The Stationers Guild

Many people have opted to purchase their birth announcements from online printing companies.   Sadly, many proud parents are overlooking the great possibilities to craft a truly memorable custom birth announcement.  Whether you are looking for a traditional birth announcement or something more contemporary, I strongly encourage you to shop at a store in your neighborhood to see the many splendid samples of baby announcements.   Online companies simply offer you a cookie-cutter solution, while an experienced stationer can help you create a unique announcement that is well within your budget. 

Parents claim to find it “more convenient” to purchase their baby announcements online.   I find this surprising, since couples who purchase their baby birth announcements from a reputable stationer will often receive their envelopes and address them well before the baby is born.  Gosh, I wouldn’t want to spend the first few days with my new baby scrambling to address birth announcements.

Our family is very traditional.  In fact, for our two daughters, we have used the same Crane & Co. engraved birth announcement that was used by their mother and grandmother (Sample BC4021 in Crane’s Joy Album).

Crane Pink Baby Footprints

 While Crane & Co. has some more contemporary designs, there are a number of talented new designers who have created birth announcements rich in customization features.  Change the card stock, the motifs, ribbons, die-cut motifs to create a memorable baby announcement that will be cherished for generations.   Some of our client favorites are Lallie, Luscious Verde, Page and William Arthur.

William Arthur Giraffe Baby Announcement

Contact your neighborhood stationer now to create your custom baby announcement.   Don’t settle for low resolution images and template-based customization options:  Your new baby deserves a far better introduction to this world.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

There is a huge difference between designing a custom wedding invitation with an experienced stationer and populating a website template supplied by an Internet dealer.  While you may have some initial ideas in terms of colors, time of the season or, perhaps, you have seen a sample invitation in a bridal magazine, most young couples will use a search engine.

“Custom wedding invitations” must be a very popular search term as evidenced by the fact that there were more than 2 million pages listed on Google when I entered that phrase into the search bar today.  While there are many websites competing for your eyes, the question is whether they are useful.  I guess it depends on what you are searching for and whether you wish to play a meaningful role in designing your wedding invitation.

Based on the sheer number of websites that appear in the top listings for organic search (not paid), it appears as if the vast majority of these websites represent online printers or online resellers.  Customization to an online printer or reseller means selecting from a number of sample images on their website and then filling-in an online template for the wording, font style, inks colors and quite possibly the printing process.  While some of these websites are very sophisticated, the process is similar to painting by the numbers.  I have written previously about the pitfalls of selecting wedding invitations online, but this approach may work for some people.

For those seeking a truly “custom” wedding invitation, I strongly recommend that you consult an experienced stationer in your neighborhood.  You may find one of these stationers by entering your zip code or city and state in the search bar on the StationersGuild website.  These stationers carry a number of samples provided by leading designers and fine paper companies in the industry.  Many of these companies such as Arabella, Smock, Page, Mr. Boddington, Oblation, Lallie, Prentiss Douthit, Encore and Julie Holcomb do not sell online and instead rely on their authorized dealers to act as an interface between the client and the printing company.  Seeing invitation samples from a variety of designers and paper companies is essential to help refine your customization options.  While at first it may seem a bit overwhelming, when your work with a leading stationer you will be able to narrow down your options and discuss ways to add your own customization ideas to create a truly personalized invitation.

While leading companies such as Crane & Co. and William Arthur have a large network of qualified dealers, they also allow you to create your wedding invitation online.  While some people may find this more convenient, all of their online customization options and many more can be obtained by working with one of their qualified dealers.  As Sheila May of Therese Saint Clair points out, “99% of my wedding invitations contain one or more customization features that are simply not available in the samples provided by my fine paper companies or online.  Most brides want to stamp their personality on the event with something meaningful or of special significance to the bridal couple and their families.”