What Does Wedding Stationery Include: Creative In Bloom
In today’s vendor spotlight, we are so excited to introduce you to Christy Wilson, owner and founder of Creative In Bloom, a custom stationer. That’s right! Creative in Bloom is a custom stationary and event design firm. Christy’s work is jaw-dropping, and the studio is breath-taking.
When Christy was little, her dad paid great attention to her creative ability and really pushed her, taking the fear most of society puts into the word “artist” away. She always knew that she would use creativity for the rest of her life, and grew up wanting to be an illustrator.
As Christy set off into adulthood, she decided to attend Indiana University in Bloomington where she received a Bachelor’s of Fine Art. After graduation, Christy worked in corporate advertising for twelve years, before becoming the Creative Director of Creative In Bloom. Her work has even been published over eighteen times throughout the years.
Creative in Bloom was founded in 2008 after Christy left her corporate career and officially rooted her life in Bloomington with her new husband. As an artist and degreed designer with a BFA Visual Communications from IU, her aesthetic was always naturally meant for wedding work. Once she was able to embrace who she really was as a creative, everything started to feel right. Christy says, “CIB is truly what she’s been called to do.”
You might be asking yourself, “what does a custom stationer do?”. As an event design group, CIB offers a wide range of products and even custom design services for your modern celebration. In 2024, they made a huge pivot to become a national ecommerce brand in addition to providing custom designs for individual weddings. Visit www.creativeinbloom.com and you will be able to shop high quality decor rentals, experienced hand calligraphy, watercolor painting, wedding stationery by the piece, personal items like gentleman’s pocket squares, fine china, full collections for celebrations or home, and sentimental gifts.
CIB is truly unique in that they create all of their own products and spend time curating full collections for weddings and events. From the stationery and original brands to fine china and table details; Christ told us that “no one in the wedding industry is offering collections like ours,” and we can 100% attest that no one in the wedding industry is offering collections like CIB. We were immediately in love!
CIB is excited to continue to add to their collections online. Currently they have only two collections live, but anyone who visits their Bloomington location will see how much work they’ve curated over the past 17 years!
Prior to meeting Christy, she suggested that we come down to Bloomington to experience her studio in person which did not disappoint. When we arrived and she opened the door, we were greeted with the most beautiful art, invitations, displays, and so much more. Creative In Bloom has helped hundreds of brides and grooms design everything about their wedding details which creates the ultimate cohesion for any event. In addition to being so talented, Christy helped answer a few questions that couples have about wedding stationery.
What are the various elements of stationery and when are they needed?
Couples can certainly choose what they want to send out to guests, however, our suggestion is the following:
- Start with a Save the Date, which should go out 6-9 months prior to the event
- We typically do website design which follows the brand of the event. It is advisable that the website is live and that the save the date card points guests to the site.
- Invitation mailings should go out no later than 6 weeks prior to the desired RSVP date even if couples are collecting RSVPs online.
The invitation suite can include quite a number of elements, which is up to each individual couple and the formality of their event. I tell couples to choose invitations that dictate (in style and materials) how guests should dress. We do a majority of black tie weddings. We strongly advise couples that if you want a black tie wedding, be sure that the invitation includes fine printing and design.
Additionally, for wedding day we help with the following:
- Ceremony programs
- Reserved seating signs
- Welcome signs for the wedding service
For the reception we do:
- Bar signs
- Seating statement walls
- Calligraphy mirror rentals or charts
- Meal menus, escort and place cards for meal service
- Table numbers
- Stickers and favors
How many invitation pieces are standard for a wedding?
A traditional black tie wedding invitation suite includes the following:
- Main invitation card
- Mail in RSVP card with a lined return envelope
- An enclosure card that contains important information about the event
- A lined and addressed double envelope set (inner and outer envelopes)
- Typically there is some sort of embellishment to combine the cards neatly together. Some choose wax seals and some choose something more creative to band the cards as a unit. (We can figure this step out together).
What should couples consider when picking out stationery?
100% they should be sure it reflects the formality of the event from design, to materials, to print methods to copywriting. The more formal the event, the more important it is to hire a real stationer to work out every detail and the etiquette that is expected.
How can couples make their stationery unique?
By sharing their story with a custom stationer or their wedding planner and allowing those professionals to create for them! Trust me, with direction, good designers will blow you away and bring tears to your eyes. It should be a truly fun part of your wedding planning process.
What is your favorite type of stationery to design?
I personally LOVE to paint and illustrate for couples. You’ll see that quite a bit in our physical location on display.
If a couple takes away one thing from reading this: what should it be?
Work with a stationer like Creative in Bloom who can see your vision through to the very last detail, most especially if you want to add personality or formality to your celebration. Stationery is really the only way to add very specific, story-telling elements to your day. It’s a worthwhile investment for sure. Stationery and the details that accompany it, can be forever keepsakes.
What portion of the budget should couples set aside for stationery?
It depends on your overall budget for sure, but we try to provide for most budgets. Our custom work typically falls in the range of less casual weddings, but we offer ready to print collections online that are perfect for budget weddings.
Anything else you think would be good information to share with couples planning their wedding?
When you look at the bottom line of what you will spend on your wedding, hiring a stationer or purchasing from Creative in Bloom will be some of the best money you spend as it’s not typically significant to the overall budget. In other words, it’s not one of the heavy hitters in the budget category, but on the flip side curated stationery items can really make an impact on the overall feeling, styling and story of the day. Details make a massive impact on design because details ARE the design. Plan for your wedding costs - get the venue quote, floral quote, bar quote and catering quote first. Know what you can comfortably spend on other items and don’t cut pennies, cut from the larger cost items. Making smart decisions is the key to a well designed celebration!
If you are interested in following Creative In Bloom, or are looking for custom stationary find Christy and team on Instagram @creativeinbloom or at on their website.