Why I'm Creating a DIY Wedding Stationery Tool for Couples Who Want Pretty Paper, Without the Big Price.
Baby K and I returned to Tokyo two weeks ago now, and we are happy to be home. Finally over our jetlag, and the aftershocks haven't been too bad. G has done some volunteering up in the Tohoku region and the photos and video he's taken have been unbelievable. Please continue to keep the region in your prayers, as it will take a long time for them to reach some level of normalcy again.
Last week, I read a great blog post written by Sarah of HipInk and I've been thinking about it. She recently celebrated her 100th posting with this "Post 100: So Why Are My Knickers in a Twist?" If you haven't already read this, hop over there for a read. I love Sarah's candor, and this is a very insightful post from a designer's perspective.
In short, Sarah voices her frustration regarding a common question and objection given by prospective customers to custom wedding stationery designers, "Why would I spend so much money on invitations when they are just going to end up in the garbage?"
Sarah's short rebuttal is below:
"Weddings are by nature about consumption. At least 90% of the money you will spend on your wedding will go to things that are about “experience” rather than permanency. When your wedding day is over, nothing remains but your photographs and video – oh, and probably your invitation."
Sarah is right, weddings are about consumption. But, that's not all. Weddings are also about a couple making serious financial purchases, I dare say, most would rather not be doing, for their wedding day. That's why the cost of wedding stationery gets so much push back from consumers. Though compared to all of the other expenses, wedding stationery only seems a drop in the wedding bucket. However, with the average spent on wedding stationery at $1200, when I was planning my wedding, I could think of a lot of things I'd rather be doing with my money.
Consider the following:
1) Paper is a disposable commodity. Getting people to change their perspective to it being indsposabe for a wedding, is probably not going to happen.
2) Most consumers view weddings as uneccesarily expensive. The truth is, we all would prefer weddings to be free. Oh wouldn't that just be great! But they aren't. So, couples end up planning their dream wedding as far as their budget will allow.
3) Every nearlywed couple has an allocated wedding budget hierarchy, stationery is probably not at the top. Stationery is among the most popular areas of the wedding in which consumer feels they do it themselves, to trim their budgets.
Seriously taking there these three points into consideration, the idea to create a web-based DIY stationery design tool was born mostly out of frustration with the current wedding stationery options available. Yes, I'll go ahead and admit, I wanted the pretty without the price and was pretty disapointed there wasn't a web app that would let me easily create my own. And you know what? Based on the research and feedback conducted thus far, I'm not alone.
I am part of a new type of consumer, who would prefer to do it myself, online.
To give you a bit of background, I planned a destinaton wedding in Hawaii from Tokyo three years ago; and wedding stationery was certainly something I struggled with. I considered custom invites from CeCi of New York. Oh how I loved the Ceci New York destination design suites! I showed my fiance' the pricing and he thought I had offically lost my mind, for even considering statonery that expensive (we're talking about $18.00/per invite!). I spoke with several custom invite designers as well, but in the end, finally decided to order invites, rsvps, save the dates, and directionals, from Wedding Paper Divas and created the rest (programs, table numbers, escort cards, etc.) myself. It turned out beautifully and in all, we spent around $1200 wedding stationery.
Looking back, I still think I spent way too much on wedding invitations ($1200). And no, I don't wish I'd chosen custom invites over the Wedding Paper Divas ones. Instead, I wish I'd listened to my planner to have a video of the day created and I also wish I'd eaten more of my wedding cake (it was so yummy!!!)
I love stationery and stationery designers and feel they play a very important role in weddings, so don't misunderstand, I'm certainly not some anti-wedding industrial complex fanatic. I'm simply a wife, new mommy, former bride and wedding fanatic who wishes pretty paper could be had by more couples, for less. So, as we move closer to launching our web-based DIY wedding stationery creator, Hitch'd Designer, I thought I'd let you know the why, especially as the National Stationery Show (NSS) approaches and they will be discussing the stationery industry and the role the digital market will play in the future. Sure wish I could be there, next year... next year!
We're creating something exciting that solves a huge problem in the stationery industry and we have BIG Plans! If you haven't already done so, be sure to sign up here for an invite to our beta program!
Also, we have just set up our Facebook Fan Page, if you like us let us know! And, follow me on Twitter @TSwoopes and @HitchdDesign!
Toodles!
Takara
