He proposed and you have decided your wedding venue: now it’s time to tell the world that you are going to tie the knot! Which is the best way to announce your wedding? I have asked Cristina & Chiara from Pinkink Studio to share some insights on how to impress your guests with the perfect wedding stationery.
Tell me a little bit about your story: how did you get started?
Pink Ink Studio marks its start in those moments in life where you seek change, something new and exciting. Both of us come from a graphic design studies background and both ended in agency work, where we made our expertise. Exactly working together in a communications agency in Turin we met each other!
Why did you decide to focus on wedding stationery?
We have a common friend that is wedding photographer and looking through her photos we always admired the wedding stationery. So the thought was easy, why not start making our own? Why not unite graphic design, calligraphy with such a feminine world? And we started Pink Ink Studio!
What is usually included in a wedding stationery?
It depends from a couple’s necessity and how much creative they’d like the stationery to be. Well, imagination is (pheraps) the only limit! There are of course some elements that are a must: the invitation card, a card for the receipt and one for the RSVP. Those are certainly the 3 fundamental elements, of course all kept together with a nice envelope.
How important is to have a refined wedding stationery?
To us this is so important! But let’s be more precise, refined doesn’t necessarily mean elegant: we’re more looking at attention to those details that, believe us, won’t be unnoticed; from paper choice, to inks and hand calligraphy style, to print methods (ranging from gold foil to letterpress), also from ribbon choice to sealing wax. When a couple asks us to have attention for these details we are literally jumping for happiness!
Is there a specific feature that client look for?
Couples mostly seek for something original but also that represents them as a couple. Originality comes out by combining skilfully all the elements and accessories that the market offers us, may that be color, paper texture, ink but also comes down to simpler things like choosing the right font or the best illustration. And when couples ask us to experiment and push the boundaries of what has already been made, we’re more than happy to dip our toes!
Are there any trends in wedding stationery design?
There are various trends this year and mostly are some of our always fave! One is the use of translucent (semi-transparent) paper paired with metallic print: a magnificent combo! Furthermore, the eco friendly aspect is one that has a weight in the wedding industry and we happened to have couples that asked for recycled paper or biodegradable wedding invitations. Also, very on trend is the use of minimalistic and essential lines, frequently associated with genetic or color blocked designs.
Is there any specific stationery that you have created and that you are particularly proud of?
Surely the recent shooting with Cecilia from Righe&Pois and Miranda di Sipio was one of a kind! Inspired by Marcel Proust’s “The young blossoming girls”, it was a shooting with a very feminine, Bell Epique French style look. The stationery was made by a precious hand calligraphy cotton paper with unrefined edges letter from one of Proust’s girls, Gisele, writing to her friends about her youth experiences. The light blue envelope included also vintage French stamps and a handwritten “Je t’aime beaucoup” card. The shooting involved a snack moment with tea and delicate cakes, with a menu on the table all written out in hand calligraphy, and the youth girls followed the personalized place cards for their seats: a cotton parchment shaped paper just placed on the plate between candles and blossoming flowers. The photos you see here are by Gloria Soverini, which we can’t thank enough for capturing so well the essence of the stationery.
I am so fascinated by hand calligraphy! How long does it take to practice this art? Can you tell me more about the process?
Hand calligraphy is a giant world of styles and history that mix up. Chiara has been doing it for about two years now and has slowly developed a few styles that are available at Pink Ink Studio. It is a discipline that requires steady exercise and lots of patience, mostly because there’s exactly one thing you can’t do: go faster. So willingly or not, you learn the correct (very slow) pace! When we design wedding stationery we also recommend at least handwriting the couple’s name in hand calligraphy and also the guests name on the envelopes. Wouldn’t you appreciate if someone had taken the time to write by hand your name on your invitation? Sometimes it happened that the whole invitation was written in hand calligraphy and this happens steadily also for menus and place cards. Guests love this feature, which also gives a nice coordinated look to the whole wedding.
Why should a couple invest on a particular wedding stationery design?
If you think about it, the invitation is the very first glimpse of what each guest will get from the look & feel of the wedding. It’s therefore so important to make that good first impression! Show your guests that they will be treated as kings and Queens, they deserve it because they are going to be an important part of your life as a new family.
Where do you start off when designing a wedding stationery for your clients?
Firstly, we define a board of keywords connected to the graphic design and then we create a visual mood board for inspiration. This helps us get the creative juice flowing, enabling us to decide the elements that should have more focus on the stationery. Useless to say we then start creating proposals like drowned in an emotional river: this is one of the most fun parts!
If you could share a tip for a couple looking for wedding stationery, which one would it be?
Dream brides, dream big! And if you can’t imagine, no worries, we have the experience and the knowledge to make you dream your big day! Staying on a less romantic side, we strongly believe that you should choose something unique just like the couple you are, and unfortunately, there are many services out there that suggest pre-made invitations. Ask yourself: was your love story pre-made or did you put yourself in every single part of it? That’s what your wedding stationery should convey!
Thanks for this lovely interview Chiara and Cristina!
Thanks Gabriele to have hosted us on your website and given us the occasion to make you (and your readers) discover a little slice of our universe!
Click Here to visit Pink Ink Studio official Website
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Photo Credits: Irene Fucci | Gloria Soverini
