The Stationers Guild

I recently came across an article by Schuyler Maedjaja entitled “Wedding invitations: how to win the battle.”  Mrs. Maedjaja is the wedding editor for the Lynchburg (VA) Examiner.    While Mrs. Maedjaja does provide some helpful advice, the article simply does not go far enough to properly explain how bridal couples should select their wedding invitations.

Mrs. Maedjaja suggests two ways of “researching” wedding invitations:  the first is online and the second is to visit a neighborhood stationer.  While the Internet is often used to research wedding invitations, it leaves much to be desired as an unbiased “research” resource.  Specifically, the search results are far too large to be of much relevance.  For instance, today a Google search for “wedding invitations” yielded over 20 million results.

Goggle Wedding Invitations Search

Also, companies listed on the first few pages of search results are interested in “selling” not informing.  The information provided on their websites is generally a sales pitch rather than information. 

While someone who knows what they are looking for can narrow down the search results (for instance, “letterpress wedding invitations” yielded 125 thousand results), it is very difficult to find relevant and unbiased information on the internet to guide your search.  In fact, the only unbiased online reference source for leading wedding invitation suppliers is the Stationers Guild which lists over 50 leading wedding invitation vendors with hyperlinks to their websites.   Some of these companies sell online, but many do not.

Mrs. Maedjaja cites All Wedding Essentials as having an ” . . . amazing selection and many different possibilities. No matter what your taste is, you are bound to find something you love here.”  Perhaps you will, but this is a rather poor and limited sample of the universe of custom wedding invitations. Therese Saint Clair carries two of the three lines listed on the All Wedding Essentials website and they can hardly be considered trend-setters for wedding invitation design.  In fact, one is a commercial printer better known for its business stationery than its wedding invitations.   

For those seeking to avoid template-based online solutions, the best way to research invitations is to visit a qualified stationer. Mrs. Maedjaja suggests The Farm Basket in Lynchburg.   I do not personally know the owners of  The Farm Basket, but seeing paper and printing options first-hand is far preferable to coping with low resolution images and template-based online solutions.  Unfortunately, the article leaves the impression that it is “cheaper” to shop online than it is to do so in a store.   This is generally not the case.

Storefront stationers carry a variety of wedding invitation lines and customization options at different price points.  When you work with an experienced stationer, you receive expertise that is generally lacking in the online world.  These stationers work to create the best custom wedding invitation for your budget.   Furthermore, they are often full of suggestions on how to economize on other aspects of your wedding that online retailers are simply not in a position to provide.

The Stationers Guild has approximately 300 qualified stationers listed on their website.  Nine of these stationers are within a 100 mile radius of Lynchburg.  While this is by no means an exhaustive list of “qualified” stationers, it does provide the consumer with a dependable resource well within their extended neighborhood.  Crafting your wedding invitation with an experienced stationer makes a lot of common sense and may just save you some dollars and cents.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

Tags: Lynchburg Examiner, online wedding invitations, Schuler Maedjaja, The Farm Basket, Wedding Invitations

This entry was posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 at 4:58 am and is filed under Wedding Invitations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.