Hi there, my name is Katherine, and I design wedding and event stationery at Giftast. One thing I’ve noticed when I’ve spoken to couples, is that the stationery ordering process can seem like a bit of a mystery when you’ve never done anything like it before.

I’m going to run through the process of how things work at Giftast, but this will be relatively similar at most stationers you come across.

At Giftast we try to make our bespoke service really competitive, and we offer that at £200 plus product costs, but it’s worth remembering that we almost always have some sort of offer on – be it 10% off, which you can get on our website, by signing up to our newsletter, or one off deals either at fairs, or on webinars. Great quality wedding stationery can seem really exclusive, and it’s easy for costs to mount up, so we always try to keep it as affordable as possible for our lovely couples.

We have a simple pricing structure for printed and hand-finished items, so there will be no nasty surprises after you’ve placed your order.

If you are interested in looking at a bespoke design, then let me talk you through the process. The first step is to get in touch. There are a range of ways you can do that, and they’re all at the top of every page on our website. As we’re based online, we can do consultations from anywhere, either over the phone or via skype.

During the consultation, I will go through a questionnaire with you, and try and get to the bottom of what will really make your wedding stationery perfect for you. If you’re struggling to find an idea you really love, then that’s something we can work on together – I’ve worked with couples with no more than a colour scheme, and we ended up with something they really loved.

After this call, I will mock up a couple of ideas for you. We try and get these digital mock-ups out to you within a couple of days, along with a quote, based on numbers and products discussed in our call. From that, you can tweak anything in the design, or we can go back to the drawing board.

Once you’re happy, then I can go ahead and create some printing proofs for your final design. This is where the bespoke process marrys up with our personalised range order process as well – we will always send you proofs for approval, so you can check the spelling, all the details and information, and check it’s just perfect. This is a really important step and one which you need to spend some serious time on – and maybe get another set of eyes to look over, because once it’s off to print, there’s no going back!

Once you’re happy with the proof, I will send out an invoice for 50% of the agreed price. We don’t print your stationery in house, and instead outsource it to a really great supplier, who use only vegetable inks and have a brilliant recycling policy. Once your payment is received or approved, then it will take between 2-4 weeks for you to receive your order.

This varys due to the amount of hand-finishing on your order, and because we receive all orders from our supplier, rather than sending them straight out to you, in order to do a quality control check. Remember, this is for your wedding, and we want it to be absolutely perfect. All orders include a couple of spares, because you never know who’s going to break up, or have a change of plans at the last minute. We also include free return address labels with all RSVP orders, which should save you a lot of time when it comes to posting them out!

Once we’ve checked and finished your order, we wrap it, pack it, and post it, and once it’s on its way, you’ll receive an invoice for the final 50% of your bill. You can pay these either by bank transfer, check, or paypal although it’s worth noting that we would need to wait for your check to clear at the deposit stage, before we continued with your order.

I hope that’s helped de-mystify the process for you, and if you have any questions at all, we’re here to help, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Remember, it’s easier than you think to get keepsake and bespoke wedding stationery that you love, and that you’ll cherish forever.

FAQs

One question we get a lot is “Do I have to buy the package from you, including all these items?” the short answer is no – all our items are individually priced, and you can absolutely mix and match to fit your theme. At Giftast, we can also alter any of our ranges to fit your colour scheme, and we do that free of charge.

Another thing couples ask is if they can add things to the range. For example, if you want to include an information card with your invitations, with maps, recommended hotels, gift options, all that, then we can absolutely do that for you. Everything we have can be mixed, matched and altered, to get it really personal for you.