Wedding Supplier Spotlight: From Sally with Love

Ahhhhh, wedding stationery - a specialism that will always be close to my heart. I swear the amount of time I have spent on Pinterest scrolling through design after design is insane but I love every minute of it. If you are like me and can't get enough of all things stationery based then this post is a must read for you!

Here at Chosen Wedding Fair HQ we are big fans of stationery specialist From Sally with Love. Based in the beautiful artistic hub of Frome, Sally's work incorporate fun and quirky elements into her designs that really tell a story of the couple getting married. With a background in graphic design and a new found love for the art of watercolour Sally is the person to go to if you want a little bit of fun injected into your stationery suite.

Today we chat to Sally more about her process, what to consider if having bespoke designs as well as discussing how she has been working during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Let's start by finding out a little more about you and what you do within the wedding industry.

So I'm Sally of From Sally with Love and my wedding specialism is that I design wedding stationery, which is everything from save the dates and invites, right through to place names, table plans and orders of service. I can illustrate digitally, drawing on my computer, as well as painting in watercolours. What I love about my job is getting to know the couples I work with and seeing what’s special to them and their big day, and putting it down on paper. Knowing how much they love what I make for them motivates me to do more.

As for the personal stuff......Hummm, okay, I’m mid 30s, (let’s leave it at that), I’m married with 2 little kiddies, who have most definitely kept me on my toes throughout lockdown! When I’m not designing stationery I’m often playing Elsa and Anna with my youngest Frozen obsessed daughter or playing Lego with my eldest.

I looove cooking and when we get a chance my husband and I love cooking up a spicy Asian dish, my fave! Oh, and I only started painting in watercolours a couple of years ago, having never tried before. I’m very proud of how far I’ve come.

In your own words what would you say is your USP in the stationery field?

I tend to design stationery that is bold and colourful and most of the time bursting with illustrations of flowers. I’ve been told that couples love the way my stationery can be seen from the other side of the room! I’m also not afraid to add the passions, hobbies and kooks that couples have into their stationery. From their fury friend to their obsession with Star Wars or their love of a good gin, but all within a beautiful design, so it’s elegant, fun and reflects the personalities of the couple all at the same time.

We would love to know more about the process behind the scenes and what couples can expect when booking your services for their wedding.

After a couple have made an enquiry I arrange a stationery meeting via telephone or video call, where we chat through all the details and give some advice and tips. I then send over a quote. For bespoke orders I begin with concept proofs, which are 3 different options, all within their style, that show how the design could look like in 3 different ways. They can then choose which option they would like me to use for the rest of the design, or if they would like me to combine elements of the different options together. I work through 3 sets of changes before the final design. My professional printer makes sure the printing is perfect, and then I package everything up and send it to my couples’ doorstep! For off-the-peg designs it’s pretty much the same but without the concept designs.

I often get asked when to send invitations out. If your wedding is in May to the end of August I would suggest sending invitations out in January of that year (before people book their summer holidays). If it’s on a bank holiday or half term send them out 6 months before the wedding (although January is fine for May). Otherwise it’s between 4-5 months beforehand. Just be a little bit aware of Christmas, and choose to send straight after Christmas or in November so they don’t get mixed up with the barrage of Christmas cards.

I love illustrating the most, and the process of seeing how this develops into a design that works and then flowing this on to other stationery. The rewards are definitely seeing my couples over the moon with what I come up with for them!

Do you have any top tips for wedding planning particularly related to wedding stationery?

I would suggest that couples create a list things to find out about that their guests might need to know, and which they could add to their invitations. Ticking off 2 or 3 items per week from a list is a good way of getting through everything. They should consider: accommodation near the venue, transport (whether this is organised by them or if they are suggesting taxis), details of how to find the venue, parking (and if this is simply at the venue or needs to be considered elsewhere), if their guests should wear special shoes (no stilettos or comfortable shoes for the evening for example), if sat nav will take their guests directly to the venue, or if not how they should find it. If the bar will take card payments in the evening as well as cash. If they would like to have a hashtag for their wedding photos on Instagram etc, and what this could be. What they would like to say about gifts. If they need to talk about flight information, transfers and menus choices. Etc! Not all of it is applicable or needed but couples need to think about what the majority of their guests will need, what is essential and what is enough to include that their guests won’t feel the need to email, call or text to ask anything. I’m happy to help couples through deciding these.

What would be the most difficult request is that quite a few people I work with decide that they don’t want to invite children to their wedding but don’t want to add it to the invitation in order to not offend anyone. I would advise against not writing anything as it’s not something you want your guests to not realise! I have a huge list of example sentences that you can use to kindly say that no children are invited (as well as other things you could include in your invite), which isn’t offensive but polite.

The dreaded "C" word needs to be mentioned doesn't it - COVID 19. How have you been dealing with this experience?

Well currently I am juggling homeschooling my 2 children during the day and then when I get chance crack onto my work in the evening when I am able to. Not going to lie it's certainly been an interesting experiment haha Can we go back to normal yet please lol

Business wise I have geared myself into new markets that I normally don't get chance to dabble in and have been using this time to continue my watercolour journey. I am now doing more one-off painting for people. Painting their dogs or flowers etc as well as cartoon illustrations of families and couples. I’m also doing more a lot more branding for other companies, logos, Instagram graphics etc as I originated in graphic design so having this past experience to fall back on has been most welcome.

I’m working on a number of different budget stationery suites, including a seasonal range: spring, summer, autumn and winter, and some hide and seek invites, which is pretty stationery with things couples get to choose hidden within the flowers and foliage. I’m also creating a new tropical range after the success I had with a recent shoot being on gayweddingblog.com.

Currently I am offering 10% off all wedding stationery* when a deposit is paid before September 2020!

There's also a discount for couple, family and pet cartoon portraits: Until the end of July I'm offering cartoon portraits: - £35 per person (jumper and face), - £15pp for a thumbnail (top of jumper upwards) - £45pp for a full picture (toes to head)! - £20pp for pets It could be just you, or you and your partner, or all of your family. I'd also love to include your pets too! 

*not including couple, family and pet cartoon portraits.

You can get in touch with me and keep up to date with me on the following platforms:

- Website: www.fromsallywithlove.co.uk

- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fromsallywithlove

- Instagram: @fromsallywithlove

- Pinterest: www.pinterest.co.uk/fromsally

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