social alchemy WEDDING DESIGN

 a full-service luxury invitation + event branding design studio:
we’re passionate about making sure the very first touch points for your wedding are meaningful, memorable and indicative of the momentous event ahead. see below for a snapshot into what our relationship might look like…

1 // LET’S CHAT

This 20-30 minute chat will become one of the most important parts of our work together – and is when we’ll get to know your story, style, and take a look at your paper needs. We’ll be listening intently to the vision of what your event will look like, feel like – and pick up on any key details or personal interests, which will help shape the design direction. It’s wonderful if you have some overall event inspiration thoughts, a design board from your planner, and/or your color palette prior to this call (we love Pinterest boards, too! - -and we are not necessarily looking for paper elements here). We use this conversation to envision the big picture, make sure we are a good fit for each other, and breed the excitement to see what path your inspiration may take us. —— So it begins!

2 // lists, information and timeline

From there, we’ll guide you through a seamless design + production experience, keeping us all organized along the way. After the initial call, Lauren will create a shared Google document that contains helpful direction on the way to format addressing for envelopes, timeline dates to hit based upon the mailing date that we’ve targeted, and key points of information that will guide us on wording the elements of your suite properly. If we are developing a wedding website for you, we will start collecting the information for that, too. This will be our working ‘tool box’ to keep things organized as we move along in the process.

3 // LET THE ALCHEMY BEGIN

It is important to us to treat your project with passion and attention to detail as if it were our own event. We’ll take some time behind the scenes to truly immerse ourselves in your vision, determining the best materials, paper, type of printing and embellishments that will honor your aesthetic, and set the tone for your event. Each piece becomes customized and finessed to your personal style + needs, incorporating creative typography as an emphasis throughout. Finally, we present you with a proof of a full suite that has been crafted with all of those details in mind to review with you. Our suite design is comprehensive to ensure that when the parts come together as a whole, the experience of opening the envelope and pulling it out as a package is also thoughtfully tailored and executed. This serves as the baseline that we use for discussion, and puts us on a path toward any changes or tweaks you might want to see from there. (click here for a deeper dive into the mind of our creative ‘alchemy’)

4 // REFINE + PERFECT

Rest assured, you do not need to shoulder the burden of directing us specifically in any changes as we refine the suite. More importantly, letting us hear raw reactions or feelings to what you are seeing - good or bad - guides us to whatever change may be necessary. Our best work relies on developing our client’s trust in our design sensability, using communication and honest feedback to create pieces that truly capture your style. We feel that if we do our part to listen well enough, we can arrive efficiently to the best solution. In our experience of nearly 20 years in design and branding, we’ve been fortunate enough to rarely have anyone stray far from their original proof or logo (knocking on wood right now!). The proofing process usually lasts no longer than a week or two once you’ve seen the first round. We set a goal to keep our momentum, in an effort to focus fully on your project during that time.

5 // PRODUCTION

The journey continues as we enter production, when it all springs to life. Production time varies depending on the printing techniques and materials needed for your suite, but is factored into your timeline to meet your mailing week or event date. We have a team of printers and craftspeople that are masters of their unique talents and carry out various portions of the invitation suite, making them true works of art.

6 // assembly + mailing

Once everything is back in our studio, we inspect each piece of your order, ensuring every detail, color, and material is just right. Then we dive into packaging the pieces with their ribbons, vintage postage or other embellishments to complete the suite. As a full-service stationer, we typically also handle any stuffing, mailing (and sweet-talking the postal workers when we need new ink for the hand-cancelling stamp) in an effort to streamline the experience and ensure all ‘postal’ nuances are handled properly with addressing, weight, thickness and postage.

As a bonus before mailing, we set up a styled photoshoot of the suite + details, providing you with a ‘sneak peek’ of what’s about to hit your guests’ mailboxes — still allowing you the full experience of the invitation arrival in your own mailbox. :-)

7 // day of paper and branded elements

…Let’s not forget the day-of details! After your guests have been through your invitation experience, we’ll talk through how to weave your event branding into all sorts of elements for your day or weekend. From your typical programs, menus, napkins and signage – to more elaborate escort installations, swag, welcome gifts and more!

// INVESTMENT //

After our initial call, we can likely ballpark more of a budget determination if you are looking for one. Our goal is always to design with intention, focusing on what will have the biggest impact, while not forcing any unnecessary extras. This way, every detail feels purposeful, beautifully executed, and tailored to your vision. Our services tend to be in the $12,000 - $25,000 range (inclusive of save the dates, invitation suites and day of paper), but it is very dependent on event size, quantities, creative elements, ideas, materials and needs, which can set the range higher or lower. We are fortunate to work with many clients who trust us, and are looking for a true creative expression to represent their event, exquisite organization and execution of the work we present.

Looking for more?…As a luxury design and branding studio, no request typically seems too out-of-reach for us. You’ll find we’re up for any challenge, approaching things thoughtfully, with passion and professionalism. We love to seamlessly weave branding elements and materials throughout your wedding day, while letting the magic of collaboration unfold with some of the best planners, event + floral designers in some of the most desirable destinations.

Cheers!