I recently had the pleasure to meet with Jeremy Corner owner of Ivy Ellen, creator of beautiful wedding invitations and stationery that are all handmade in England. Ivy Ellen create gorgeous bespoke designs, and I wanted to hear all about his inspiration and get some top tips for all you brides with a paper addiction!
1. Eco weddings are very important with many brides, can you tell me a bit about your designs that grow forests?
From an eco perspective paper is a natural fibre and is one of the best environmental stories on the planet. For example, did you know that in the forests we source our trees from, for every tree cut down, three to four trees are planted in its place? Paper only accounts for 11% of wood extracted from forests. There are an estimated 25% more trees in the world than 100 years ago and in Europe forests are increasing in size at a rate of 1.5 million football pitches a year. That means that when you buy wedding stationery from us and FSC accredited sources you are increasing the number of trees on the planet.
2. What should a bride have in mind before having her wedding stationery consultation with you?
We offer bespoke options rather than a bespoke design service. What this means is that you can alter most aspects of our wedding stationery to get the look you are after, but we don’t usually design to order. With our wedding ranges you can choose from a colour palette of over 55 colours, you can also have your personal details on the front and obviously have all of your own details on the inserts.
3 . What is your favourite colour? And does that influence your designs?
Colour is very important to Jo our designer who is a specialist in selecting gorgeous colours. Her favourite is green and we have some lovely designs available in this greens. Our designs are influenced by 10 years of designing cards for Harrods, Paperchase, John Lewis, Fortnum and Mason and Liberty of London. We have always been design-led and have focused on creating beautiful cards and invitations that are a pleasure to send and receive.
4. What are brides asking for in 2010/11?
Brides are very much into Vintage at the moment and love our Vintage Floral and Vintage Garden designs. We have a lot of interest in our Butterfly range and our Winter Weddings are proving popular too.
Vintage Floral Weddings by Ivy Ellen5. How far in advance should brides choose their wedding stationery?
We recommend sending them out 6-10 weeks before the wedding depending on the of year you are marrying. If you are marrying in the busy Summer months, it’s a good idea to send Save the Date cards or invites at least 6 months in advance as July and August can get booked up with holidays and other weddings and you don’t want to have friends and family unable to come.
If you add four weeks to your sending date this gives you a week to proof and allows us 3 weeks to make your cards to order. We do have a fast track service if couples need invites within 8 days.
We’ve had a lot of interest in our cards this year and were featured in Brides Magazine this month.
Ivy Ellen Feature in Brides MagazineTo arrange an appointment visit Ivy Ellen
