding stationery companies, including Perfect Match Designs, really like to make a big deal about the fact that they offer a bespoke design service, often at no additional charge to the client. But what does this really mean in practice and should you consider having a bespoke design created for you?

Well it means that you are starting from scratch to have something designed to your specifications, in your colour scheme with your chosen embellishments and some elements of design and personlisation that, when all brought together, results in a design that no-one else will ever have. It may mean using a very unusual colour that no-one else has ever thought of but is an exact match for your colour scheme, it may be using the Bride & Groom's initials to create a monogram for the front of the invitations or it may be just putting all the design elements together in a way that nobody else has thought of before.

I have never actually made the exact same design more than once for any of my brides - everyone has their own requirements that make it slightly different than the one before. For example, a very popular colour scheme at the moment is a deep plum / aubergine colour and I have made this colour scheme for several couples over the past few months. Some choose to have a white or ivory base invitation and bring in a hint of their colour scheme with a satin or organza ribbon, others choose to bring the colour in by adorning the invitations with Swarovski crystals to match their colour scheme. Others are slightly more daring and have the invitation bases made in the colour itself. This can be very striking and more unusual than the more traditional white or ivory bases. So, just from one colour scheme, many ideas can be incorporated to produce several different designs.

Many brides see my stationery on display at wedding fairs and assume that the style that is on show is the only way that invitation can be made - however we like to keep stressing that any design can be made in colour scheme - in fact after two days at a wedding fair, we are sick of the sound of our own voices saying over and over "You can have any design made in any colour scheme"!

We have access to hundreds of different cardstocks including embossed and hammered, metallic and pearlised and they all come in different sized cards (tall, small and large square) and shapes (wallets and pocketfolds) so the possible combinations run to literally thousands! So if we can't find the shape, style, size and design of stationery that complements your chosen wedding theme, then, as my dad used to say - I hope you've got comfortable shoes on!!

The benefit of having a stationery designer like Perfect Match Designs create something just for you is that you can you be assured that no other bride will ever have the same wedding stationery as you and it is very satisfying to know that you have worked with the designer to incorporate your own ideas and personality which surely must be better than buying something off the shelf.

So if you would like Perfect Match Designs to create something bespoke just for you, we would love to hear from you, drop me an email at christine@perfectmatchdesigns.co.uk

Christine

My First Post!

2008-11-11T23:17:00.011Z

Well this is my first blog posting. I have noticed that more and more websites that I browse have a blog and it seems a more popular way to keep customers up to date with what's happening so I thought I might as well join in and give it a go. I don't know how often I will post but will try to make it regular.

So who am I? Well I'm Christine Findlater and I live in Prestwick on the Ayrshire coast in South West Scotland, around 35 miles south of Glasgow. For the purposes of this blog, I run Perfect Match Designs, a handmade wedding stationery company and I make beautiful (well I would say that...) wedding stationery for lots of lovely couples all over Ayrshire and Central Scotland. I have been making wedding stationery for around 18 months now and in that time I have started my business from scratch. I get most of my orders from exhibiting at wedding fairs such as The Scottish Wedding Show at the SECC or Scotland's Exclusive Wedding Event at the Royal Concert Hall. However, I am now getting more and more requests by word of mouth. Wedding guests who have received a wedding invitation that has been created by me would like to me to design their stationery. This is a really great feeling and of course, great advertising.

In my upcoming posts, I would like to pass on some of what I have learned about the wedding stationery market and in particular pass on some hints and tips to brides to help them make some decisions about selecting the perfect stationery for the big day. They choice out there can be overwhelming and if I can offer any guidance, then I would be delighted to.

So that's it, first post done (wasn't too bad really...!)

Christine