With 10 years of experience, we know what we need from you. We’ll ask incisive questions to understand you, the guest experience you’re imagining, and what you like (and don’t like). Then we’ll hit the ground running.
We don’t have a house style—your taste shapes what we create. But if there’s a common thread in our work, it’s that we love to play with color, layers, texture, and unexpected materials in service of storytelling.
As the saying goes, you get one chance to make a first impression. We’ll make it count.
The moment your invitations arrive in their mailbox, your wedding stops being an idea—and starts being an experience.
From the traditional day-of paper to unexpected signage and displays, your day-of pieces bring color, texture, and wit into your event design.
We’ll sit down via Google Meet to make sure we’re the studio for you. This is your chance to tell us all about your wedding plans and what you want the guest experience to be like.
Once we understand your vision, we’ll put together a custom proposal for you. We’ll give you options for printing methods, finishings, and other details based on our initial conversation. As soon as you approve your proposal and pay a 50% retainer, you’re a Leighwood couple.
Everything we create for you fits right into the story that your décor is telling. That’s why we wait until 5 to 7 months before your wedding date to determine the creative direction. By this point you’ll have a good idea of how your wedding will look and feel. We’ll design invitations that hint at what’s to come and suggest day-of pieces that will transform the guest experience.
We love to push the envelope (pun intended) when it comes to methods and materials. If you want high-concept invitations or unique shapes and textures, we’re up for the challenge.
Once you’ve signed off on design, things kick into high gear behind the scenes. We work with trusted partners to do printing, then we examine each piece before it leaves our studio (what can we say, we’re detail-obsessed).
As soon as they land in your guests’ mailboxes, expect to receive endless messages about how incredible they are. While they’re replying “yes, count me in,” we’ll be hard at work on your day-of pieces.
As a Leighwood Design Studio custom client, you’ll have access to:
» A hands-on design process. Our creative director will create one-of-a-kind invitations and other pieces to elevate your wedding, working closely with you to make sure it’s just what you want.
» Exceptional support. We take care of all the little details: hand-tying ribbons, addressing envelopes, suggesting tactful wording, and even setting up displays on the day of. You have enough on your plate already.
» Blue-sky thinking. Each project is a blank slate, and we’ll be as creative with methods and materials as your vision demands. (Did we mention we love a challenge? We love a challenge.)
Couples who work with us on custom event design typically spend $10,000-20,000 for an event with 125 guests, including save-the-dates, invitation suites, and day-of pieces.
Our custom design fee starts at $2,000 for invitation design.
Your guest count, design choices, and number of items will affect the final cost.
Our calendar fills up quickly, so we’d advise reaching out as early as you can to get in our books. No matter how early you book, we’ll begin designing invitations and day-of pieces about 5-7 months before your wedding date, once you’ve established your venue and aesthetic.
If you plan to do save-the-dates, we recommend contacting us 12-16 months before your wedding day. That allows us to design and produce something beautiful, and still get it to your guests with plenty of notice.
When it comes to invitations, we find it helpful to think in terms of suites. For example, a family of four that lives together will only require one invitation suite.
That said, our custom invitation clients typically spend from $75 to $100 per suite, depending on the finishes they choose and how many pieces are included. Your per-suite cost is in addition to our design fee, which is $2000.
When budgeting for stationery, it’s important to know that day-of paper can cost as much or more than your invitations themselves.
No matter how out-of-the-box you might think your vision is, we pride ourselves on finding the right materials and methods to make it work, even if it takes some trial and error.
Just because we often use the word “paper” doesn’t mean we’re limited to paper at all. We regularly design items that involve leather, glass, acrylic, bindery work, among other materials.
For past clients, we’ve also sourced vintage velvet ribbons, found the perfect handmade paper with torn edges, created custom watercolor illustrations, and more.
Our custom projects aren’t just about ticking off boxes on a list of day-of items that you “should” have. Instead, we’ll suggest what will make the biggest difference when it comes to aesthetics and guest experience.
Yes, we can do anything you traditionally think of when it comes to day-of paper: table numbers, menus, escort cards. gift tags.
But the question we’ll ask during the design process is “how can we make your wedding that much better?” If custom cocktail napkins won’t tip it over the edge, but a show-stopping escort display will, we know what we’ll recommend.
For an additional fee, we can travel to your wedding to set up your day-of items. Once we’re there, we’ll put together displays, assemble gifts or favors, and make sure everything looks exactly as expected.
I’m Amanda, the founder and creative director of Leighwood Design Studio, and the one you’ll work with when designing your custom stationery and day-of pieces. My goal is for you to tell your friends that stationery design has been the easiest (and most fun!) part of wedding planning.
We’ll layer in carefully chosen details so your wedding stationery and day-of pieces feel like they couldn’t have been created for anyone else.
