Choosing your Stationery Supplier
Finding a wedding stationery supplier that can give you gorgeous designs, a fast and trustworthy service, friendly help, and complete flexibility may seem like a hopeless mission, but help is at hand! Here are some top tips for finding suppliers, choosing the good ones and questions you should be asking.
1. Finding Suppliers
- Wedding magazines - but don’t just look in the back for the advertisements as there’s no quality control over who is included - check out the Editor’s choices, photoshoots and news pages to get the inside scoop on who the press think is good.
- Wedding shows - if you’ve got enough time and can get to a show its a good place to see suppliers in person, and competing against each other. In one room you can compare samples and service from 10 different companies, and usually exclusive show discounts are applied. Shows are advertised in the magazines and local press.
- Wedding planners - if you’re using the professionals to plan your wedding they should have a list of preferred suppliers offering stationery. This should be some guarantee of quality service, and they may do all the liaising for you.
- Internet search - if you have a good idea of the type of wedding stationary you want (”contemporary pink wedding invite modern type”), type it into google and see what happens. Listings on the rights are paid adverts, those on the left are ranked by popularity. But be warned - there are hundreds of sites out there, and ranking does not necessarily mean better quality or design. Look at the suppliers’ website - if its badly designed, difficult to navigate, and confusing, it may not be the professional service you are looking for.
- Internet chat forums - either post a question, or search under stationery to see what other brides have to say. Everyone will have different tastes and budgets, but they also appreciate good service which can be half the battle.
- Wedding suppliers - chat to your venue, the photographer, the florist and the caterer - they may have worked with someone they are keen to recommend.
- Friends - speak to friends and work colleagues, especially if they’ve been through it before - its great to get a recommendation from someone you know and trust.
2. Choosing Suppliers
Which supplier you opt for will be down to your own personal criteria, but here are some things to think about:
- Your wedding style (see finding your wedding style) - if you have a strong sense of what your day’s going to be, this will narrow down the list
- Budget - the bottom line: how much you’re willing to spend
- Level of service - if they don’t email you back within a week, maybe they’re not the one for you
- Flexibility - some stationers can change colours, typefaces, papers and designs, while others say “what you see is what you get” - think about how important the details are to you
- Your relationship with them - do they seem helpful and friendly, or too busy to take your call?
- Are they in the same country - the internet means you have more access to the world, but there will be an increase in delivery times and delivery prices.
3. Before you order
So you hope you’ve found the right supplier, but now you should make sure.
- Request a sample - some stationers have brochures of all their ranges, others can send out specific samples (for free, or for a small charge) - make sure you’re happy with the print and paper quality.
- Speak to someone - sometimes if your order is simple this isn’t necessary, but if you are worried about anything, require changes or have a complicated order, speak to someone first - make sure you can have a good working relationship with them, and that your requirements are possible.
- Get a final quote - check all the prices are inclusive of design, artworking, amendments, envelopes and VAT. If delivery is extra, how much will this be. And find when you have to pay a deposit, and the final invoice.
- Sign off proofs - if you’ve proceeded to order you must always sign off printed proofs before giving final approval. These are not normally of finished printed quality but are for layout and text. Check everything carefully, once its approved, any costs incurred from further amendments will be charged as extra.
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