Wedding Stationery 101: What You Actually Need (And What You Don’t)

Planning your wedding and wondering what stationery you actually need?

In this episode, we dive into wedding invitations, save the dates, and on-the-day stationery, breaking down what’s essential, what’s a waste of money, and whether DIY wedding invitations are really worth it.

We’re joined by Michelle from Rella Event Stationery, who shares expert wedding planning advice, insider tips, and the biggest mistakes couples are making right now.

We cover:

• Wedding stationery checklist (what you actually need)
• When to send save the dates and invitations
• DIY vs professional stationery
• Wedding trends for 2026
• Budget-saving tips for couples

If you’re planning a wedding, this episode will help you make smarter decisions and avoid unnecessary stress.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Michelle, owner of Rela Event Stageway. Uh covering all your station needs since 2017.

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Somebody always drops out last minute. The minute we're in black and white, we're going to be moving into it.

SPEAKER_04 0:14

I'm really creative and good on Canva. Why should I pay for you? When you are beautiful vendor, make sure you note down what's the biggest piece of advice then to your customers. Because always forget to Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Totally Absolutely Engage.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Hello, and I'm excited today because we actually have one of our original hub members, Michelle, owner of Rella Event Stationery. Covering all your stationary needs since 2017 with a tiny break in the middle somewhere. And in that time, Michelle has been a TWIA regional finalist, and she's had multiple NWWA County Bride nominations, including this year. Business is growing fast, taking on new staff this year, and social media is rapidly growing, gaining followers in recent times. And you are just insanely busy. Whenever I try and get a hold of you, you're busy. So let's just get straight into it, I guess. Explain what stationery is, especially in sort of like the wedding world, as it were.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

So wedding stationery starts right at the very beginning. Once you've set your date, the next thing you want to do is send your save the dates out. So that's when your stationary journey kind of starts at the beginning. So you've got to save the dates, and then um you have your wedding invitations, and then there's all of the on the day stationary items as well that people tend to forget and leave last minute, but your table plan, welcome signs, place cards. There's lots of stationery that goes in on the day that people don't realise.

SPEAKER_04 1:55

Yeah, because I'll be honest, I just thought it was invitations until like we were chatting about it, and he's like, Nope. Yeah, there's loads more. And I was like, Oh, I feel terrible that.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

It's when the cust uh the questions kept coming in, wasn't it? And it wasn't just about invitations, and then we realised oh. Oh, it's not just invitations. There's a lot, a lot going on.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Yeah, a lot.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

So, what the must-have stationery then for a for a wedding. What what do you think is the bare minimum?

SPEAKER_02 2:16

So save the dates are one of those things you can pick and leave, depends on how far in advance. And I always say if you are getting married around a bank holiday or school holidays, send a save the date out because people book holidays really far in advance now.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Appreciate those.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

And then your invitations, and then for your on the day stationary, I always say there are five things that are the most important and they'll make your day run smoothly. So you've got your table plan, your place cards, menus, table numbers, and then I always say reserve seating tags just to make sure that Auntie Jill doesn't sit on that front row where you want your bridesmaids to sit. So those are for me are the five most important things because they will make your day run more smoothly. And then everything else after that, I always say a nice to have. So you can pick and leave them depending on what budget you've got left at the end.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

So, what would be an addition? What is a nice to have addition?

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Um, welcome signs, order of the day signs. Um, a lot of people now. One thing that has been very popular this year and the end of last year is people are now using QR codes to get guests to upload their photos. I've seen this, I think this is a really good idea. So, signs, what we're doing is doing a couple of signs around the venue, but around the bar, if there are seating areas where people are going to pool to have them there, and then a couple on the tables as well, so that people can scan and upload. Then we also send them on the thank you cards after as well. So if people have forgot to do it during the wedding, when they get the thank you card, the QR codes on there again to remind them to upload their photos. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

So all that can be colour matched, themed, yeah. You can run the same theme going right the way through from save the date, right the way through to table planner, right the way through to 100%.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

Any once we've set your fonts and theme, we just match that throughout. Because I think there's nothing worse than seeing four different pieces of items on the table, and they've all got completely different colours, fonts, all sorts. So I'm an O C D person, so I like it automatically.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

And do they have much input into the design, or do you like to be completely creative and then they choose from the design that you've done?

SPEAKER_02 4:24

I get a real mixture to be honest with brides. I get some brides who trust me completely and say, This is the colour scheme, a couple of ideas of what they like, go cra go away and create something. And then I have others that we have consultations with and we work together through different elements of designs. Because I design everything bespoke, they can literally go through my Instagram and say, I like this off this one, but I like this off that one. Can we combine it? I'm not one of them people that's that's a design, and yeah, because I was gonna say, where do people get their inspiration?

SPEAKER_00 4:55

But then if you go down your Instagram page, you can just get it from you've got you've got it. There's a lot of different designs, a lot of different colours.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

And if you look, no two rarely match each other because people have said I like this bit off here, but actually I want these florals so we combine and make it personal to them to match their wedding.

SPEAKER_04 5:14

Is there limitations to what you can do? Have you ever been asked for anything completely wacky and you're like, I can't do that? Or can you pretty much do everything?

SPEAKER_02 5:23

Um, I recently had a bride where um she gave me an inspo and I wasn't sure if I could do it, but I gave it a go. Um, it took me a long time, I'm not gonna lie, I didn't sit there pondering for hours. Oh what was it? Um it was like Aperol Spritz, fun uh martini glasses. It was very fun, more than um floral.

SPEAKER_04 5:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

So it was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I gave it a go, and the bride absolutely loved it. It was a wedding last weekend, so um I had lots of lovely messages off the bride and she loved it.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

So and I know that you never say no. We've seen your work, and I know you never say no, and you give everything a go. So no challenge to too much.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

No, I look I will always give it a go. Um, I think I've very rarely said, I will say if somebody sends me somebody else's design and says, I want this, that is always a straight no because I don't believe in copying somebody else's work. We will take inspiration from different things that people like and they've seen on the internet, but we will I'll never copy anybody's work.

SPEAKER_04 6:34

Do you do packages then? How does the ordering work? Is it per person or per bit of stationary?

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Like so we break everything down into slots. So the first slot will be their invitations and we'll work through the invitations, and then they'll have a second slot which is closer to the wedding, or they're on the day stationary. And I do have one package called the I do package, um, but a lot of I always believe that it doesn't matter how big or small your wedding is, you shouldn't be penalised for having a small wedding. Every day is special, so I just work with the couples to create their own bespoke package because some people might want um I don't know, place cards, and somebody else might be doing something really quirky with the partner, and they don't need police cards, so I I just don't find packages fully work for me.

SPEAKER_04 7:25

Fair enough. So your whole thing is completely bespoke.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Bespoke, yeah. They pick and choose and make their own kind of package.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

And how far in advance? So someone books their venue. So we've booked the plough, for example. When are we then thinking, right, I need to save date invitation? When do I get them up?

SPEAKER_02 7:40

So save the dates. I always say send them out twelve to eighteen months before your wedding. If it's bank holidays, school holidays, closer towards the 18 months.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

And then invitations, send them out roughly six to eight months before your wedding. And then you run the day stationary. I always recommend that my couples book a slot in my diary for five to six weeks before the wedding. I don't like going any earlier than that just because uh somebody's auntie's friend's cat died and they can't make the wedding anymore, and somebody always drops out last minute, always happens. So the closer to the wedding we can get, it means the bride has less stress thinking, oh, I've had a table plan made and place cards, and and now I've got people's names on things that aren't coming anymore, and they want to swap it for different names. So the closer we can get to that wedding date, the better for them.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Yeah, and just going to table planners. A lot of people, I think when you say stationary, they just think, oh, it's print on card, print on paper, whatever. You there's the material ones now, isn't there?

SPEAKER_02 8:40

Yeah, so there's five.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

I did not know this. Yeah. Well, I've seen them, but I think a lot of people that are just booking their wedding are now like, oh, what is actually open to me?

SPEAKER_02 8:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

And I think when you hear the word stationary, you just think so.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

My husband came home yesterday and asked why there were lots of bin bags on my sofa. He thought he was being kicked out, and actually they were bin bags of tambourines.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

And he came up to us tambourines.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Can you say that again? I was like, yeah, the bin bags of tambourines tambourines. He's like, How many tambourines? I was like, I think there's over 70 tambourines in there.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

So wedding to avoid it.

SPEAKER_04 9:18

We're doing wait, I mean I need to know, yeah, why why why do we have so many tambourines?

SPEAKER_02 9:22

Because when the couple come in um when they do their first walk into the breakfast room, all of their guests are going to be shaking their tambourines and making lots of noise for them to come through.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Wow. So yeah. It's a good idea.

SPEAKER_04 9:35

I mean, it is, it's a bit crazy. Is there a trend in stationery? Do you tend to find? Or are people completely unique in what they do go for?

SPEAKER_02 9:43

I I do think we follow trends. So, like I said, the fabric, a lot of fabric is coming through, especially towards the end of this year. I've already got lots of bookings with lots of.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Yeah, because you can sort of see what's coming up towards down the line, can't you?

SPEAKER_02 9:55

Lots of fabric um signage is coming through.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Black and white, is that black and white super popular. I'm seeing that everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

So we're moving now. So at the minute we're in black and white, we're gonna be moving into um mockers, chocolate browns, espresso. That is gonna be the end of 2026-2027.

SPEAKER_04 10:14

Oh, there's a hot take. Look out for it. That's what we're coming into. What is your biggest piece of advice to your customers?

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Um, when it comes to invitations, the RSVP date is always overlooked. And my biggest piece of advice is when you are booking your venue, make sure you note down when they need final numbers by. Because that will impact your RSVP date. Right. I always say when your venue needs final numbers by, add at least a month onto that date, and that's your RSVP date. That allows you a month to chase those people that haven't responded, but then also with your partner, sit down calmly and work out what your table plan's going to be, who's got special dietary requirements that you need to inform the venue of. There's nothing worse than your venue chasing you and you're still chasing your guests. So that's always overlooked, but that also helps as well to work out when you actually need to send your invitations out because people don't realise that once they've received the invitations, they've then got to go and hand them out to all of their friends and family.

SPEAKER_04 11:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

And you might not see your auntie for two or three weeks, and if you've only given yourself a month to hand them out and the RSVP date, it's all very dry. People don't think about the timeline and when the sending. I wouldn't have thought about that at all. Hand delivering them.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

No, because a lot of people get their invitation, stick them to the fridge, or forget about it.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Another big piece of advice is don't hand out over Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

Because people think the Christmas cards, so they get put to the side. Or this is so smart. People are in that Christmas bubble. Soon as November hits, people are in that Christmas bubble, especially women have got to sort out all the Christmas presents, got to sort out the Christmas dinner and all of those things. That a wedding invitation comes through and they think, I'll deal with that in the new year. It gets put to one side, and then the next thing you're being chased by the bride and groom for an RSVP because you forgot because you've put it on the side. So we always say, do not send them out over Christmas, either just before in November or wait till the new year and send them out in January.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Yeah, my daughter's born in January, and school invites used to go missing because it was Christmas, so it never worked.

SPEAKER_04 12:35

And what is your biggest ick then? Your absolute no-go, you don't like when people do it.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Oh, so something we're seeing a rise of at the moment, and it is an ick for me, is people are putting their bank details on their wedding invitations so people can send them money for the gift. And for me, it's a really big ick because I know if I got that invitation, I'd be like, you know, I'm not coming now. I didn't even know that that was a thing that people were doing. Why'd that start? I've only started seeing it in the last six months.

SPEAKER_04 13:11

But every time I do see it, I'm like, and do you advise people to not do it if you do see it, or do you just have to go along with it? Just go along with it.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

It's hard though, isn't it? Because it it's a good idea in theory. Yeah. Because it relieves the guests of having to think of a gift and they're actually getting something that they want. But then when is the right time to say, here's my bank details? I know. Please put money in.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

Whereas I don't know, for for me, after the wedding, you open your card and you go, Oh, our Auntie Jill gave me £20. You've got the money with the card. Whereas after the wedding, you've then got to go through your bank statement and see who sent you money to say thank you to them. I don't know, it just doesn't fit right.

SPEAKER_04 13:53

So it's very an odd concept, to be honest. You've got any more questions before we go into our customer ones.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

I think the main ones that kept coming up was what happens if there's a typo error after a print. Oh. Do you do a sample order before committing the full run? They were the main problems.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

So people can order samples, not of everything, because some things are quite costly. So like table plans, um, they are quite costly to have them printed. So it's just not cost-effective for the couple to have samples of those. But things like your invitations, you can order samples of those and see them in person. Also means you get to see the card stocks and the colours that you've chosen. Just silly things, isn't it? Like the thickness and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

Um, and then I always provide a digital proof so you get to read over that and have a look, spot any typos.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

And the the couple are responsible for checking everything.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

They are. So once um they've received the proof and they're happy, they basically get sent a link and they have to go on the link and it tells them please check, check, check, and check again in big red letters. And once they've signed that form, if there are any typos, it is the customer's responsibility. Sometimes I might spot them. I think one thing that people don't realise is because I see words all day, every day, you get word blind. It really is a thing.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

It is a thing.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

So I there are things where they should have been completely obvious, but I've just completely switched off to the words, and I'm looking at the overall design of how it all aesthetically looks on the page. And also when it comes to gas names, people spell their names in so many different ways. Now, I don't know if they're right, new names as well, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Unique names, etc. etc.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

People have to provide names on a spreadsheet, and they are literally lifted out and imported into the documents. I don't touch them. So if they're spelt wrong on your sheet, then it's gonna be wrong.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

And if there's if you're sending them the invites, this is another main question. If there was damage then ideally, if you deal with it, yeah. Fair enough.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

What a kind soul, they do, they get replaced.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Yeah, and then you have the argument with the raw mail. Fair enough.

SPEAKER_04 16:11

Yeah, perfect. Right, we'll head on into the questions then. The most exciting bit, I believe. So we've had stuff sent in from Instagram, TikTok. All for you. I'm ready. You're ready. Such a nervous I'm ready. Okay, this one's in from Clara. She says, I'm really creative and good on Canva. Why should I pay for you?

SPEAKER_02 16:35

Because whilst you're creative and good on Canva, you need to understand print settings and how that is going to transpose from how it looks on Canva to whatever printer, whether you're sending it out to a printer's or you're trying to print at home, there are the magic settings that work that a lot of people don't understand. You've you've designed on Canva, but do you know if your home printer can handle your thickness of card that you want on? Because you're going to end up printing on it.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Yeah, you most definitely can't.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

But yeah. I have five different printers. Five? Yeah. All that cater for different types of card, different thickness of card, different colours, depending on what is on the design, will all determine what kind of printer it goes on.

SPEAKER_04 17:25

Oh, I never knew this.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

And also a lot a lot of people are finding is they are downloading out of Canva, but because they don't want to pay for Canva Pro, for example, they're downloading at the very basic settings. So when they are paying for another printers to print it, the pictures are pixelated. The text isn't the right. You think black is black, but there are lots of different shades of black. And depending on if you're trying to get black text or a black background, depends on what type of shade of black you should pick. So this is where choosing somebody who specialises in doing stationery always benefits.

SPEAKER_04 18:04

We also say about this with DIY brides anyway, it's so time consuming.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Yeah. People don't take into account their actual time it takes to make something.

SPEAKER_04 18:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

Because they say, Oh, I brought this, this, and this, and it only cost me this much, but how many hours? And you've had to buy all of those tools to make that particular item. What are you going to do with all those tools after? Exactly. You've now got a box full of set up a stationary. Yeah. Which we're seeing a lot of rise of of people who are brides and then they are going into a making station themselves because they've made something on Canva. But it's all well and good doing it whilst you're working full time and you're going home and doing it. But when you mess something up in somebody's wedding day is important. Like for me, my bride's wedding days are the heart and soul of everything I do. Like everything has made sure that it's perfect on time for them because it's my priority when it's a hobbyist's they're doing it as a hobby. It's not their priority. That wedding day isn't there.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Yeah. And every design's the same, isn't it, on Canva? I know Canva's got loads of television. Yeah. Well, you can tell when someone does it. I mean, this is again controversial, but on Instagram pages. Yeah, it's not a company. When someone's using Canva, you can just tell it's a Canva page.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Canva and chat GBT. You can tell instantly. Yes, it's so true.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

I think we're all getting very used to it now, aren't we?

SPEAKER_04 19:32

We are. Right, we'll head on to the next one. In from Amy. Are stationary suppliers guilty of upselling items that end up in the bin the morning after the wedding?

SPEAKER_02 19:43

It depends whether you choose a good stationary supplier or not. Interesting. I will, I'm always honest and up front. Probably does not benefit me sometimes. But if somebody is on the fence of something or I don't think something is necessary that they're they're ordering, I will always say to them, I don't think you need that, spend your money elsewhere, which I probably shouldn't do from a business point of view. But I like to think that I'm on a journey with my brides and I'm one of their like friends almost when I'm going through that journey with them. Like I'll always say those five things that I mentioned before are the most important. Anything you have after that, you don't necessarily need to be able to do that. You don't need to have it. Yeah. If you've got the budget and you want it, spend it. If you're trying to claw some of the budget back because you've spent too much elsewhere, don't have it because it's not gonna make your day flow any better.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

So you do try and be cost effective with them.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Yeah. And with that as well, I I don't have a minimum spend and I don't have a minimum quantity because I like to think that people can order as much or as little as they need. So you're not charging per guest, you just so uh what a lot of um stationers do is there has to be a minimum spend that they spend with them, for example £100 or a minimum quantity for invitations. What a lot of suppliers say is that you have to have a minimum of 30 invitations. I don't do that. You can order as many or as little as you need.

SPEAKER_04 21:16

Makes perfect sense. Right, we'll head on to John. Are paper invites pointless in an increasingly digital world?

SPEAKER_02 21:24

It depends on how much you value being traditional or not. I do think that with paper invitations they are keepsakes that people, especially like your nana and the close immediate family.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

It's the older generation, isn't it? Definitely.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Yeah, they do love a keepsake. Um I can I can see that we are moving towards where on the the day invitations are still paper, but the evening invitations are moving a lot towards a digital invitation because your evening guests are those ones. That are your friends from work and the people that the although you care about them because they're in your life, the sentiment isn't the same.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

No, so a text will do it. No, not quite. A text will do it.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

Do you do any any digital bits? So if you order your on the day your invitations with me, then I will do an evening as a digital uh same same design, but the digital as a the evening, sorry, as a digital invitation. Makes sense. Right. But it isn't a realm of fully moved into yet.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

But probably will be. Probably. I think you'll have to, won't you, eventually?

SPEAKER_04 22:37

Okay, Helen. Thousands of wedding invitations end up in the bin every day. How are you making yours sustainable?

SPEAKER_02 22:45

Well, you can order invitations that are on plantable paper. And I'm and I do a lot of those now, yeah. Plantable paper. Yeah, so when you plant it, it turns into a wildflower seed, uh into wildflowers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:59

That is actually so and you do that.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

And we've tested it as well because I made my mum's birthday card out of the paper, and then we planted it, and actual wildflowers do come out of the paper. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_04 23:11

Well, I think that's a great answer to the question. That is so bizarre. Okay, we'll move on. Sam says, Can couples actually tell the difference between a £500 stationary package and a £50 Canva job?

SPEAKER_02 23:27

I think you can because you can tell when something's homemade, not cut straight, the ink's bleeding everywhere, um, and a lot of the finishing touches that go into things. For example, Palescent card, you try and print on Palescent card at home, and you will not get the same kind of quality that you will from somebody like me, because I have got the printers that specialise in printing on that kind of card. So, yeah, I do think you can tell on if somebody's done it from Canva. You do have the brides that are very, very good and very creative and do create a very good product, but then we also have the brides that don't cut straight and everything's wonky, or the scissors, they're not using scissors. You know, I've always been fussy about my scissors. There are different scissors for different things, and you will have people trying to cut ribbon with kitchen scissors, and you can tell because the edge edges of the ribbon are all frayed and messy. It's the little details that give it away on whether it's been professionally made or DIY made. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

And Canva, I mean it's very 2D, isn't it? It is that this template, so it's a basically a print.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

Printing on a piece of card, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

A lot of your stuff obviously has all the bespoke stuff, so the bows, so I accept the lace, pearls, yeah. Yeah, you do all sorts with it. You couldn't get that on Canva.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

And even if you did print it at home from Canva and then I did all those things on, people don't appreciate the time. So all of the designs with pearls on, I hand pearl all of those invitations.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Which we can vouch for because we used to watch you do it.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

In a day at the moment, I am putting on over a thousand pearls a day. It's time consuming. People don't realise how much there's two hours in the office at the moment. Yeah. There's two hours in the office at the moment doing that. Yeah. You try doing that around having your normal job, planning the wedding, looking after children, you'll soon realise that actually I don't have the the time is the value in the yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Which we say a lot, don't we? We do all the time.

SPEAKER_04 25:42

Yeah. Okay, next one. Ella says, What's one cheap upgrade that makes invites look expensive?

SPEAKER_02 25:53

An envelope liner. What's that? So um obviously when you open an envelope, the inside of the envelope is the same colour as the rest of the envelope. And um envelope liners are not cost effective.

SPEAKER_04 26:09

Oh, I've got that wrong. Not costly.

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Yeah, not costly. But it's basically um an insert that goes inside the envelope, it's shaped to the shape of the envelope, and couples have like their wedding monogram on there or a pattern, and it just looks it elevates the envelope and makes it look more expensive before you've even taken the invitation out of the envelope rather than just a plain envelope, and then not that much to add on.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

I didn't even know that was a thing. No, I didn't either. But it sounds very posh.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

It automatically makes the envelope look more expensive before you've e yes and thicker. Before you've even taken the bigger.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

Do you do those stammax? Yes. I think that's a way to make it look more expensive. It just gives me Harry Potter vibes. But they aren't cheap. Uh okay. I don't know my stuff, is why I'm not an expert.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

That's why we've got you on the couch.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

How much are they though? Just out of interest.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

So I charge 75p per wax stamp. Oh right, okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

So it's not outrageous.

SPEAKER_02 27:03

It's not outrageous, but when you times that by however many of invitations.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

But it's not something you can do yourself and look good, is it, really?

SPEAKER_02 27:10

No, it is a a skill to it.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Yeah, I was talking to um uh a tool toastmaster about it, because he does it on his invitations. Always thank yous when he's to his brides and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

It's all about making sure that the wax is at the exact temperature and it's poured at the right time, and there's lots that goes into it cooling the stamp down, things that people don't.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Very scientific.

SPEAKER_04 27:35

Scientific. Okay, final one. It's in from I know well done. It's in from Lola, and she says, What's the biggest mistake couples make when purchasing your items?

SPEAKER_02 27:47

Um the biggest thing that I say I'd say not taking into account the RSVP date, and then they give themselves panic because they real when I say, When does your venue need the final numbers back? And they realise, oh my gosh, I've got six weeks to get these made. I obviously have a lead time to make things, and by the time they've got them and handed them out, it it's the the biggest mistake is the not planning in advance.

SPEAKER_04 28:19

Yeah, makes perfect sense, right? Well done.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Yeah, well done. No, not really. I just know that you're just mentally busy and you have always got something on the go. And I never realised I'm so much too stationary until I met you. Yeah. And now I just I didn't until this conversation.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

I don't think people realise that how many touch points we have with the customer as well. Because so, like, we're having people who are booking in now who are not getting married till 2028. So I've got like a two-year, two, three-year journey with them because we've doing save the date, then we'll be in touch again to do invitations, then we're in touch again to do on the day stationery, and in that time they've had kids and a dog and moved out and all sorts of we go on quite a long journey together.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

And suppose after that journey they'll then stick with you after weddings as well. Yes. There's so much more, then isn't there?

SPEAKER_02 29:16

I do. I have lots of couples that come back to me because their partners are having special birthdays or they're having children and they're having baby showers and then christenings and all of those things. I go on a life journey. Like I've got people who I met back in 2018-19 that I still have orders from them now and we still communicate. It's like we've made a friendship as we've gone through their life journey with them as well, which is nice. Oh, lovely.

SPEAKER_04 29:44

How can people find you then?

SPEAKER_02 29:45

So I am on Instagram and Facebook, um, and I also have a website, but it has been upgraded, so please don't judge it. And what's your hand on? At Ralla underscore event stationary. But stationary is with an E and not with an F.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

That was gonna be one of my X. That was my Icks.

SPEAKER_04 30:05

Yeah, I'm spelling it with an A.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

Oh but that's just it. Just don't know why I'm spelling with an E.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

My mind's not that.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

It's one of my icks. I can't understand why people can't get that to that.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Set up an email address with my email spelt wrong so that I can still capture because I didn't realise how many emails I was missing.

SPEAKER_00 30:25

What a great idea. Who thought that? Take it you gave an idea.

SPEAKER_04 30:31

Bloody air. Anyway, on that note, thank you, Michelle, for coming on. Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure, and we will see you all next week.