Engaged and getting married in 2019? What next? Wedding Invitations?

Part 1- Engaged?
Invitations
what should you choose?

wedding invitations 2019

Are you looking for wedding invitations? I love when couples have got engaged and contact us.
We get asked so many questions and a popular comment is:
“what do we do Nikki, I have never done this before!”
How do I word my invitations?
What colours can I have?
When do i need to send them out?
It’s great to chat about a couples style for their big day and what they have planned!

My answer is always “it’s your day, what do you want to do??”
I don’t think there are rules to be followed, legally yes, but otherwise, it’s what your dream and budget allows!

So how do you choose an invitation??

“Have you found a venue yet”

That’s usually my first question when couples come into the studio for a consultation or at a wedding fair. Usually gets a blank look!
If you are getting married in a vintage, classic Art Deco venue you probably won’t want bunting on an invite.
If you are getting married in a Tipi, you won’t probably want a classic, elegant foil design. But you might!
art deco wedding invitation, art deco wedding, art deco, 1920s wedding theme, 1920s theme

english meadow cricket wedding invite

 

 
We try to offer as many different design invites to suit most styles of wedding and venue.
Maybe we don’t have what you were looking for, but if your design idea sits with our style and you like what we do, then it’s worth asking!

We have invitations that are suited to beach or tipi or barn weddings.
Our Bunting was one of our top sellers in colours to match couples’ wedding day. Now it’s making a come back with either hessian or on our new gatefold format with wood!

 Also, we have more classic designs that suit vintage 1920s or classic venues.

What about colours?

People ask us “We like that wedding invitation design, but you don’t have it in our colour,
what should we do, I really like Coral/ Ultra Violet??”
That’s an easy one as we try to match your colour as closely as possible if we can, you can have your colour! Just ask or send a swatch to us!

baroque patterned wedding stationery, baroque invitation, baroque theme, baroque wedding
baroque wedding invites, wedding stationery, baroque pattern

 
What shape wedding invitation should I have?

Couples often ask the question “I have a lot of information, how does it all fit in??”

We offer each of our designs in 3 or 4 different shape invitations (except Passports!)
With different amounts of info in.

4 shapes of invitation
gatefold invitations, pocketfold invitations, square invitations, budget invites, stylish invites, wedding invitations to choose from

If you just want a simple, elegant way to say ” Be here at 2pm” then we always have a flat square or rectangle.
Lots of different design ideas and each available in your colours.
These are the easiest for MrTP to make by hand, so are the most affordable. Result!

formula1 wedding invitations, F1 stationery, F1 wedding invites

Then we offer a keepsake, even more stylish way to say “Be here at 2pm”. These are our A6, mostly Gate-fold designs. As we design everything ourselves, we created them to open like a double door, but off- centre with a decorative tab over the opening. These make a great place for a monogram your names and the date of your event.

birdcage wedding party invitation invite bluebird pink bird orange flower lilac flower

Then we have two formats that do similar jobs but appeal to different couples. We have our own design of pocket-fold that we created and print in-house and MrTP cuts, creases, folds and makes by hand.

love doves wedding stationery designs

Proper hand-made invitations, but nothing home made about what we do!

 MrTP ties the designs I have created to close it with ribbon or twine.
Both formats have 4 inserts inside which are identical.

textures gatefold wedding invitations polka dots foliage marble rose gold watercolour baroque pattern ganesh sunflowers hessian lace burlap invites
You get the cards in an ascending order, largest is the invite and 3 more to fill with whatever information you need your guests to know.
The most popular combo is – Invitation/ Guest Information (a mix!)/ RSVP postcard/ Gifts. But we have had many titles over time, cos it’s for your wedding, so your headers and personalised text.

Cyprus wedding invite

When do we need to send our invitations out?

If you were a wedding guest, how much time would you like to have to plan your hotel/ outfit/ flights/ time-off? This helps you to work out timings, also is your big day over school holidays or a time when guests might have to take time off work? The more time you give guests to plan, then the easier it will be for them to join your celebration.

If you don’t want save-the-dates (great if it’s a Bank Holiday or Cup Final) then

you can send them any time from 1 year- 3months in advance.
Most couples give 4-6 months planning time, but like everything for your wedding, it’s up to you!

When to avoid sending…

Avoid sending them in December, too much competition in the Postie’s bag and can go astray, so send them in November or keep them to lift people during those post-Christmas blues in January. Also if you want to send them in the early New Year, it’s often great to order them in the early Winter time. Why? Because it’s surprising how many couples get engaged over Christmas, then once Christmas Day is out of the way,  couples hit the internet to see what they can have for their wedding, so stationers are usually at their busiest from Boxing Day onwards!!

Give your stationer time to create your artwork. Before we make them, we need time to get them approved and checked by you. Your family and friends might want to glance over the wording before we send a sample and a quote. Sole Traders often have a longer lead time as they have so much to do alone. There are two of us, me designing and MrTP making.

wedding photo non-traditional wedding dress

our wedding photo 22.12.2001

We can create orders created quite quickly. You need to give us at least a month before the date you want to send them, to give us time to make them. We have had an order after a wedding fair on a Sunday. Then completed the whole process by Friday, but it’s not ideal and depends on the complexity of the order, what time of year it is and how many orders MrTP already has booked in!

What do we do now?

We have been creating wedding invitations for lots of couples, for over 12 years now. We have been left some FAB reviews. MrTP and I have designed and created EVERY design in our range. So everything is exclusive to us and we print and make everything. It means we have more control over times and delivery dates.
Take a peek at our gallery, if you like something, email us and ask and let’s see if we can work together to create your fabulous, keepsake wedding invitations that every guest will comment on and keep!

Happy Planning 🙂

our studio

the view from my design desk

 

Aside

SNOWFLAKES? seriously?

One of the joys about my career as a stationery designer has always been that every day can feel like Christmas!! It is the largest part of the UK stationery market, so we can spend all year drawing ‘Three Kings
CHRISTMMAS CARD FOR CRUK

 

 

(Yes that’s one of our designs that was on sale with Cancer Research UK)
…..or another version of “Christmas Presents“!

CHRISTMAS CARD TICKLED PINK

 

 

 

For the last 10 years with Tickled Pink, it still feels the same! Creating wedding invites for Winter Weddings usually means you are parked at a computer, mid summer, creating designs with snowflakes! The hardest part about Winter Wedding designs, is making sure they don’t look like Christmas cards!!

Our Winter Wedding collections

Most couples order their wedding invites about six months before the big day, so summer is prime winter wedding invite time! We have been busy with both of our Winter Wedding collections for the last two months for our wedding couples. Our original snowflakes range is especially popular in it’s A6 format.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fun off-centre opening, with lots of snowflakes we drew and little gems. Silvery greys or silvers and reds continue to be our most popular colour way!

And we also have…

We also created a stag, robin and … more snow!! Popular colourway? yes, silvery greys and reds!

 

 

 

 

 

We have been busy with both of our Winter Wedding collections for the last two months for our wedding couples. Our original snowflakes range is especially popular in it’s A6 format. A fun off-centre opening, with lots of snowflakes we drew and little gems. Silvery greys continue to be our most popular colour way!

so we’re sat here, designing and making it snow, whilst it’s shorts and t-shirt weather at a hot computer!

Snowflakes collection


Pocketfolds,  A6 gatefold, flat squares and save the date bookmarks and luggage tags and all the usual reception stationery

Winter Wonderland collection

Pocketfolds,  A6 gatefold, flat squares and save the date bookmarks and all the usual reception stationery

WINTER WEDDING INVITATION STAG ROBIN SNOWFLAKES

snowflakes a stag and a robins to create that christmassy feel for your winter wedding stationery

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2015 in Tickled Pink World

2015 has been another fun year for Tickled Pink

As 2015 comes to an end, it’s great to look back at what we have achieved.

Lots of couples in 2015 have asked us to make their wedding stationery, and boy they have asked us to make great papery goodies! I love the variety and imagination, from fabulous new colourways to inventive receptions. We got asked for far more reception stationery in 2015 than ever before. From lovely tag place cards to fun ‘I Spy‘ photographs to keep guests busy.

Wedding Reception Stationery we made in 2015

Wedding Stationery reception ideas

We have introduced 5 new collections and all have been ordered, which is wonderful! You spend ages creating a new range and then panic that no one will want to commission it! So THANKS!

new designs 2015

New Collections

2014s new ranges have gone from strength to strength. Gatsby has been very well received by you all as the Art Deco theme continues. The Art Deco theme has given our Mackintosh Roses and new lease of life and has been ordered a few times in different colours too.  English Meadow found a bike and signs too! Beach Huts now has a version with out the starfish, all replaced by shells. new colours galore- especially for our Bunting!

Tom even made  a little slideshow to show you how he makes our pocketfold invites Tom-makes-it-all-by-hand !!

We even managed our usual 6 weeks working from the ‘Summer studio’ which happens every year as Nikki moves over to live with her parents in France with the kids and they relax and go to a local French school 3 days a week whilst Nikki works part-time and bores everyone on the business Facebook page with their exploits and night markets and cake. especially lots of French cakes!!!

CAKE

oh and we released our new website- that took us ages to create and we couldn’t believe how long it takes just to edit all the photos and label them!
Another highlight? In fact definitely the highlight of 2015- is just how many couples have been kind enough to leave us lovely words about what we do and send GORGEOUS photos of their weddings and our stationery- without you liking our work, we wouldn’t exist- so

THANKS EVERYONE!

2016 Tickled Pink

Wedding Reception Stationery chats

it’s a snowy, sunny Saturday and I am in the studio talking about wedding reception stationery. Fear not, I am heading back home again soon!

lots of Wedding Reception Stationery

Wedding Reception Stationery

I try not to come in at the weekends, after all, Mr TP and I spend enough of our lives here as it is, but sometimes working couples who want a consultation can’t fit into my perfect work plan ( that one where I spend more time at home playing with our kids and baking!)

Gatsby Order of the day Stationery

Gatsby Wedding Order of the day
So today I have been chatting wedding reception goodies with H and her mum. I met them at Ullesthorpe Court’s wedding fair recently and we chatted about our LoveLace range of stationery which suited H’s plans for her wedding at the beautiful Mythe Barn

Love Lace Stationery

lace

We had  lovely natter (both our families have roots in East Ham in Ldn) and eventually we got to receptions.

Summer Fete table numbers

Table Number Summer fete wedding range

I love making reception stationery, love how it ties together a couples theme and colours.

My fave recently have been the fun signs couples ask for to display on the day- Cakes, Instagram , Guest Books, Gift Toiletries Signs, MR & MRS Bunting,

Table Planners in portrait or landscape

 

Polka Dots table planner card A1 Table Planners (or just the cards for you to display,)Gatsby Table Planner
PostBoxes…

Bunting Wedding Postbox

Wedding Postbox

You name it, we have made them.
Best though are the fun ones, I-Spy camera signs,

I-Spy camera fun!
Summer fete i spy cards

and soon I am making some ‘cootie catchers‘ as they are called over the pond, fortune tellers we called them as kids!
What we make most, are place cards. Tent-fold trad ones, business card style, Lottery Ticket holders, tags with ribbons to tie to favours, so many different styles!

Wedding Reception Place cards

wedding placecards

There are so many ideas, so much to create!!

Designing Love Lace Stationery

It’s a Saturday

and I am in the studio creating invites from our Love Lace range. Haven’t been here at the weekend for a while as we’ve been busy meeting lovely couples and chatting stationery at Wedding Fairs across the East Midland. Most popular designs? Love Lace and our newest Baroque 🙂
They have been popular in all of our sample sales. Love Lace even got featured in this month’s Wedding Ideas mag
WI Nov 2015

Now we’ve finished fairs until spring, I get my Sunday’s back to spend at home.
It’s been a noisy and busy day. Noisy because our studio is above the High Street shops in Leicester and I can always here the chatter of shoppers below, different today as I can hear kids today too, the joys of the weekend! Also noisy because the City Diwali celebrations are under way and our city loves to celebrate the New Year.IMG_20141024_154929Drummers and stiltwalkers have kept me from my desk and hanging out of the studio window!
Here are some pics I took of carved fruit in a local store.

LOVE the colours!IMG_20141024_154625Happy Diwali

I have been having fun playing with colours for stationery we’re designing for 2016 weddings, ready to beat the Christmas postal mayhem!

It’s lovely that our new designs are appealing to couples getting married. It’s very satisfying to create an artwork from scratch (we don’t buy in any artwork, so you won’t find our designs offered elsewhere) Our designs are all unique to us 😉
I was quite surprised recently looking through a wedding mag to see similar/identical lace designs being sold by different companies. I also chatted to another stationer at a fair recently and was surprised that the lovely artworks they were selling, they bought in and stuck together. Guess I assumed everyone else sat slaving at a design desk like us, doodling and playing with colour and pattern!

I got to ‘draw’ on my computer and create a lacy pattern for our new LoveLace range. Repeat patterns and colour! We added it to all of our invite formats, the pocket for those needing lots of information included

wearetickledpink.co.uk Lace on cream pocketfold £4 cream

pocketfold Lace

 

 

 

I had great fun with the pocket, as although it opens with a flap, I joined the pattern together on the top and bottom flap- not the easiest thing to layout on a computer screen!
Then we have our mid-range invites, the folded ones! Mostly we create them as A6 gate-folds, as I LOVE the format and fun way they open off-centre.

A6 Gate-fold Love Lacewearetickledpink.co.uk Lace A6 Hessian £2.75

 

 

 

 

The other format we use our designs on is either a flat square or A5 shape, again these Love Lace can be with a colour to match your palette, a wood background or hessian. Your choice!

Love Lace Flat a5 or squarewearetickledpink.co.uk A5 Lace and wood green £1.75

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have been creating invites today in lilac, another in hessian on cream and a third with less lace on the cover, to match the inserts from the pocket.
we’re happy to tweak our designs (within reason!!)

So that’s 3 Love Lace invites worked on today. Also a passport, Lovedoves and a new WANTED Poster… but more about that one another day!

A Baroque day in our stationery studio

One thing I love about my work at Tickled Pink is the variety.
No two days are ever the same. Tom and I drive to work together, after a workout at the pool for me then dash back home for a quick coffee and chat to the kids before they head out to school. Tom’s morning I gather consists of reminding kid1 to get out of bed whilst kid2 argues about the merits of having TV instead of breakfast. We drive into the City. Park. Walk 15 mins to our studio overlooking the High Street (is it sad that we both have an app for ‘steps walked’ and calories burned and compare them??!)
We always have in mind a list of what has to be done. Rarely does it work in the planned order. Is everyones life like that?
Today I had planned to edit all the photos of our new wedding stationery range. A new range is never a quick job. To start I researched my intended theme ‘Baroque’ suggested by lovely Helen at www.helenalborncakes.co.uk as well as the photos she sent me that she had seen, and then I doodled and sketched.
20150930_151317_resized
After fitting to templates and choosing colours and test printing and moving to make them work and fold correctly (most of last week in between meetings and on-going orders!) Then I printed them all out, Tom made all of the new stationery formats and that brought me back to scanning and editing today. Finally they were real photos to be edited. Then a set needed to be edited for PR on white backgrounds and for lovely www.weddingideasmag.com  20150930_151455_resizedThen another set for our website design range page, gallery photos, header photo and more …
Baroque Bookmark Save the dates
Then time spent on PR & planning to do for Leicester Wedding Network .
Next a photo uploaded to our Pinterest BoardsBaroque home pages
Then back to editing….
Then there’s been Twitter. This month’s Wedding Ideas Mag came out today so as well as a quick glance through it there have been many Tweets too and stationery to share 🙂
Then there’s our eBay shop to fill with the new Baroque stationery range.
Then a bit more tweeting.
Then back to lovely couple, Jonathan and Greg and creating their reception stationery for their wedding.
Oh and I still have to prep for a lecture I am now giving on Monday at de Montfort Uni, I was second fiddle, but illness has bumped me up the rota and I need to gen up on the Power Point Slides…
Meanwhile Tom has been singing along in his studio to BBC6 Music (loves a bit of RadMac!) and making Christmas wedding Invitations.

20150930_150509_resized
Snowflake stationery for Laura & Craig and Winter Wonderland for Rachel & Darren. He might even get to do some parceling-up. Maybe.
So now I have distracted myself from uploading the new range by writing a blog instead I guess I had better get back to creating a new gallery for our Baroque  stationery range…..
And it’s only mid-afternoon, so plenty more to surprise me with!

 

Tom’s first post

Hi, I’m Tom. I’ve been working here full time at Tickled Pink Towers for nearly five years now and loving it.

Before, I sat for years at a desk performing repetitive and boring tasks. Now as I sit at a desk performing sometimes repetitive tasks (you try cutting one hundred pocketfold invites by hand!) It is never boring.

My day is made up mainly of making all the stationery from Nikki’s lovely designs. Cutting, folding and sticking, then adding sparkly jewels, tags or bows.

2014-07-02 12.16.33

In between, I manage the accounts, stock control, wrapping all the invitations with pink tissue paper,

2014-06-02 15.58.08

despatching,  coffee making and listening to 6music. Leaving Nikki free to design more stunning artwork.

My favourite designs are our Bunting in sage and pink on our hammered cream card,

2015-03-25 10.49.11

and Great Gatsby collections,

2015-09-23 12.01.55

but I’m also loving the new ‘Just Add Confetti’ range.

2015-09-23 12.02.43..

The best part of my job though, is seeing the faces of brides or grooms collecting their stationery or the wonderful messages of thanks we get from our happy couples. In my previous job, thank yous were few and far between. It makes it all worthwhile.

Wedding Fairs, love them or hate them!?

It’s about to be that time of year when one of us works most Sundays.
I, personally LOVE Wedding Fairs.
Some are great, some are badly organised, some are well advertised,
some, sadly aren’t.
But still, I LOVES THEM!
They vary hugely; we have attended heaving fairs and quiet fairs, but bar one we always take orders. We worked a long 10 hour day once and only spoke to 6 couples all day, but 3 orders came from it (one couple I’d not even spoken to, they picked up a business card whilst I skulked off to peek at the shops!), so I find it really hard to judge a good ‘un from a bad ‘un!

wedd fair 3
Some spaces are massive and some are tiny. Our stand may not be the most stylish and sophisticated, but couples do seem to love the array of colour and furtling through our samples! And then we’re not a vintage typewriter and suitcase with three samples on them type of company, we’d rather show you what we’re capable of!
Wedd fair4
But I love chatting to couples, their families, their bridesmaids, their kids. I love a good natter about their wedding and their plans, colours and themes.
It’s another string to our bow. Some brides hate them, some find all of their suppliers at one fair.
wedd fair 6
All seem to like picking up stationery and getting a feel for the textured card we use, the colours we print, the jewels we use,
the little bows, but best of all the quality.
Wedd fair5
So pop by and see us this Autmn for a fab, fun Wedding Fair at:

Keythorpe Manor
Uppingham Road, Keythorpe, LE7 9XJ
Sunday 27th September
11-3pm
Tel: 0116 2598100 www.keythorpemanor.com

Ullesthorpe Court
Frolesworth Rd, Ullesthorpe, Lutterworth LE17 5BZ
Sunday 11th October
12-4pm
Tel: 01455 209023  www.bw-ullesthorpecourt.co.uk

The City Rooms
Hotel St, Leicester, LE1 5AW
Sunday 18th October
11-3pm
Tel: 0116 251 5337  www.thecityrooms.co.uk

Inspired Bride
Nettle Hill, Brinklow Rd, Ansty, Warks CV7 9JL
Sunday 25th October
11-3pm
Vintage, Boho, Quirky, Festival  www.inspiredbridesweddingfairs.co.uk

 

See you somewhere for a natter about colour palettes, themes and that all important wording!

Summer… in France. Stationery added.

I am lucky. Very lucky.
I have two studios. Yes I have space on the dining table at home to work. Tom and I have our lovely studio in Leicester. But I have a second studio….

10625096_10152935029726282_5927715114958753656_nHow Lucky am I!?
Every summer the kids and I escape to our rural idyll. They go to the village summer club (and TRY to learn French) and I design from my little attic space studio, under the eaves which is generally scorchio…
This summer has been super scorchio. Last summer it mostly rained (very rare). This year it’s been too hot, but gorgeous. I design. Email work off. Tom prints it and sends samples from our studio in Leicester. I get to sit each evening under the stars counting satellites, playing board games, generally chilling with my parents and kids. Shooting stars in Aug (with no city light pollution ) are AMAZING.
11262370_10153607764746282_6700918513841240420_n(these gorgeous sunflowers were decorating the table at the village Bastille night party)
This summer I have designed lots of reception stationery, I-Spy cards, table planners, winter snowflake invitations, overseas invites, place cards, & lots of fun artworks. I have been out to gorgeous restaurants, taken the kids to the foodie night markets which are soooo popular in the summer here. They eat barquettes of frites and Barbe Papa (chips and candyfloss, which they only get if they order it in French- that’s the rules!!) and I have a great time. Surrounded by fields of sunflowers (ready for harvesting now!)
11947616_10153701522611282_252042339411136883_n(this is the view when I leave the house for the ‘school run’ – sunflowers waiting to be picked)
The downside??
Nope.. there isn’t one. except maybe I have burnt the wifi allowance for the month.. twice….
Oh and I have to pack to fly home on Wednesday!

Nikki’s First Post

HELLOOOOOOOOO & WELCOME TO TICKLED PINK!
It has been an exciting time re-building our website and adding pics, photographing our ranges, editing pics, writing about what we do, re-writing about what we do… Then the joy of all the parts behind the scene that make a website work and all the SEO (The Googley-find us stuff)
So, we’re Nikki and Tom, husband and wife, designer and maker and we work from a gorgeous, spacious studio overlooking Leicester High Street.
the high street
I can tell from this photo, that it was a warm sunny day when I took this pic as my window is open- this is my view of the High Street rooftops from my desk (and those white Papel Picado I bought whilst back packing in Mexico and were used to decorate our venue when Tom and I got married!). Before they pedestrianised the High Street I could rarely open the windows as we had a bus stop on the ground floor below my window and the fumes and noise were too much!
We’d love to hear from you, but meanwhile HELLO and nice to meet you and we appreciate you finding us 🙂
Nikki