Category: Invitations

‘When Should We Post Our Wedding Invites?’ – A Froggy Guide.

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Hey guys!

Ok, how is it October already!?!

With autumn arriving in all her glorious colours it’s had me thinking about you wonderful couples getting married next year and I felt this post could be of some use. If you haven’t already done so, this is the ideal time of year to start thinking about your stationery. So snuggle up, grab a cuppa and enjoy…

A question I’m frequently asked from couples is ‘When should we post out our wedding save the dates and invites?’. Well, no two weddings are the same, so my general thoughts on this are to send them whenever you feel ready. However, with so much to think about and hundreds of decisions waiting to be made while you’re planning the wedding, I thought I’d share my stationery timeline guide to help make your process that little bit easier.

First things first! You’ve discovered your ultimate venue and have secured that all important date, the wedding game is officially afoot! With this in place you can begin to envisage how the day will look and feel; be it boho, rustic, modern, romantic or vintage, etc. These ‘themes’ can all be expressed through your wedding stationery choices too. From commissioning someone like me or going down the DIY route, you’re now ready to get cracking with creating stationery loveliness, so let’s hop to it!

THE BRIDE TRIBE

If you’ve not yet exploded with excitement after the engagement and blurted out who you want in your bridal party, a really sweet way to ask them is to give your chosen I Do Crew a ‘will you be my bridesmaid/groomsman/best man/ maid of honour? postcard. Alongside your written words, it makes for a great little memento they get to cherish. Deliver postcards whenever you’re ready to ask and these beauties are just the start of the wedding stationery fun!

Frog & Pencil Bridal Party Postcards available on Etsy

 

SAVE THE DATES

Eeek, posting your Save the Dates certainly starts to make it all feel real. It’s also the first glimpse of your wedding day that guests will see, so make it playful…be a tease! Your lovely Save the Dates are typically sent 6 to 12 months before the wedding day, however, once you have your theme in mind, I suggest posting them sooner rather than later. This ensures your guests can pop it in their diaries and start making plans; especially if you’re having a destination wedding.

Save our Date example for Stationery Timeline Post

WEDDING INVITATIONS

Traditionally these are posted 3 – 6 months before the big date. I’m inclined to deliver them with plenty of time to spare, especially if you’re including accommodation recommendations; everyone will need the information to make those bookings. Alongside your invites, you might want to include other key pieces, such as a map and extra information about the day. Have a good think about what your guests are going to need to know as these can all go together in one fabulous package. Remember, the more you include, the more time will be needed to create them.

Boho-Tipi wedding stationery collection.invite

Boho-Tipi Wedding Collection Map

RSVP

The last thing you want to do in the run up to your wedding is chase rsvp’s and scramble together the seating plan. Discuss with your caterer and venue when they require final numbers and allow for some extra breathing room. I suggest 6 weeks before your wedding is a manageable date for your friends and family to reply by. Having these numbers sooner not only keeps the stress levels down but will also help when it comes to preparing the ‘on the day details’ below.

Boho-Tipi Wedding Stationery Collection RSVP

ON THE DAY STATIONERY

I LOVE On The Day Stationery and it’s certainly something you should ponder over. These details range from an Order of Service, Schedule of the Day, a Bridal Party Who’s Who Board to a Table Plan, Menu, Table Numbers (remember, they don’t have to be numbers, they can be more personal to you; places you’ve visited together, your favourite gins, animals, anything goes…we had different cakes!) and Name Place Cards. These little details can absolutely add character to the wedding decor and are another brilliant way to express your personalities. Allow at least 4 to 6 weeks for these last-minute pieces to be made and printed.

Boho-Tipi Wedding Collection Name CardBoho-Tipi Wedding Collection Hoop Table PlanBoho-Tipi Wedding Collection Menu

THANK YOU CARDS

Who doesn’t love a Thank You Card? After all the excitement of the wedding day and a blissful honeymoon to look forward to, these can easily be put on the back burner. It’s a kind gesture to thank your guests for attending and for any gifts you may have luckily received, so please don’t forget these. My advice is to send them no later than 3 months after your wedding has passed.

Boho-Tipi Wedding Stationery Collection Thank You Card

FINAL FROGGY THOUGHTS

If you decide to commission your wedding stationery have a good think about the whole package.  If you want to keep it cohesive from Save the Date through to Thank You Card, it may be cheaper to bundle it all together in one order. One thing I know for certain is that these pieces take time to make, potentially up to 6 weeks, especially so if they’re bespoke. Get in touch early on, be sure to ask about current work schedules and time estimates, then you’ll be able to figure out your wedding stationery postal timings accordingly.

And there you have it, I hope you found my Froggy guide helpful. If you have any questions or would like a quote for your wedding stationery then get in touch with any ideas you have in mind, I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time lovelies, happy wedding planning!

Cx

P.S – here’s a little timeline I made for a wedding fair. Save the image as a handy record to add to your wedding file.

Frog & Pencil's wedding stationery timeline

 

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Katherine & Peter’s Wedding Invites

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Afternoon all,

Lovely Katherine & Peter spotted that I’d been a finalist at the EDP Wedding Awards and contacted me asking about my stationery for their upcoming wedding. After a good chat over e-mail they invited me to their home to see some examples and discuss ideas further…I even met their cat Watson.

They decided on a portrait for their main illustration and as they’re tying the knot in October, they wanted the designs to have an autumnal vibe with warm and rich jewel tones. Katherine shared a Pinterest link with me which was super helpful; it was full of inspiration and from here I was able to pick out certain tones and flowers to recreate.

To go with their wedding invitation, they wanted to include a details page which outlined all the ‘extra bits’ guests would need to know and a page for their tasty menu. One other key detail P&K asked for was to include Watson, chasing a mouse somewhere on the stationery.

I love the final pieces, there’s such a gorgeous cohesion and flow between them. They’re clean, fresh and I am really enjoying the main invite layout with the text detail. Overall, I’m very happy and I think those colours are just luscious.

I’m delighted to report that Peter & Katherine were pleased too and they left me this lovely review on my Facebook Page; reviews like this make everything worth it.

“Just wanted to thank Claire again for producing such beautiful and unique invitations for our wedding. We have had lots of compliments from friends and family with one friend yesterday saying they were her favourite invite of the year, which reminded me that I must leave this review! We really enjoyed working with Claire and thoroughly recommend! x”

Ok, less of me nattering, how about some visual goodies? Here’s Peter & Katherine’s Wedding Stationery, enjoy!

I had a great time creating these designs and I wish Katherine and Peter all the best with the rest of their wedding plans. Here’s to a fabulous wedding day come October and a very happy future as a married couple.

If these bespoke designs have caught your eye and you’re in the market for some personal wedding stationery, then get in touch via hello@frogandpencil.com, I’d love to hear from you and chat weddings!

Until next time you beauties,

Cx

Frog, Pencil & Camera…A Collaboration!

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Hello there!

Things have been ticking along nicely over the past few weeks for Frog & Pencil and I’ve been working on a commission that I simply can’t share with you just yet…but soon it will be revealed!

Alongside that little nugget, I’ve been involved in my first collaboration project which I’m delighted to share with you all today.

My awesome Niece Niki is currently in her second year at NUA studying photography. This term they were asked to collaborate with a fellow photography student and one other person; so naturally I was rather chuffed when Niki and Sam asked me to hop on board. I don’t know if it was a part of their brief to work with someone outside of the University but hats off to them as this is valuable and relevant experience to working with other designers throughout the creative industry. Perhaps this should be considered for future briefs.

By creating a wedding themed shoot, Niki and Sam felt that this idea would compliment both their photography styles and this is also where my designs came into play. The original plan sounded beautiful being a boho woodland photo shoot with lots of warm festoon lighting, furniture, fabrics and my artwork hanging from branches. So gorgeous! Sadly, they were let down at the last minute and were unable to make it to Thetford Forest. I do feel for Niki & Sam as they had been planning this for months but these things happen in life and will certainly happen in the working world. Credit to the gals for thinking on their feet and finding a simpler and lovely solution in the studio.

I wasn’t able to make it to the shoot, though I would have loved to have popped my head in to see the set up. Thanks to Sam, she created a fab behind the scenes video which is ace and you can watch it in all it’s glory here…

I spent a fun morning with Niki, coffee & pastries editing her photographs and it was a great experience for me to see and be a part of the final process. Overall I think the images look great. I really like Sam’s compositions of the frames and flowers hanging from the bamboo at different heights. I particularly love Niki’s warm tonal quality she’s captured, I think it naturally compliments my work and the colours within my illustrations.

I’ll certainly be adding some of these photographs to my website gallery but in the meantime you can enjoy a select few here…

Prepping prints!
Ready for their close up!
Credit N.J Photography
Credit N.J Photography
Credit Samantha Cameron Photography
Credit N.J Photography
Credit Samantha Cameron Photography
Credit N.J Photography
Editing images with N.J Photography…with coffee & pastries of course!

I loved being a third collaborator on this project and I hope my designs gave them both enough to work with and they managed to snap what they needed.

I’d certainly recommend you give these guys a look and follow, so here’s my Croak Out to Niki & Sam…

Niki Antell: N.J Photography

Samantha Cameron: Samantha Cameron Photography

There is another Frog & Pencil collaboration in the pipeline which I’m rather excited about…it’s going to be colourful and wonderfully bonkers; watch this space!

Good luck with the rest of the second year guys and thanks for asking me to be a part of this project.

Toodles,

Cx

A Froggy First!

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Hello there!

Last week was a wonderful whirlwind while I prepared for Frog & Pencil’s very first Wedding Fair.

Having only launched in February, I couldn’t believe my luck to have found a stand available at a Spring event…I genuinely thought I may have missed the boat and would have to wait for the Autumn fairs. Lovely Norfolk Brides offered me a spot at the Wensum Valley Hotel Wedding Show on Sunday 13th March and I snapped up the opportunity!

My week was spent designing flyers, making sure I had enough samples, thinking of creative ways to arrange my stand and to have everything printed in time. I even invested in a roller banner…this was particularly exciting for me as in my previous marketing jobs I’ve spent many an hour running around beautiful Norwich delivering and setting up roller banners. It felt quite poignant when my very own was delivered and I LOVE it.

Sunday came around in a flash and it was an early, misty start for my hubby and I as set up started from 7am.  We were welcomed by the team and made our way to the Frog & Pencil table and wowzers, we had a great spot (with a beautiful outlook too)! It also turns out that we were fortuitous with our brilliant exhibitor neighbours, Lesley from Short Cakes and Aurora Wedding and Events Hire, both were so friendly, helpful and gave me loads of advice about the Wedding Fair scene, a big heartfelt thank you to you guys.

At 10am the doors opened and I was raring to go! A bride approached my table, looked at my designs, shook her head and said to her friend ‘No!’…a good start hey! It did make us chuckle and thankfully, throughout the day I was given many lovely compliments. There was a steady stream of people and the five hours flew by. It also helped that we were sat by popular stands such as Adnams, Short Cakes and Aurora as they brought welcomed footfall to Frog & Pencil.

I spoke to so many awesome couples about their wedding day plans and it was also a pleasure to be able to give some tips having lived through this adventure last year. It felt amazing to hear that people enjoyed my work and to see their big smiles appear as they clocked my stall. There were a bunch of comments on how ‘different’ my illustrations are and I’m incredibly proud of the fact that Frog & Pencil is unique.

Overall it was an excellent and positive experience. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to other exhibitors and networking, they all gave some great guidance. Even more so, it was interesting to see how my target audience felt about my work; however the proof is in the bookings. As of yet, nothing’s pinged through but it’s still early days and I’m hopeful.

Being by a window on a beautiful sunny day was just perfect albeit a little challenging when taking photos but thankfully they’ve turned out pretty good with a little editing…so here we are, enjoy clicking through my Wensum Valley Wedding Fair Gallery.

MY very own roller banner…feeling accomplished!
Prizes to be hidden in 2 of the 100 goody bags for brides…50% off F&P up for grabs!
A misty start over the Wensum Valley grounds, so beautiful.
My very glamorous assistant.
Set up and ready to rock ‘n’ roll!
My ‘tech guy’ tweaking a few things.
Awesome and delicious neighbours!
Frog & Bear raring to get started!

We were honoured to be amongst some brilliant exhibitors and I hope they all had a successful show. I wanted to take the opportunity to give a handful of those a mention and share their details.

A SPECIAL CROAK OUT TO…

Norfolk Brides: Dalia and Tim were brilliant hosts and I’m very appreciative of all their help and knowledge in the run up to this event. Check out their website to see what’s coming up next!

A Most Curious Wedding Fair: Sat in front of us was the lovely Hannah from A Most Curious Wedding Fair. On Sunday 20th March they will be hosting their unique Wedding Fair in St Andrews Hall in Norwich from 11am – 4pm. I visited last year and it was ace, certainly worth having a look around. You’ll also find a familiar froggy face in their Most Curious Directory as a cool, recommended supplier…which is very exciting for me!

Short Cakes: Our super wonderful neighbour Lesley who creates the most beautiful, delicate wedding cakes. We were lucky enough to have a sample of the chocolate cake and it was delicious, so if you’re in the market for a celebratory sponge then get in touch…be quick though, people were flocking to her stand looking to speak to ‘The Cake Lady’!

Aurora Wedding and Events Hire: Another ace neighbour who were also popular! Providing hire items for your big day, give them a look…their sweetie cart is a must for kiddies and husbands alike!

Adnams Norwich: Dishing out tasty tipples these guys were BUSY!!! I can personally recommend the Adnams Prosecco, we served it at our wedding and it is a moreish fizz with a fabulous price tag to boot!

Joshua Patrick Photography: If you’re looking for a photographer, hop on over to Josh’s website. He’s really friendly, enthusiastic and his images are natural, relaxed and just stunning; you won’t be disappointed!

Oops! a Daisy Florist: The gals at the show were gorgeous and they had such a delightful stand full of romantic, whimsical flowers which I thought were divine. I’d pay them a visit if you’re looking for an excellent and creative florist.

There we have it, my first show done and dusted; I LOVED it. Thanks for having me Norfolk Brides and thanks to all the couples who took the time to check us out. Drop me a line if you have any questions or would like a quote, it would be wonderful to talk some more.

Have a tip top evening all and I’ll be back later in the week with a post all about the details from my Christening commission…I’ll warn you, it’s a cute one!

Cx