Bi-Weekly Recap – February 6th – 20th

February 20, 2010 | Filed Under catalog invitations, custom invitations, posts with pics, weekly recap | Leave a Comment 

We skipped last weeks recap because 1) we were too busy to do the recap and 2) we didn’t really have much product to photograph. Last Saturday we may have even set an all time record for the number of people here at once. At one point, we had 4 groups of people looking…and 2 groups of people waiting for tables to open up. It was c-r-a-z-y busy but despite the chaos, everyone left happy! This past week had several catalog orders arrive PLUS we were able to finish up 4 custom jobs making for a very colorful collage today! Enjoy!

1)      Custom Designed Pocketfold Wedding Invitation in Deep Purple, Hot Pink and Ecru Shimmer stocks. Ribbon and Custom Monogram tag on front of pocket

2)      Custom Designed Pocketfold Daisy Wedding Invitation in Clover / Grass / Lime Green with Light Green panel and inserts. Unique 4×9 Size with daisy belly band

3)      Catalog Wedding Invitation Ensemble – a soft textured paper with grey, white, and soft purple accents. Monogram frame and grape motif used throughout

4)      Catalog Wedding Invitation Ensemble – a brown slide with ecru double sided invitation with a chocolate brown satin ribbon pull

5)      Catalog Wedding Invitation Ensemble – a triple border white embossed invitation with swirl motif used throughout

6)      Catalog Baby Shower Invite – a white invitation with pearl embossed alphabet blocks around the border and cutesy little animals in the corners

7)      Catalog Bat Mitzvah Invite – Hot Pink, Lavender and Gold foil tied into the star and the liner

8)      Catalog Fall Themed Save the Dates – gorgeous cream cardstock with rich texture, ginger ink and fall leaves

9)      Custom Design Flat Panel Wedding Invitation – Grape/Dark Purple, Lavender, and Ecru Shimmer with bling! Three Swarovski® Crystals were incorporated into the swirl design

10)  Custom Designed Pocket fold Wedding Invitation in Tiffany Blue, Champagnee and Ecru Micha Shimmer stocks. Custom designed monogram included a single Swarovski® Crystal on the bride’s name.

Introducing Simply Sensible – Carlson Craft’s Budget Invitation Line

February 19, 2010 | Filed Under catalog invitations, posts with pics | Leave a Comment 

A common misconception that we encounter is the belief that all professionally printed invitations are expensive. At least once or twice a week we meet with a bride who plans on making her own invitations to save money. Not because she loves to scrapbook or she thinks the project will be fun – it’s because she thinks it will save her money. Then we show her a couple different lines of professionally printed invitations and she is shocked at how inexpensive they really are! By the time she adds up the cardstock, envelope and ink cartridge or printing costs, the DIY project often exceeds the costs of the catalog invitations. And now….it gets even better! Carlson Craft has introduced a new line called “Simply Sensible” offering brides several styles and packages as low as $99.90 for 100 invitation ensembles.

Save up to $400 off suggested retail prices on these new budget packages! Promotion Ends 6/1/2010.

SHOP SIMPLY SENSIBLE INVITATION PACKAGE DEALS HERE

SHOP SIMPLY SENSIBLE INVITATIONS HERE

SHOP SIMPLY SENSIBLE ACCESSORIES HERE

carlson craft simply sensible budget package

Real Brides: Emily and Andrew

February 9, 2010 | Filed Under accessories, catalog invitations, custom invitations, posts with pics, real brides | 1 Comment 

We first met with Emily and her mom Marianne not long after we opened our new studio. It was clear from our first meeting with them that the invitations needed to be classy, formal & traditional while still setting the tone for a somewhat contemporary color scheme of chocolate brown and orange. Emily selected a gorgeous pearl border invitation from the Carlson Craft line and added a chocolate brown satin ribbon below the monogram to make the invitation unique to her. The orange was first introduced into the wedding stationery when Andrew’s mother Angie surprised the couple with custom rehearsal dinner invites which happened to match the custom wedding accessories we designed for the ceremony and reception. Sending thanks to Paul Floyd Photography for taking some of the best shots we’ve seen of our work. Of course what blog reader of ours is going to pay attention to the stationery photos when the entire wedding party is this gorgeous?!?!  

A non-professional photo of the invitation ensemble that we took when her order arrived…

Heres a list of other vendors that Emily and Andrew used:

• Bride’s Apparel: Brides by Demetrios (Legacy Village)
• Groom’s Apparel: American Commodore
• Ceremony Site: Hudson Community Chapel
• Reception Site: Sheraton Suites 
• Cake: A Catered Affair
• Floral: Frank Feysa – Ohio Green
• Photography: Paul Floyd Photography
• Entertainment: The DJ Crew
• Salon: Salon 180 (Hudson)

 Here’s what Emily and Andrew had to say about their wedding experiences:

Wedding Date: 8/1/2009

What part of the planning was the most fun? Choosing all of the details that made our wedding unique – the colors, favors, music, locations, menu, etc. Anything where we could add our own personal touch and flare was fun for us!

What part of the wedding planning was the least fun? Assembling favors, tying ribbons on bubbles, writing check lists and to-do lists!! All of the tedious tasks that were easy but time consuming.

Do you have any advice for the bride-to-be currently planning her wedding? Enjoy it! It goes so fast. Get as much planning as you can out of the way early on so you can relax and take it all in toward the end.

How was your overall experience with Paper Persuasions? Steph and Stacy were fabulous and made the paper and invitation aspect of our planning so enjoyable and easy! We would recommend them to absolutely anyone!

Did you receive comments from your guests regarding the invitations and accessories? Yes! All positive! We got raving reviews about every paper product – from the invitations down to the table numbers!

*******

Working with Emily and Andrew (and each of their mothers) was such a treat! From their very first visit to look at invitations – all the way through finalizing the table numbers and escort cards for the reception – our meetings were a breeze….sometimes it simply felt too easy!

To Emily, Andrew and Marianne: Thank you so much for all of your kind words…and for the numerous referrals you have sent our way. From close family friends to people you’ve bumped into at the supermarket, we’ve had at least half a dozen people mention that you told them about us. You have no idea how much this means to us!

Weekly Recaps are back!

January 27, 2010 | Filed Under catalog invitations, custom invitations, posts with pics, weekly recap | Leave a Comment 

One of our goals for 2010 was to show some love to our blog. It’s not that we don’t love blogging, it’s just that so many things get in the way (phone calls! walk-in clients! lunch breaks!  production of orders! processing shipments! 50+ emails per day! ) So even though blogging is always on the to-do list, it is the one thing that continuously gets snaked to the next day…and the next…and the next. To combat this, we’ve decided to re-commit to ‘Weekly Recaps’, which we’ve heard people love to read. And we are going to try our darndest to stay true to the title. We figure that if nothing else, we’ll get to share several of the things we’ve been up to all in one little post.

The first weekly recap of 2010 is going to cover a few weeks. We weren’t prepared to bring this blog series back, so we had to grab photos of orders that we are currently working on and of things we had sitting around. Some of these might stretch back into the end of December, but you get the point! Enjoy!

1) custom designed 40th anniversary invitation – pink and green 6×6 pocketfold with lime green paisley invite border and lime green cardstock topped with light green text paper

2) custom designed bachleorette party invitation – red and ecru with a corset theme

3) catalog ordered white cocktail napkins incorporating a monogram in purple foil. (monogram matches that of the invitation in #15)

4) catalog ordered scratch-off save the date! (scratch the license plate of the ‘just married car’ to find out the wedding date!) super fun!

5) custom designed purple and ecru flat panel invitation. multiple shades of purple topped with ecru metallic paper. deep purple swirl design carried through on all three pieces of the ensemble.

6) catalog ordered poker themed invitation. this invite was for one of our fave wedding coordinators – heidi from heidzillas. check out the party recap (including a few how-to’s) on her blog!

7) catalog ordered save the date – white and navy blue single layer card.

8) custom designed 6×6 pocketfold wedding invitation in black, hot pink and white shimmer stock.

9) custom designed 6×6 pocketfold wedding invitation in hot pink, silver and white shimmer stock.

10) custom designed bridal shower invitation for a beach themed wedding shower. tiffany blue, black and white shimmer with a tiffany blue shell accent.

11) catalog ordered lime green and black wedding invitation ensemble. this was a mix and match set – lime green invite with black writing, black reception card with white writing, lime green response card with black writing and a black envelope, a black inner envelope and a lime green outer envelope.

12) catalog ordered photo save the date tri-fold. on the outside, a childhood picture of the bride on one side and the groom on the other. open the tri-fold to reveal a current photograph of the two of them! how could you not love it?

13) catalog invitation in red, ivory and black. this invite design can be printed in any two ink colors on ivory or white stock!

14) custom monogram wrap in black, hot pink and white with a 7/8″ white satin ribbon

15) catalog invitation in green, purple and white. this invite design can be printed in any two ink colors on ivory or white stock!

16) catalog ordered save-the-date magnet – man proposing. we love that the proposal scene is carried through as a motif on the back flap of the envelope

17) custom designed deep red, ivory and gold swirl design invitation.

18) catalog ordered white flat panel invitation with embossed border and shimmer design. this is one classy (and affordable) invitation ensemble!!

Bring on 2010 (and a tribute to 2009)

January 4, 2010 | Filed Under accessories, catalog invitations, custom invitations, studio news and happenings | 2 Comments 

The start of a new year – time for resolutions, goals and a fresh outlook for what is to come! As we sat down today to list the things we want to accomplish at Paper Persuasions in 2010 – we couldn’t help but review the progress we made in 2009. All I can say is this: we are blown away at the support and growth we experienced this past year. In a year marked with significant economic slowdown and several new competitors in our area, we experienced a 48% increase in sales  from 2008. We feel truly blessed to have worked with so many wonderful people this past year and we continue to be amazed by the awesome things our customers say about us! Stephanie and I get to live out a dream every day that we go to work, and it’s all because of our amazing customers!

Now, I’m not usually the one blogging (we leave that up to the more creative sister)…but the other day I was glancing over some of the spreadsheets I’ve created along the way and I thought it would be fun to start 2010 by sharing some of the statistics I tracked for 2009.

People always ask us: “How long does it take to make 100 invitations?” Well – every job varies…the total time it takes depends on the number of layers and the number of type of adornments. Here’s a few fun facts regarding our custom design jobs from 2009.

• 12.76 hours: Average labor hours on a custom design  job
• 27.61 hours: Our highest hours of labor on one custom invitation order. It was an order of 175 pocketfolds with ribbon, three inserts, 5 response card layouts, and all addresses printed by us.
• 29.89 hours: Our highest hours of labor on one custom accessories order (this was one huge wedding!) It included 300 booklet ceremony programs, 300 menus, 300 placecards, and 30 tented table numbers.
• 88.41%: Percent of custom orders that included return address printing on the back flap of the mailing envelope
• 31.88%: Percent of custom orders that included guest addresses printed on mailing envelopes (aka computer calligraphy)
• 71.01%: Percent of orders that were pocketfolds (yup, that’s what we’re known for!)
• 45.98%: Percent of invitation orders that also included custom accessories

At Paper Persuasions we offer various discounts to stay competitively priced, to reward our clients for previous purchases and/or subscription to our newsletter AND for the support of community outreach. Below are statistics that show where our clients saved the most money.

• $16, 896.53 in discounts were given to catalog clients for various promotions and sales throughout the year
• $3,016 in discounts were given to customers who donated 5 items to the Domestic Violence Project with their catalog invitation order
• $1,810 in discounts were given to customers who purchased accessories after purchasing invitations from us
• $156 in discounts were given to customers who redeemed money-saving offers from our newsletter Paper Points

We value our clients opinions because without them, we wouldn’t know how to improve….so with almost EVERY SINGLE ORDER we send out a survey and a SASE to encourage its return. From the completed surveys, we have compiled the following information…and let me add that we are humbled by the results. Statiscally, surveys are more often completed by people who have a gripe – as you will see, that’s not the case here!

• 98% of invitations ordered are for a wedding
• 100% of customers who responded rated Paper Persuasions as ”Excellent” on the following: Quality of final product, Meeting expectations, Customer service, Clear and concise communication, and Overall ease of process (choices are Poor, Good, and Excellent)
• 100% of customers who responded rated Paper Persuasions as “Above Average” on those same categories when compared to stationery providers they have previously utilized (Choices are Below Average, Average, and Above Average)
• 100% of customers who responded said they would recommend us to family and/or friends

We pretty much said the same thing in our 2008 year-in-review post but it bears repeating: We  just cannot believe how much we have grown and how far we have come in the past 12 months. Of course, we wouldn’t be where we are without our past brides. Many of whom we still keep in touch with,  many of whom we miss seeing on a regular basis – and all of whom are the reason we were voted BEST INVITATIONS IN AKRON/CANTON for the SECOND YEAR IN A ROW!!! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.  We eagerly await the blessings and challenges that 2010 has in store for us and we thank each and every one of you for your continued business, support, and referrals!!!

Killer Save-the-Date discounts start…..NOW!

November 17, 2009 | Filed Under accessories, catalog invitations, posts with pics, studio news and happenings | Leave a Comment 

Today 500 of these postcards were mailed to brides who attended the Today’s Bride Show and whose weddings fall within the 2010 calender year. But – I’m feeling super nice today (stacy is back from vacation!!) so this year we’re going to extend our annual “Save-the-Date Sale-a-bration” to more than just 500 bridal show brides. You too have the opportunity to save by printing the postcard and bringing it in with you when you place your save the date order!! Hurry in – the sale-a-bration doesn’t last forever!  To qualify for the save-the-date AND the future invitation purchase discount, your save-the-date order MUST be placed with all final content and a 50% deposit submitted to Paper Persuasions by 4:00 pm on January 8th.

Bridal Show Recap – Today’s Bride / Sheraton Suites – October 2009

October 26, 2009 | Filed Under catalog invitations, custom invitations, do it yourself, posts featuring other vendors, posts with pics, studio news and happenings | Leave a Comment 

stacy & steph -sisters and owners!

paper persuasions booth display - october 2009

Holiday Album Preview

October 23, 2009 | Filed Under catalog invitations, custom invitations, posts with pics, studio news and happenings | Leave a Comment 

I’m sure I am one of many who feel that this year has flown by. What year doesn’t, right? When we started receiving holiday albums back in August, I couldn’t conceive of the fact that winter was on its way - so I shelved them…and continued to do so until now. I am offically unveiling a glimpse into our collection of holiday greeting cards (both corporate and personal), photo cards, calender cards, gift tags, thank you notes and holiday party invitations. The photos below are from the Exclusive II Holiday Album which offers 24 different 8 piece ensembles - you choose the pieces you need (or want!). This album boasts contemporary designs and vibrant colors and I L-O-V-E love every. single. one. of them. In fact – I might not be custom designing my own holiday cards this year….and that says alot! Be sure to visit our studio to check out this – and several other holiday albums.  Our gift to you: a discount of 30% if you order before Thanksgiving and 25% until December 10th. And as always – if you are looking for something extra special, we’d love to custom design holiday cards or party invitations for you!

Catalog Invitation Pick of the Week

May 20, 2009 | Filed Under catalog invitations, posts with pics | Leave a Comment 

(Each week I pick one of my favorites and share it with you!)

This week’s pick: Silver and White Shimmer Flat Panel

Catalog: Bride and Groom by McPhersons
Price Points
75 Ensembles: $4.43
100 Ensembles: $3.51
150 Ensembles: $3.11
200 Ensembles: $2.92
Approximate price per ensemble including proofing, shipping, and tax. Ensembles include invitation, response card with printed envelope, reception card, and return address printed on mailing envelope.

Catalog Invitation Pick of the Week

May 14, 2009 | Filed Under catalog invitations, posts with pics | Leave a Comment 

(Each week I pick one of my favorites and share it with you!)

This week’s pick: 4×9 Seal and Send on White Shimmer Stock

We received an updated version of the Something Different Catalog by Carlson Craft, and were delighted to find something different for a seal n’ send option! This seal n’ send has a finished size of 4×9, so it’s presentation is a little more substantial that the typical seal n’ send finished size of 4×5. It is made of a trendy black and white pattern printed on white shimmer card stock and accented with your choice of ink colors for the copy content. Just fold it up, seal it, and mail it – no envelopes used! Your guests tear off the perforated response postcard and send that back to you, saving you postage and saving the environment some paper waste!

Catalog: Something Different by Carlson Craft
Price Points:
75 Ensembles: $3.45
100 Ensembles: $2.91
150 Ensembles: $2.77
200 Ensembles: $2.70
(Approximate price point per ensemble including proofing, tax and shipping. Ensembles include entire ensemble with return address and response postcard address printed)

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