Aruba Wedding Invitations, Menus, etc
Just a couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of helping out one of my fellow Aruba brides. She liked our wedding menus and asked where we got them done. Well, we had done them ourselves, so I offered to do hers. (I’m still in wedding withdrawal!) While I was too stressed out to enjoy working on my materials, I had fun helping her out! I started wondering if I should look into doing more of this as a hobby. It was fun helping her and I also can’t help but be truly inspired by our Jingle96’s creative endeavors! Her enthusiasm really is contagious.
When I was shopping for invitations, favor tags, menus, etc, I had a lot of trouble. So many of the pieces I was finding were bland and overdone or sophisticated but expensive or required me to order many more pieces than I needed. I believe we ended up paying like $11 each for invitations! They were nice but that’s a lot of money. There seemed to be a shortage of simple, classy, affordable wedding materials targeted to beach weddings.
Why do I think I could contribute to this niche market?! Well, my background happens to be graphic design and my family owns a printing company! From graphic design I moved to web design and now do web development (e-commerce & programming). So I happen to have all the tools I need for the creative (graphics software and experience), the production (printing, suppliers and specialty processes) and the sales (e-commerce development). And of course I can’t forget – brides that might be looking for materials with real Aruban flair.
I do still have to run this by the hubby but he knows I’ve been needing a creative outlet. Maybe this is it. If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate it if you could share your experience in shopping for your wedding invitations and other wedding materials, (info@ourarubawedding.com). Feel free to pass along your thoughts or any inspiration you might have. What does ‘beach wedding’ or ‘Aruba wedding’ mean to you? What kind of style were you looking for when you were shopping for your materials and were you able to find it? What kinds of touches do you think make your materials really special? What made them stand out? Did you find something you loved but it cost more than you could justify spending? Did you order something you ‘liked’ but feel like another touch could have made it better? Were there items you were just unable to find?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have!
Our Aruba Wedding is written by brides that are planning or have had their wedding in Aruba!
Mindy
27 May, 2010
I had a lot of trouble finding invitations myself. I found them all to be incredibly girlie (my fiance has had a lot more say than most and he just really hated them), over the top, and just plain cheesy. The destination ones in particular were gaudy. I ended up buying very simple ones that were black writing on white paper. I then found a bonsai tree stamp that reminded me of the divi divi trees found in Aruba. I would actually emboss the stamps, but I don’t have the time or patience to do that right now. So many people have gotten into the wedding business because they were not happy with what they found as brides themselves. Amsale, One of my favorite dress designers, started that way. So if I had advice to you, I would say destination invitations that were classy, not cheesy, simple, and included something specific to that getaway (ie divi divi tree to Aruba). I also think that a lower price point is important because most destination brides do want to keep costs down. Good luck!!
Aruba Bride
27 May, 2010
Thanks so much! I also gravitate to simple. For the first samples I was thinking white card with simple cutouts like palms, starfish, flamingos, laid over the top of a colored card. And thanks for the idea of the divi divi tree! I think it would totally be worth having a series of custom dies made! Its unique enough that I think it would worth making up a case of blanks at a time. Thanks so much for the great feedback! You’re right – so much of the destination materials are cheesy – like they’re “trying too hard”.
Jingle96
3 Jun, 2010
I’m going through wedding withdrawal already! I was thinking about offering my services, maybe to upcoming brides/friends, then I was thinking Etsy, then I saw this post! I think I need an intervention! I posted more DIY on my site, so ladies check it out, if you need help just ask! Aruba Bride lets go into business…haha!
Christene
3 Jun, 2010
You totally should, Jing — you’re SO creative! Your invites totally inspired me. I think they’re the cutest ones I’ve seen. I liked mine but like yours better! I’m thinking it might be worth doing while its fun, right? It does seem like there is room for some custom, island-y pieces.