Elaine Barker of Paper Potpourri in Haverhill, MA is typical of many independent stationers who operate through brick and mortar stores throughout the United States and Canada. Elaine has been in business for 31 years and has been in the same store location for the last 15 years. Her reputation for designing custom invitations and personalized stationery attracts clients from all over the state of Massachusetts.
Elaine won this year’s coveted “Billy Award” for the best custom wedding invitation at the William Arthur conference in Kennebunk, Maine. The award is determined by a vote of her peers who vote on samples of custom wedding invitations that are submitted from leading stationers across the country. Elaine’s simple yet very personalized wedding invitation and supporting wedding papers stood out over the many outstanding designs submitted by her fellow stationers.
Elaine (left) and Evelyn Choie of Vera Wang
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I had an opportunity to sit down with Elaine to discuss the creative process that went into the design of this stunning wedding invitation ensemble which reflected the very unique resort in Northern Michigan. The effervescent Elaine says that “I take great pride in providing personalized service and I love customization. It is deeply satisfying to see the sparkle in a bride’s eyed as she sees her wedding invitation for the first time. I see my role as helping couples and their families translate their vision of the “perfect” wedding into beautiful papers that reflect vision.”
This wedding was particularly memorable. In February, Elaine sat down with the bride-to-be and her mother to sketch out the preliminaries of the wedding event such as timing, locations and likely color combinations. Two months later, the bride’s mother provided Elaine with lovely hand-drawn motifs that would be used to tie all of the wedding papers together under a common theme. Elaine notes that everything illustrated on the invitation packet was a significant part of the bride’s experience in growing up in the area of Northern Michigan. The bride was the 5th generation of the family to summer on the shores of the area. The lighthouse on the invitation was the location of the reception; the sailboat on the Events and Activities Card was the family sailboat, the “Sophia Helen” named for the bride’s grandmother; the sailboats on the front of the navy pocket represented the local ”Northern Michigan” fleet, whose design dates back over 75 years, which races in the harbor; shown on the respond card was the motor launch called the “Pointer” which formerly served as transportation between the resort and a nearby town. The Pointer is now used to take people out for brief cruises and was used for the rehearsal dinner; a bicycle was used on the accommodation card as they are a favorite means of transportation in the area; a “carriage” was used on the direction card as no cars are allowed on the resort during July and August. Even the stamps on the envelopes were personalized with the mother’s hand-drawn motifs, the lighthouse on the invitation envelope and a seagull on the respond envelope and also the back flap of the invitation envelope as seagulls are her favorite bird. It’s fun when the whole family gets involved in the design process.”
Green and blue were the color combinations used for the wedding papers. The bride decided that letterpress printing would bring out the subtle colors of the Northern Lake Michigan coast line and sky and opted for Vera Wang paper and the William Arthur paper pocket to assemble the wedding papers. Needless to say, the groom, bride and her mother were thrilled with the outcome and so were their guests.
Elaine’s expertise and penchant for customer service is not uncommon among members of the Stationers Guild. Elaine notes that “my fellow stationers all love the beautiful papers we work with everyday. More importantly, we cherish the special relationships that are formed with our clients in helping them plan for significant events in their lives.”
Sheila P. May
StationersGuild.org<–>