The Stationers Guild

I heard recently from a fellow stationer that one of her clients had complained that a blind embossed store name on the underside of the envelope flap of a wedding invitation was “cheap” and “overly promotional.”  First of all, blind embossing is not cheap as it requires an additional printing pass and; secondly, while promotional, it is generally regarded within the industry as a symbol of  stationery excellence.

We were both surprised at the client’s reaction considering the fact that she was dressed from head to toe in brand-name merchandise and drives a conspicuously branded automobile.   Perhaps it was a bad hair day, but to complain about a store name blind embossed on the inner flap of an envelope is akin to complaining about a hallmark on a sterling silver frame.

I know of few companies who provide this fast-disappearing touch of stationery excellence.  Although it is not widely known, Crane & Co. still provides this lovely service.  If you are fortunate to receive a letter with a store-imprint on the envelope flap, you can be assured that the sender appreciates fine stationery.

Sheila P. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

I have recently seen renewed debate on whether the gift registry should be shown on a wedding invitation.    The simple and correct answer is:  “Of course not!”   Having worked with hundreds of bridal couples to design custom wedding invitations, not one has opted to include a bridal gift registry or URL on their wedding invitation.   It is tacky, offensive and simply poor etiquette.  

Suggesting  a gift or financial contribution on your wedding invitation detracts from the importance of the occasion.  While many argue that it is “convenient” to list a bridal registry on the wedding invitation, convenience is no substitute for good manners and good taste.   Why not just pick up the phone, call the parents or the bridal couple and extend your congratulations and then ask where they are registered.   It is simple, personal and has worked effectively for many years. 

In many situations, bridal couples will send out a save the date announcement which may include travel and accommodation recommendations.  If you plan to establish a wedding website, it is now considered acceptable to include the URL of your website on the save the date announcement or within the supporting wedding papers.  

Some will argue that this protocol or etiquette is old-fashioned.  Quite the contrary, good manners is never out of place.  If we continue to emphasize “convenience” and “efficiency”  in managing our interpersonal relationships, we strip the joy and majesty from these milestone events in our lives.

Sheila P. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

I read with great interest that the 2010 National Stationery Show has succumbed and, indeed, embraced social networking to promote interest in the National Stationery Show scheduled for May 16 through the 19th at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC.  According to Patti Stracher, the NSS Manager.  ”Social media sites are becoming increasingly important for impromptu business discussion, in a world that has become accustomed to instant feedback and news.  Websites such as Twitter, Facebook and others are helping us to communicate quickly and concisely in a way that works for busy professionals on the go.”

Last year, as an April Fools joke, I published a Blog article suggesting that the National Stationery Show would be digital by 2012.   The latest announcement by Ms. Stracher suggests that there was, perhaps more truth than humor in my “prediction.”    While one naturally assumes that “social networking” makes great sense to promote the National Stationery Show, I always ask:  “Who benefits?”   For instance, would you use the Kindle to market the National Book Show or Skype to promote a long-distance calling plan?    While I have no regrets in using every available marketing tool (particularly if they are free) to market my business, Ms. Stracher and other organizers should think carefully how these promotional tools will be used.   As far as I am concerned, empowering social networkers to promote the National Stationery Show is akin to giving the keys to the Jedi spaceship to Darth Vader.

Twitter is a social network based on the simple concept that friends and followers are actually interested in what you are doing.   I realize that any sane person could care less what I am doing.  Furthermore, I firmly resolve not to encroach on your privacy even if you are inclined to be a contestant on a reality TV show.   In other words, “Thank you for not sharing.”   I don’t mean to go Andy Rooney on you, but if you are genuinely interested in what I am doing 24/7 you probably have a pretty sad life.

While Twitter may have started out as a social phenomena for people desperately trying to “connect” or “follow” someone with lives less shallow than their own, its “social” function has been taken over by big business and media manipulators.   Like most of my fellow stationers who attend the National Stationery Show, I don’t plan on texting.    While I do carry a cell phone, it is not text enabled and, to be honest, I have found little to call about, let alone text at the National Stationery Show.  If stationers are not texting or tweeting, who is?    This brings us back to the central questions:  “Who benefits?”

Texting and tweeting is big business.  Professionals and paid free-lancers will be busy using the NSS social and their own platform to promote their brands, websites and anything else which attracts “eyeballs” or visitors to their booth (assuming they are even registered as an exhibitor).  In fact, I am quite confident that as I write this blog,  paid mercenaries are busily crafting scores of 140 character tweets in anticipation of the event to promote their own brand.   It works something like this: 

• BrandX Company plans to launch a new line of wedding invitations called “Cloud 9″ at the May show
• BrandX  Company’s marketing department contracts Indian and Philippine copywriters to write thousands of 140 character “text” messages promoting “Cloud 9″, “wedding invitations” or “BrandX wedding invitations” within the context of the NSS show product launch (at $1 to $2 an hour,  you can generate a lot of messages cheaply and you don’t even have to spell too well)
• Many thousands of messages have been created around the product launch (coordinated with article and PR releases) that will then be timed to be released around the time of the show
• The artificial “buzz” is self-generated by BrandX and will quickly be picked up the search engines and those who track key words (i.e. wedding invitations) on the social networks.

The end result of this manipulated social  “marketing campaign” is that consumer has been played.    I realize that there is an old adage that says “Let the buyer beware.”  Nevertheless, for NSS organizers to blindly jump on the social bandwagon without evaluating the consequences is, in my opinion, most disheartening.  The organizers at the National Stationery Show must should ask themselves:  ”Does social networking  lead to a stronger industry, better craftsmanship and a more-informed consumer?”  I think not.

Richard W. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

I recently saw an ad recommending that you celebrate Valentine’s Day at White Castle.   For those not familiar with White Castle hamburgers, I believe it is fair to say that a White Castle burger is an acquired taste.  I certainly would not place a visit to White Castle on my top 1.000 things to do before I die list, but some of best friends still pay the occasional nostalgic visit.  Oh, a White Castle hamburger will set you back $0.49 (yes, only forty-nine cents). 

Hamburgers come in many shapes and sizes and for a price you can customize the hamburger to your liking.    One can add cheese, lettuce, tomato, chili, BBQ sauce, mushrooms, bacon and a seemingly endless variety of other condiments and toppings.   In fact, Daniel Boulud’s burger is topped with foie gras and truffles and sells for around $50.  You are probably wondering what hamburgers and wedding invitations have in common?  Plenty, at least metaphorically (is there such a word?) speaking.

Like burgers, wedding invitations come in all different shapes and sizes and can be customized or enhanced with bows, lace and ribbons, motifs, ink colors, lined borders, envelope linings and a myriad of other options to create a unique theme for your wedding invitation.  The weight and components of the paper and printing process all contribute to add substance and beauty to the overall design of the wedding invitation ensemble.  Like the hamburger, the degree of customization and the quality of ingredients are generally reflected in the price of the end result.  There are wedding invitations that metaphorically resemble a White Castle, Boulud’s foie gras hamburger or something in between.  It all depends on your choices and your ability to decide what you “must have,” what you can live without, or perhaps find a less-expensive substitute or work-around solution.   Working with an experienced stationer helps!

Unfortunately, the internet has made it next to impossible to tell the difference between a “White Castle invitation” and something entirely different.  Samples of wedding invitations on the internet are low resolution images and one can only speculate on the the quality and weight of the paper and how ink colors will resonate under different printing processes.    Short of blind faith in the outcome, the only basis of comparison is price and, as we have seen with the price of hamburgers, you tend to get what you pay for.

If you think you get a bargain when you buy a wedding invitation from weddinginvitations4less.com, invitations-rsvp, annesbridalbargains, 50freeweddinginvitations and budgetweddinginvitations, I strongly encourage you to think again.  A visit to your local neighborhood stationer will help you see wedding invitations in an entirely different light.  Furthermore, these stores have invitations for every budget and you will benefit from the experience of your neigborhood stationer.

Richard W. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

I came across an interesting article in today’s New York Times by Sam Roberts with the intriguing title that “More Men Marrying Better Educated, Wealthier Wives.”   The gist of the article suggests that men who have sought marriage “from the standpoint of physical and mental well being”  now realize that a better-educated partner can also contribute to their “economic well-being.”   While this might be seen as a major evolutionary break-through in male maturity and self-realization,  the “alpha female” (The Knot’s characterization of the upwardly mobile female) is unlikely to compromise her rigorous approval standards.  One anonymous textile executive quoted in the article reportedly queries bar slugs and first dates with “Do you have a passport and a library card?”  Gosh, that will certainly weed out the field of eligible males rather quickly and so much for “Love at first sight!”

As I have no skin in the game (married to a far smarter woman and breadwinner -a fact which she reminds me of each day), I am free to offer this advice to men whose emotional IQ is higher than their testosterone level:  Buy engraved stationery and seek out a woman with an expensive pen.   I might add that Crane & Co. and William Arthur have sensational personalized stationery promotions going on right now, so you can buy in cheap and score big with a personalized note to the woman of your dreams who is currently involved in an unhealthy relationship with her Blackberry.   Can you imagine her reaction when she receives your hand-written note on engraved stationery?   Her Facebook “friends” and “Twits” on Twitter will simply fade into oblivion proving decisively that the pen is mightier than texting. 

If you need help selecting your stationery, please enter your Zip code or City and State in the Search Bar in the right hand corner to locate a qualified stationery store in your neighborhood.   If, however, you are looking for a woman with the “right”  fountain pen, might I suggest a limited edition Omas Château Lafite Rothschild fountain pen with a sterling silver nib which retails for $1,750.  I ordered the Chateau Lafitite pen for a woman as a birthday gift to the man of her dream’s whose passions were limited edition pens and French wine.  Apparently, his passions didn’t extend to the woman in question and I still have the Omas pen.  If your bride-to-be is looking for a pen to ink the relationship, tell her I have a great deal for her at Thérèse Saint Clair.

Chateau Lafite Fountain Pen

Richard May
Therese Saint Clair

Now through March 28th, buy 75 wedding invitations, rehearsal dinner invitations or wedding stationery and get 25 free during William Arthur’s Wedding Stationery Promotion.    During this time of economic difficulty,  this exciting new promotion will make your wedding budget dollar stretch longer.

William Arthur, based in West Kennebunkport, ME is one of the leading designers and printers of fine stationery and custom invitations.  Known for their outstanding service quality, responsiveness and cutting-edge designs, William Arthur is a most popular choice for save-the-date announcements, wedding invitations, direction card and wedding thank you notes.

If you are a bridal couple looking for high-quality wedding invitations at affordable prices, William Arthur is certainly worth seeing in person.  Take advantage of this exciting opportunity to see William Arthur’s beautiful wedding invitation designs and schedule an appointment with a Guild Member store in your neighborhood.

As a stationery store with an online presence, we receive many requests for a catalogue or samples of  wedding invitations.  Visitors are surprised that Thérèse Saint Clair has no catalogue nor do we send out “sample” wedding invitations.  Usually these visitors to our website come to understand that there is more to selecting a wedding invitation than looking at paper samples or limiting oneself to a few designs in an catalogue or online store.   Let me explain why.

Like most of the fine stationers found on the Stationers Guild website, we represent many excellent design companies and printers.    In the case of Thérèse Saint Clair, we represent over 60 companies that print wedding invitations; each of whom has their own unique style or designs, custom printing process and papers.   It would be presumptious of me to select sample designs for someone I have never met without having the benefit of a conversation and, most likely, a meeting to discuss their requirements, budget and style preferences.  If there is one piece of advice I can give prospective bridal couples, it is this:   If you decide to purchase a wedding invitation from a catalogue or online be prepared to be disappointed.  The outcome is unlikely to meet your expectations.  Let me show you why.

My responsibility as a stationer is to help my client select a wedding invitation and reply card set that reflects their preferences and design features – not my own!  For instance, I find Vera Wang wedding invitations to be particularly stylish in that they seemlessly incorporate many of Vera’s latest fabric designs into the actual invitation itself as shown below:

Vera Wang Wedding Invitation

While this is obviously a very striking invitation ensemble, the colors, the paper and, indeed, even the elaborate styling may not appeal to you.   For instance, you may be more attracted to the classic simplicity of Crane & Co.’s classic wedding  invitations or, perhaps, the bold designs of Oblation’s letterpress wedding invitations.

Oblation Letterpress Wedding Invitation

Imagine the complications of being faced with samples from over 60 companies:  Your head would likely be spinning.   There is a tendency for people to throw up their hands in frustration at the seemingly endless number of choices.  Nevertheless, working with an experienced stationer can often help narrow down the viable choices fairly quickly.  There is  a distinct advantage to working with an experienced stationer who has many samples of custom invitations, printed ink colors and paper swatches to help insure that your printed invitation meets your expectations.  This is simply not possible in the online world where low image resolutions distort ink colors and, most certainly, don’t begin to pick up the subtle textures of paper and their different weights.

The Stationers Guild has hyperlinks to many fine paper companies who sell wedding invitations.    Some of these printing companies sell online, but many do not.  Let  these designers and craftspeople tell you their story in their own words and see samples of their great designs.  While this is a useful way to do your research, there is no substitute to visiting a qualified stationer in your neighborhood.  While Guild member stores may not carry all the lines shown on our website, spending an hour with an experienced stationer will help point you in the right direction and will probably save you both money and many hours of frustration.

Sheila P. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

From January 16th through April 12, Crane & Co. will offer two distinct promotional offers to Guild dealers who carry the Crane wedding, Kate Spade and Martha Stewart wedding collections.    If you are planning a wedding, drop into a Guild member store in your neighborhood to see these exciting Crane wedding invitation collections.

For all engraved and letterpress orders, you will receive  free invitation and return address dies (a $148 value for the two dies) on orders of 100 or more invitation.  Letterpress dies are not returned.

For thermography and flat print orders, clients will receive free return address printing on their outer envelopes (a minimum $58 retail value) on orders of 100 or more invitations.

Visit a qualified stationer in your neighborhood to learn more about Crane’s exciting new wedding invitation promotions.  See the difference in ink colors from live samples available at a qualified Crane dealer near you.  Remember, ink colors change dramatically depending on the printing process employed.  Expert advice is always welcomed on an occasion as important as your wedding.   Poor internet resolution distorts colors and the printed outcome will probably not conform to your expectations.  Some things are best done in person.  Selecting your wedding invitation is one of them.

Sheila P. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

This month Oblation Papers & Press will release its new line of wedding invitations called “&” or ampersand.  This trend-setting letterpress design and printing company based in Portland, Oregon has been creating cutting-edge stationery and invitations since 1989.    Oblation uses hand-made cotton paper from recycled fabric scraps to create its custom invitations.

Oblation Press

Late last year, we learned that Oblation would introduce a new line of invitations called “&” or ampersand.  Ron Rich, who together with his wife Jennifer, own Oblation informed me that they had originally intended to call the new designs “Black and White” but finally settled on ampersand.  Like most everything the Rich’s take on, this new line of invitations displays a comtemporary edge while still retaining the great elegance of traditional letterpress designs.

Letterpress Printing

For more information on Oblation’s wedding invitations, contact a guild member store in your neighborhood.   As with most fine stationery, appointments are recommended.

Sheila P. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

This is a shameless promotion for the “Metropolitan Opera’s HD transmission of live opera at a theater in your neighborhood.   This post has nothing to do with personalized stationery, custom wedding invitations or how the internet is destroying the craftmanship and elegance of fine paper.   If you want to see truly inspired theater, stunning choreography and memorable performances, I strongly encourange you to attend the Metropolitan Opera’s live HD transmissions at selected theaters in your city.   If you haven’t seen Renée Fleming perform, you are truly missing a life-changing experience.  See Renée live on Saturday, January 9th in Des Rosenkavalier – you won’t be disappointed.

Renee Fleming for Thais

Rick and I have been attending the Metropolitan Opera’s HD transmissions for a couple of years now.  The hassle of driving into New York City  to see a live performance at the Met finally got to us and we are most grateful to the Met and their sponsors for making these memorable performances available to the general public.  For those not familiar with the Met HD program, the Met will broadcast a live Saturday matinee performance in HD at a theater near you, followed by a reprise of that same performance on Wednesday evening a week or two later.    Simply go to the Metropolitan Opera website, check out the schedule of performances, and type in your zip code to locate a theater near you.   

Two exeptional performances are coming up shortly:  Richard Strauss’ Des Rosenkavalier with Renée Fleming and Susan Graham on January 9th (the live transmission) and George Bizet’s Carmen with Roberto Alagna and Elina Garanca on January 16th (the live transmission).   While we can’t make the live performances (busy selling stationery and invitations), we certainly will attend the retransmissions.   The pagentry, music, staging and performances are memorable. 

Do yourself a favor and attend one of the upcoming Met performances at a theater in your neighborhood.  These Met performances lift the spirit and, judging from the growing size of the audiences, restores faith that people still long for “real” theater, pagentry and elegance.

Sheila P. May
Thérèse Saint Clair