Dahlia by Lauren is a wedding stationery company based in Belbroughton, specialising in creating fine wedding stationery at affordable prices. They pride themselves on clean and simple designs, classic neutral palettes and beautiful papers. Working closely with their customers from start to finish, Dahlia by Lauren aims to provide a simple and stress-free process throughout.
We spoke with Lauren to find out more...
Hi Lauren! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. First things first, what’s your background and how long have you been in the wedding stationery industry?
Thanks for having me! From a young age I've always enjoyed painting, it's always been a hobby of mine, but working in a creative field wasn’t my intended career path. The first wedding invitations I made were in 2017 for a colleague whilst working in Pharmacy. She'd seen some of the artwork which I created in my spare time and asked if I could design her wedding invitations. After one happy bride, and falling in love with the process, I left Pharmacy to study Illustration and opened my shop, Dahlia by Lauren in 2017.
When it comes to wedding stationery, what would you say are the essential items to order?
Before the day:
To inform your guests of your wedding date and location, and to allow them to plan accordingly, you should send either a formal or informal invitation approximately 6 months prior to your wedding.
If your wedding is in summer, it can be a good idea to send a ‘save the date’ card a year before so your guests don’t book their summer holidays at the same time as your wedding. You will also want to provide your guests a way to respond, that might be with an R.S.V.P card, but alternatively you can supply an email address or phone number on your invitation to cut costs.
On the day:
There are several stationery items you might want to consider for the wedding day to allow your guests to know what to expect of the day ahead – times you will be eating, what you may be eating, where they will be sitting etc. to make sure the day runs smoothly for everyone.
Order of the day
An ‘order of day’ is a large displayed sign which sets out the milestones throughout the day. Starting with the ceremony, moving to drinks, canapés, speeches, the cutting of the cake, party and carriages. This can help to keep your wedding day smooth sailing and will mean guests will not disappear just as the speeches commence!
Table plans, table numbers and place cards
These items are helpful to make the run up to meal time stress-free. Your guests are probably going to be hungry at this stage and you don’t want agitated, hungry guests at your wedding!
Seating cards
Seating cards allows you to assemble where your guests will sit, ensuring everyone is able to sit next to their partners, friends or family, meaning none of your guests will be sitting on a table on their own.
Table plan
The table plan is a reference point for guests to see which table they will be sat at. This is especially helpful for large weddings, as without a table plan you will have lots of guests walking around tables searching for their seating cards.
Menus
Menus are useful for sit down meals – everyone likes to know what they are eating, and reading all the delicious food on the menu will give them something to look forward to and talk about while they wait for food to be served. Additionally, you can order customised menus for each guest. If they have allergies or dietary requirements, this can be stated on the menu to reassure them that they have been catered for appropriately.
Are there any trends or colour combinations? Which are the most popular?
Wedding invitations are the first glimpse of your wedding that your guests will see, and it’s a good way to build some anticipation for the big day. You might want your wedding stationery to reflect the themes you will have on your wedding day. A lot of clients for example, like to tie in their wedding stationery with the colours of their bridesmaid dresses, or the flowers they are having on their wedding day.
Greens, dusty blues and pinks are very popular colours every year – they work beautifully with flowers and botanicals. Minimalist stationery is right on trend this year. Minimal design relies on beautiful papers and fonts to do all the talking. Using pops of colour with your envelopes or wax seals can bring some added finesse and can be a lovely way to show off the colours of your wedding palette.
What are the different types of design/printing? Are there different options to suit different budgets? What is usually more expensive or more affordable?
The more ‘luxury’ types of printing are letterpress, foil stamping and embossing. These methods require made-to-order metal plates which are pressed into the paper, using specialised equipment and techniques to make them. Although the result is beautiful, due to its specialised nature it can be expensive!
The most popular and cost effective method is digital printing. Although this type of printing is very flat in comparison to the more expensive techniques, it offers affordability to spend on other items which can bring depth with layered papers, ribbons, wax seals, envelope liners and vellum wraps.
How much customisation is possible?
You can choose from one of our house designs on our website, fonts and font colours can be customised at no extra cost, we also have a wide range of envelopes to choose from and this is all included in the price. We're also able to offer custom designs at an extra cost. This may be a venue watercolour or pen/pencil drawing of your venue.
I assume envelopes are included – are there different options for these including embellishments?
Yes, envelopes are included in our prices. You can add guest addressing if you don’t fancy a sore wrist after writing out all of those addresses in your neatest handwriting. Guest addressing is available in colour, black or white ink.
What does the process involve from the design stage to the final product when ordering?
Once you've found the invitation design you like and an order has been placed, within 2 days I'll make a start on your stationery artwork. I'll send you all the digital proofs before sending to print. This will give you the opportunity to make alterations along the way, which is included within the pricing. The whole process can take 2 to 3 weeks and I'm always available throughout if you need me.
Can I order all of my wedding stationery from one supplier?
Yes! We're able to provide anything and everything from your save the dates right through to your thank you cards.
Thanks for chatting with us, Lauren!
If you’d like to get in touch with Dahlia by Lauren, you can contact the team on info@dahliabylauren.co.uk
Website: www.etsy.com/shop/dahliabylauren
Instagram: @dahliabylauren
Facebook: @dahliabylauren