Jan 20, 2023

When Your Own Wedding Inspires Your Work

I do.

For two little words, they sure do have a lot of meaning. They represent love, commitment, excitement, forever. And for many brides, there's a LOT of planning that leads up to saying those two words. I should know, I'm getting ready to say them myself!

This May, I'll be marrying my fiance Taran here in North Carolina. When we got engaged, we suddenly had a new laundry list of planning to do. Dress, decor, catering and venue, guest list, the whole nine yards. But up first? Save the dates.

As a stationery designer myself, I was excited and ready to take that one on. And I already had my inspiration. One year for Valentine's Day, Taran got me a stunning dried floral bouquet. Being dried, it'll last just about forever, and it's a centerpiece in our living room now. I knew I wanted to incorporate them into my wedding, so why not the invitations, too?

So I started drawing.

You may not even realize it, but some of you already have my wedding print in hand. The blush dried floral and charcoal dried floral patterns? That's the one!

Once I created those designs, the save the dates were simple! But I still had a long road of wedding planning ahead. And that's when I got another idea.

Why buy a wedding planner, when I already design and sell planners myself? Just like with the stationery, I got to work doing it my own way.

Let me just tell you, I adore the way it turned out. It has everything you need, from budget planning to space to draft your vows and a running list of things you may want to consider. And it's sturdy, colorful and has that polished gleam that's so put together and satisfying.

But besides the design, there's two things that I truly love about this planner that I tried to do differently than others you may find. First, instead of just filling it with scribbled notes, I wanted it to be more of a creative experience, working for you instead of restraining you. To me that meant space for note-taking, scrapbooking, or creating a vision board with your wildest ideas.

Second, I wanted my wedding planner to be something everyone is free to use. So much of the wedding industry puts us into boxes as bride and groom. But so often that's not how we might see ourselves. So I used gender neutral categories, like outfits instead of "the dress." I want it to help you plan the day that's right for you and your partner!

The rest of the collection just poured out naturally as I continued with my own planning. I designed custom cards to ask my bridesmaids to stand by my side, and thank yous for the generous gifts already arriving. I even created a guest book to help us remember every moment of the big day!

Now, I'm so excited to share the full collection with you. You can find it all here on Elyse Breanne Design, or go flip through the books in person at Mill & Meadow. I hope each piece helps make the lead-up to your big day a bit easier so you can just focus on all the feelings of the big day!

If you want to peruse the collection, click here, or scroll through: