Oh wedding planning. On the one hand it’s one of the most wonderful things because you’re planning what will hopefully be one of the most magical days of your life. On the other hand it can be very daunting and stressful because, well, you’re planning what will hopefully be one of the most magical days of your life.

As a calligrapher I love obsessing over the details to make my client’s dream wedding stationery come true. As a bride to be I quickly felt overwhelmed by all the decisions that had to be made.

So how did I plan our dream wedding while keeping calm and enjoying the process? I shifted my decision making from each tiny detail to which suppliers I trusted would blow me away with their work. Read on for my tips on how to choose your suppliers and where to find them. Interspersed with photos from our big day, captured by the wonderful Gina Dover-Jaques.

The magic of choosing the right suppliers

As a calligrapher I’m lucky enough to get to be part of making my clients’ wedding stationery dreams come true. It’s one of my favourite parts of my job. But I have the luxury of being able to obsess over the details I add to the day, because it’s a small part of it. When you choose the right suppliers they can each focus on making the thing they’re best at absolutely perfect for your big day. Meaning you can let go of the stress of making each individual decision. And get more time for the enjoyable bits, like seeing your dream stationery come alive or testing the food for your reception (easily one of my highlights from wedding planning). In the words of one of my lovely brides to be:

“From start to finish, Mathilda was involved in every step of the process, listening to my ideas and giving suggestions of her own. Mathilda was patient in the entire development of my wedding invitations and together we came up with the perfect end-product. She provided visual aids, added custom personalizations, and made the whole design process so enjoyable and easy! Finally seeing the invitations in person, which were carefully wrapped and shipped to the US, was the most exciting part of my wedding planning process so far and I can’t wait to continue working with her on the remaining paper products for the wedding!”

– Erika, Bride to be

What I want you to take with you from that testimonial is how the process was made enjoyable and easy. How seeing her wedding invitations in person was the most exciting part of her wedding planning so far. For me, being allowed the privilege of supplying wedding stationery and calligraphy details is not just about designing something pretty. It’s about taking some things off my couple’s to-do list and making the process enjoyable and exciting for them. That’s what I was looking for when choosing my suppliers and that’s what I would encourage you to do to make your journey to your wedding as wonderful as possible.

Things to consider when choosing your suppliers

This is going to depend on what is important to you. So sit down with a cup of tea (or pour yourself a glass of nice red wine) and a notebook and think about what you want to get out of your suppliers. For me I wanted suppliers whose aesthetic I liked with lovely personalities. People I felt like I was able to reach out to and ask questions along the way.

As an example one of the things I was the most worried about was photography.  I wanted stunning photos but I am incredibly awkward in front of the camera. We decided on Gina Dover-Jaques who I already knew from Instagram. She had photographed some of my wedding stationery so I knew her fine art style was exactly what I wanted but also that she is just this amazing person. She made the photography one of the most memorable part of our day and we have the most beautiful (not awkward in the least) photos from our wedding.

Where to find your suppliers

When I was looking for suppliers I wanted to get a feel for their aesthetic and personality. Some areas I suggest you use in your search are:

• Inspiration wedding websites like Rock My Wedding.
  I adore the RMW aesthetic and spent quite a bit of time here, both getting inspired by their real wedding stories and looking at their list of recommended suppliers.

• Instagram.
  I love when you can get a bit of a feel for a supplier’s personality and I find Instagram helpful for this.

• Through your other suppliers.
  Working in the industry a lot of us have people we adore working with and are happy to recommend. As well as all the stunning inspiration that is on there.

• Friends and family.
  Was there something about a friend’s wedding you loved extra much? Ask who helped them create it.

• Your local area.
  Have a wander in your area. Maybe your favourite local florist can help you with flowers? Our wedding venue was Dulwich Picture Gallery. A stunning gallery we frequently visit that we knew was meaningful to us and would make the day extra special. Our reception venue was our local hotel/pub. It’s a gorgeous space and we love the food so we just popped in to ask if they do weddings. They never had but were happy to do it for us and we were blown away by the people working there. Absolutely magical from early planning to testing our own wedding cocktails to the actual day.

That’s it, I hope this will help you in your path towards your dream wedding. Planning definitely has its’ stressful moments but oh gosh, our wedding day was so much more filled with love and joy than I could have ever imagined. Both because of our wonderful friends and family, but also because of the love and dedication our suppliers put into all the details.

Do you have any tips for making wedding planning a breeze? How did you find your wedding suppliers? How did you know which to choose for your big day? I’d love to hear what has worked for you!

Are you interested in how I can help make the path towards your dream wedding stationery more enjoyable and exciting?

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