Invitations (Part 3)

[belle_v2g]

Link to Invitations Part 2

http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php/topic,266289.560.html

[belle_v2g]

I am happy to finally book my wedding invitation printing supplier. Of all the wedding items/suppliers we have to book--this is where I had problems the most..
I am obsessed with paper products. This addiction probably started when I was in grade school where I used to collect stationery sets and it makes my day just staring at my collection (I know it's a bit weird) and because of that, I am very fuzzy with my paper products for the wedding. Invitations will be thrown away afterwards we all know that but I just want this piece of detail to be perfect for my own satisfaction.
Warning : LONG READ

It all started with:
"MokiGray" - She is a w@w find. She used to be good when she first started in the wedding industry. She gave wedding invitations a whole new look from the usual classic looking ones transformed to more colorful, and expressive designs with the use of water colour or hand painting plus digital editing. I find her style soft and sweet to the eyes. MG found her way to the industry through my cousins who hired her as event stylist (Jan 2013). I started communicating with her in Nov 2014. My cousin volunteered to shoulder my invitation designing as a gift since they are "kumares" and she can just discuss the deal offline. Many brides would probably agree with me if I say that the main problem with her is Communication. She must be very busy to find time to reply to clients but I will bite to that if your IG account is not updated, ok?
She booked me for a design schedule around mid-Feb, thought at first that'll be too late since our wedding is on the first week of June. If there will be problems along the way, I won't have time to solve it (lesson learned : listen to your instincts) I waited, texted, vibered, emailed, PM'd her prior to design schedule--no avail. Dedma to the highest level.
So if you girls are the type who would require a reply in a weeks time,  think twice, because MG doesn't reply at all.
To sum it up, 4 months before the wedding, no designs yet. This is not an advisable timeline for overseas brides.

Sweetscapes Styling -  a GT recommended supplier. She is my favorite, a heaven-sent to me. She did my design in one week, just one revision and voila, I'm all set. She patiently revises my invitations to suffice the printing supplier's demand.. even tried to help me by recommending her printing company who did the invitations on her wedding.

Concepts & Technology - MG's printing partner. They are very nice and accommodating but lacks the other equipment I require so I had to find someone else. She sent me 3 different printed output but didn't liked any.. and I'm already running out of time.

PrintCafe - if you are after a lot of additional "unwanted" charges then printcafe is the supplier for you (in a sarcastic tone). My coord helped me sourced for another printing supplier and so, due to too much stress, cramming and lack of sleep, I accidentally booked them (naughty). You get charged for every small request you ask (resizing, change of envelope color). I'm surprised they even charged a "rush fee" but I won't get ahold of my invites til the end of April. Our RSVP is first week of May by the way. They don't allow refunds but I'm happy they approved us to have our wedding programmes printed instead of the invitations.. but still, 23k for 100pcs of invites is crazy and they won't even follow my instructions, and other requests.

Ever Engraving - credits to the w@wie who posted her feedback/quotation from them. I had no problems with communication at all. My AE, who is the owner's niece is very accommodating. This is too early to rave for them so I'll just update you guys once I received my invitations. 

[bzbee]

good luck sis belle! hope everything turns out well for you. thanks also for sharing your reviews, crossed out na the ones to stay away from!

[belle_v2g]

^thanks sis bzbee, i am hoping everything will be okay na. Ever Engraving has been very honest naman. They told me na hindi na kakayanin ng letterpress ang invitation because of our limited time, but Rochelle suggested nice alternatives. The specs she gave are very good, (like really good) and hindi masakit sa bulsa..
My feedback is medyo lenient pa nyan.. If I wrote that last week baka kung ano nasabi ko. haha!

[jentotmd]

^ too much naman pala ang printcafe sis. to think na diba digital printing lang din sila?

[belle_v2g]

^sis jentotmd
super "taga" sis dahil alam nilang rush. ang problem ko kase sa design ng invitation ko especially the entourage part, super siksik na..even the wedding details page. maps ko din 2, 1 UP map and UP to reception map.. so a 5x7 card would be way too small, eh karamihan ng bisita matatanda pa naman,  ako na mas bata medyo hirap ng basahin yung prints na ginawa ni concepts for me na 5x7..kaya need ko talagang palakihan..printcafe charges me 126.50 per invitation,  1500 resizing fee, 2500 embossed main invite only (Couple's names only) plus 1500 rush fee (eto yung di ko matanggap coz they asked for rush fee pero di nila kayang tapusin in 2 weeks. ) wala pa dyan ang monogram. Envelope mo plus 3k pa if gusto mo matched sa invitations. Nagtry na ng digital printing si concepts, pinadala nya sakin, para lang syang pnrint sa inkjet sis..

[Chili1113]

Hi belle_v2g! hehe Im not sure if you're the one I was chatting with in w@w re Ever Engraving where I posted my letterpress quotation hehe Anyways Is your AE Jen? If so, I didnt know that she's the niece to the owner. 

[belle_v2g]

Hi sis Chili1113! I thought it might have been you sis kase you mentioned there na you had them before in your first wedding diba? Nako sis, can't thank you enough for your feedback.. super happy ako. Rochelle is my ae, she's also a pamangkin I guess.

[maukris]

Thanks sis belle for the feedbacks. Mabuti na lang di ko pala kinuha si printcafe, dapat i will book them sa feb wedding fair ata yun sa smx.

[Chili1113]

Glad to have helped you belle_v2g, especially since you've helped me in so many ways with all your tips here! =) Let us know how your invitations turn out! =) Lapit na wedding mo!

[belle_v2g]

^will do sis chili! they said 2 weeks lead time which is okay na..
yes, 2 months na lang.. 

[cleslie05aj]

hi sissies, san po kaya nakakabili ng embossing paper and powder...meron ba non sa divisoria? san po kaya don? kasi ang hirap maghanap, magtanong ka sa divi, hindi rin nila alam, pero ang daming gumagawa ng invitations sa tabora...TIA!

[zizichick]

^sis pagkakaalam ko hindi lang basta embossing paper at powder ang kailangan... may specific machine/printer for that and if may machine/printer ka na ganito usually yung provider din ng machine magsusupply sa'yo nyan. iba po yung basta digital printer lang. if you want or need talaga ng embossing paper at powder lang, try mo magtanong sa printing press talaga like sa recto madami dun.

[belle_v2g]

Thanks sis belle for the feedbacks. Mabuti na lang di ko pala kinuha si printcafe, dapat i will book them sa feb wedding fair ata yun sa smx.

Madaming charges masyado sis maukris.. pero I've read somewhere na kapag binook mo sila sa fair, the downpayment is refundable. Nabasa ko yata sa fb page nila yon. But still, super expensive padin at konting kilos, may charge

[maukris]

^ Yes sis refundable tapos 2k lang ang downpayment. Tapos nag change din kami ng design kasi nung nakakita si h2b ng passport ayun daw ang gusto nya kaya si kenneth uy na ang kinuha namin.

Hope sis happy ka sa invitation mo sa dami ng experience mo magawa lang accoding to your specifics. Patingin kami ng pictures.... 

[belle_v2g]

Ok na yung 2k sis... sakin hiningi full payment. Buti my coord gave 50% muna (10k), tapos that night nakapag isip ako, di ako gagastos ng 20k sa invitations haha! Buti they allowed us to print something else na lang.. so sa kanila ko na kukunin lahat ng printing needs para di sayang yung dp. Ano pa ang pwedeng ipaprint aside from misalettes?
Hindi na rin nasunod yung original peg ko sis.. pero happy nako.. During these times I told myself na mas importante may invites ako na mailabas before May 2. Super kulang na kami sa time dahil sa tagal ng binigay kong time sa other suppliers. Ang hirap pa naman mag distribute dahil nakikisuyo lang kami.. malalayo pa mga guests namin.. Yung original time frame ko na first week of April distribution was moved to mid-April.. we only have 2 weeks to distribute 100 invites. I hope kayanin namin.

[caleeice]

Kaya yan sis! Assign key people to help you distribute. What I'm planning to do is to assign 1-2 people for to distribute to other members of the group. Pero in the meantime, I'll also send electronic copies via FB or Viber their invitations and inform them that the actual invites is with __.

You can have place cards, escort cards or other DIY items printed. I customized table names so we'll have that printed as well.

[belle_v2g]

Hi sis caleeice! My mum will pick up the invites this 11th. Then she'll write muna the number of guests per invite then will ask her to separate my side to hubby's side and si sis ni hubby na ang mag distribute para sa kabila. With your place cards sis, do you just give the supplier a copy of the guest list? Sila na magtatype and cut like calling card sizes?

[kisses1417]

I want to avail sweetscapes designs.kaso i made a downpayment na to WINK. Naisip ko, masyado ba magastos kung pati designs kumuha pako ng iba or ok na din naman mga sample designs ng WINK?  Gusto ko yung may mga calligraphy na names namin tapos naka medyo gold or something yung color? Ano ba tawag dun.

[caleeice]

^^Sis belle, that's the idea. I'm going to shell out money for them to do that. If they won't, ako na lang sana gumawa. Initially, thought of going DIY for that. Kaso I no longer have the time so ipapagawa ko na lang. Hehe.

^Sis kisses, others do that. Ako I had another do the design and just had them printed at Printcity. To save on costs, pwede naman that you avail of the designs being offered by WINK and just have your names done by The Fozzy Book or Inkscribbler, etc.