MEET THE INVITATION EXPERTS

Spotlight on Nancy Glover

Merchandising Administrator for Birchcraft Studios

Nancy Glover has been in the wedding invitation industry for over 17 years, working at Birchcraft Studios in Rockland, Mass. Birchcraft Studios is a third generation, family owned independent business specializing in quality wedding invitations, social announcements and holiday cards. Nancy started as a customer service representative answering questions from wedding/social stationery dealers ranging from styles and inks available to basic wording etiquette. As she moved up in the company, Nancy found herself learning all elements of the industry, including typesetting!

Nancy currently serves as the Merchandising Administrator for Birchcraft Studios where she is a part of a team that chooses the invitations for their new line. She specializes in wedding invitation etiquette and is frequently called upon to answer questions on addressing an invitation, proper wording, and a variety of other etiquette issues. When it comes to understanding the process of selecting a wedding invitation and understanding what brides and their families need to know, Nancy is the expert.

According to Nancy, "Birchcraft Studios has an excellent resource available for couples planning a wedding called "Helpful Hints for the Bride and Groom," it includes invaluable information including: A Bride and Groom's Planning Calendar, Etiquette Questions and Answers, Wedding Expenses and What You Need and Why It's Proper. We also offer a Wedding Invitation resource titled "Helpful Hints for Addressing and Assembling Your Wedding Invitations" that even includes a diagram of how to assemble invitations properly."

The above information is offered as part of Birchcraft's website www.birchcraft.com and is printable. Brides and Grooms should enter "general public" then "wedding invitations." It is also available at Birchcraft Studio's Wedding dealers.

Invitation Tips from Nancy:

... "Assign each guest a number and write it lightly in pencil on the back of your response cards before you send them out. Even if a guest forgets to sign their name, (which happens more frequently than you think!) you will still know who sent back the card."

..."There are so many ways of making your bride's invitation unique while keeping an elegant look. There is a trend to use a variety of papers and treatments on invitations. Adding self-stick bows or wraps is very popular as well as enlarging names on the invitation using one of many Photoscript lettering choices. A variety of ink colors can be used to coordinate with the wedding theme. Thermography offers great flexibility in typestyles or ink and offers an expensive look for an affordable price."

Spotlight on Michelle Higgins

Wedding Invitation Artist

Michelle Higgins has always been creative and no matter what she studied, her love of art and design always came to the forefront. She majored in legal studies and art history at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and took many art classes at the Worcester Art Museum. Her goal was to find a profession that utilized her talents in art and design, and she succeeded. Michelle began working for Checkerboard as a part-time customer service representative. Her interest in design continued to grow as she observed their innovative creative department. She moved up in the company and is currently an artist working in the creative department. Her responsibilities include creating new and exciting designs and ensuring high quality standards in the production process. Her experience working with customers proved very helpful, since a designer needs to have a complete understanding of the production process, especially what the marketplace is looking for.

According to Michelle, "I love my job. I work with a team of amazingly talented people. We are always creating fresh new design ideas that are not currently seen in the marketplace. Designing invitations and announcements that celebrate the most important events in people's lives is a gift in itself!" Michelle recommends that wedding couples add a personal touch to their invitations. "I believe that enhancing your text with a hint of personal style is indeed the most important element of a wedding invitation design."

All of the custom invitations at Checkerboard, Ltd are printed using thermography (raised printing) and their designs showcase the process beautifully. Michelle notes, "Thermography allows you to explore texture and dimension in design and is really cost-effective. We achieved amazing results with a lobster bake invitation. This design actually has the look of real lobster claws. It was created by separating the contrasting colors and using thermography on selected areas to enhance the contrast. This was done by using tone on tone ... red ink a bit darker than the red paper it was being printed on, creating the look of a real claw. Accomplishing a great effect such as this is easily achieved with the use of thermography."

Design Tips from Michelle:

..."One design idea for adding a hint of style is a beautiful calligraphic embellishment used as a motif or a border." ... "We have found that the use of metallic inks for embellishment also creates a very elegant touch while keeping your design simple and classic."