{Paper Pretty} Free Christmas Gift Tag Printables

4 sleeps until Christmas! Todays printable post is perfect for those of you who haven’t wrapped up your presents yet and are looking for some gorgeous gift tags to don your pressies! Just click on the links under the images to download your free Christmas printables.

Christmas Printables by Vintage Princess

Christmas Printables from Ellinee via Celebrations at Home

Christmas Printables from Paper Crave

Christmas Printables from Domestifluff

Happy wrapping!

Love Louise xo

Fab Save the Date Ideas

The time has come for Dean and I to start thinking about our Save the Dates (exciting!!!). I have always had a creative streak so I had no doubt in my mind that I would design our wedding stationery.

I have been looking on the interweb for save the date inspiration as one does and came across these fabulous save the dates with a difference which I thought I would share with you all.

Credit: Once Wed

Credit: Style Me Pretty

Credit: Manolo Brides

Credit: Kelly Ink on Flickr

Credit: Wedding Bee

Credit: Ice Cream Social via Invitation Crush

Credit: Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence via Elizabeth Anne Designs

Aren’t these designs great! I’m keeping quiet about what we have in mind for our Save The Dates but I will be sure to share them as soon as they have reached our lovely recipients.

Wishing you all a happy ‘hump’ day,

Louise xx

Guest Post :: Choosing your Wedding Stationery

The aim for the Bow Occasions Blog is to be a great resource for couples to get advice and inspiration for your wedding day so I asked the lovely Sophie from Cards by Sophie to provide some expert advice on choosing your wedding stationery.

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Hi everyone, I’m Sophie from Cards by Sophie. I’m thrilled to be guest blogging today on the Bow Occasions Blog.

As wedding stationery is my passion, I thought I’d give you a few tips on choosing your wedding stationery and the various items you can choose. Your stationery can, in fact, set the scene for your wedding. It is an exciting way of giving your guests an idea of what your day will be like and it’s often the first glimpse they will get into your special day.

The first items to consider are save the date cards. These are usually sent as soon as you know your wedding date, at least 9 – 12+ months in advance of your wedding. I always say just choose some save the dates you like the look of! It doesn’t have to match in (mine didn’t for my wedding), but it can give you some ideas on what you’d like to go for with the rest of your stationery too. We offer postcard style and folded A7 cards to select from and we’re experimenting with magnetic save the dates at the moment. Some couples skip save the dates altogether and move straight onto the next step… invitations.

Invitations are the first key step to setting the tone and choosing them may help you decide on your flowers and other accessories. Think about the sort of clothes you love, your ideal décor, and the place where you are getting married. This will help you decide whether you’re going for something traditional or modern. What colours do you love? It could be your favourite colour, or many of my brides choose ribbon colours on the stationery to match the bridesmaids’ dresses and send me a swatch of fabric so I can create the design in the right colours.

We recommend sending out invitations at least 2 months prior to the wedding. You’ll also need to allow enough time for your stationer to make the items (we ask for around 3-4 weeks after approval of a proof). Consider having Pocketfolds or Cheque books; they contain not only the invitation but an RSVP and information card for details of hotels, directions etc. inside – we love making life simple!

Other items of stationery we term ‘on the day’, this is anything to be used on the day itself such as order of service, menus, place cards, table plans, favour boxes and much more. These items can be ordered much nearer the wedding day (usually around 8 weeks, earlier if you can!). They can also coordinate with the rest of the stationery, in fact it looks fantastic if you can match everything throughout. Of course, we are happy to help couples who just wish to order on the day items. This doesn’t have to cost the earth, a few menus on the tables and place cards for all the guests sets the reception scene really well. Our table plans are very popular too, they are made on a boxed white canvas and again take your design and colour theme. Certainly less hassle for you and they look very smart!

If you need any further information or have a stationery related question, please contact me through the website or email me at sophie@cardsbysophie.com

Sophie x

Thank you so much to Sophie from Cards by Sophie for this wonderful guest post. Cards by Sophie offer various different designs through their website, and they are about to launch a new printed range too so keep a look out! Cards by Sophie welcome bespoke orders too, so if there is something you’ve found or a particular item that has become your inspiration for your wedding, be sure to let them know.

Louise ♥

Bow Occasions is looking for guest bloggers. If you are interested in guest blogging for the Bow Occasions Blog, please contact me or visit the submissions page for more information.

Vicky Trainor Wedding Stationery

On one of my regular Bow Occasions research missions, I discovered the lovely Vicky from Vicky Trainor, a design & stationery company.

Vicky Trainor worked as a card and stationery designer for 15 years and ran a greetings card company that supplied some of the leading high street stores and lots of wonderful lifestyle and gift stores. The business developed into a wedding stationery company after Vicky took a break to start a family and realised that she needed to develop the business so she could cater around the family, still be creative and most importantly develop a small studio attached to the house so that Vicky could run the business from home.

Vicky told me “It is wonderful to work from home, still work long hours but it is lovely being able to pop in from the studio and nestle in the kitchen for lunch or take a break for 15 minutes in the comfort of a tower of magazines and a big comfy sofa – all of these things were not provided when I used to work in premises away from the house…..”

I asked Vicky to tell me a bit more about Vicky Trainor.

Our collections have developed over time and have been influenced by many design periods to produce a range of stationery that has a vintage appeal to the more creative brides.  We like to work with our clients and bring their ideas to life.  It is important to us to form a relationship with our client and understand their ideas from start to finish, where they are getting married, their style of dress, what they are interested in general in their life from music, career, past times and interests etc.  This helps us in the creative process and hopefully produces a collection where the bride says ‘that’s perfectly us’

We work nationally, only 2% of our clients actually step through the door of the studio – everyone else orders by post, email etc – we form these fantastic relationships with everyone without ever meeting them in person!!  So the process works well where we correspond through a series of samples through the post, phone calls, emails (some late into the evening as we start to chat about everything that is not stationery!!)  We appreciate that many work through the day so try to be available for chats most evenings and weekends.

With the interest in ‘eclectic’ – mixing tea cups and crockery – we have tried to work the same with the stationery in a lot of collections through 2010 and it will lead through to 2011.  We have encouraged brides to use a few of our collections together – marrying the designs through colour – so in the way you would mix roses, hydrangeas, peonies together in a floral arrangement we ask for you to consider doing just this for your reception stationery – and it can look fabulous!!!!!

Vicky Trainor has also developed an online shop that has been designed for the bride to be who just wants little bits and pieces and not necessarily a full co-ordinating collection. The Vicky Trainor Paper Store sells place cards, favour tags, paper bunting signs, vintage finds and greetings cards  www.vickytrainorpaperstore.com

For more information on Vicky Trainor, visit the website www.vickytrainor.co.uk. Alternatively visit the Vicky Trainor blogs; the first shows all things creative as well as what is produced in the studio and interesting bits of news and offers www.vickytrainor.blogspot.com. The second shows the daily workings of the studio www.studiosnippets.blogspot.com

Louise ♥

The Original Wedding Tea Towel

I recently got in touch with Karen at The Original Wedding Tea Towel for a sample of their unique invitations to show future clients. The Original Wedding Tea Towel is some of the coolest stationery I have seen and best of all it is eco-friendly too.

You can choose from one of their designs or if you want to create your own, you can download the design template from their website.

So what do you think of The Original Wedding Tea Towel?

CONTACT:
Website: http://www.weddingteatowels.co.uk/
Email: hello@weddingteatowels.co.uk

Vintage Princess Stationery

The wonderful world of Twitter introduced me to this lovely little stationery company, Vintage Princess.

Vintage Princess was born from a love of letterpress printing and all things vintage. They are a specialty letterpress design studio and have been creating wedding invitations, greeting cards and personalised stationery since 2003. Letterpress has been big over in the US for a while now and Amber rightly believes this beautiful print process should be more readily available to the UK wedding market.

Afternoon Tea Letterpress Invitation

Vintage Princess also offer a selection of digitally printed wedding invitations. All of their existing designs can be adapted to suit your wedding theme, or if you have something completely different in mind just drop them a line for a bespoke quote.

Cake Digital Wedding Invitation

Vintage Princess are currently offering a free printable budget planner on their blog, so brides-to-be, what are you waiting for, get on over there!

Website: www.vintageprincess.co.uk

Email: info@vintageprincess.co.uk

Twitter: @Vintag_Princess