I meant to post these pictures a while back and perhaps some of you may have seen them on Twitter, but I was lucky enough to create a wedding map for Lara Yunaska (Trump) and Eric Trump for their wedding last month. Lara was so sweet to work with and I think it showed in the map I created. The wedding looked amazing and it was one of the largest weddings I have done to date. If you haven’t seen the photos of their wedding, check them out. Best of luck to the happy couple.
Save the Dates, Invites, and Snail Mail
An engagement is an exciting time filled with planning, choosing wedding bands, showers, registering, and anxiety, but all too often the public declaration of your impending nuptials is overlooked. A properly crafted save the date card and subsequent invitation lets your guest know how special that day will be. It isn't just about where, when, and where you are registered... Take some time to share through words and visuals what that day will mean to you on paper via the good ole postal service. We are bombarded with e-mails, texts, Evites, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, and mass mailings, so when someone takes the time to write a letter or send an original card people take notice. Snail mail may be going the way of the horse, but who doesn't love a ride in a hansom cab? Think about the last time you got a handwritten letter or card from someone. How did it make you feel? Did it feel more personal? Were you surprised? I bet you read that letter more than once and probably kept it for quite a while. Give your guest that special feeling on the walk back from the mailbox, feel the anticipation of the excited phone calls you will receive, and know that you have set the tone for how special your wedding day will truly be. Remember, your wedding is a very special event that doesn't just start when you walk down the aisle. Make your friends and family feel special, and in-turn they will make YOUR wedding a day a memorable one. And one day while your relatives are solving US foreign policy in the kitchen you'll go through your mothers cluttered old hutch and there will be that invite, not stored on a cloud or on a thumb drive, but there in your hands and it will take you back to better days.
Here are 5 ways to make your invitation or save the date special:
1) Incorporate wedding themes, color schemes, and interests (Customize)
2) Print on a thick linen stock
3) Hand address (excellent penmanship is a must!) or use a calligrapher
4) Use nice envelopes
5) Use unique or customized stamps
Family Business
This past Wednesday our family (CW Designs) took a field trip to The Alexa Machine Company in Dallas to watch one of Carol's designs screen pressed for the first time. A while back Carol and I started thinking about creating a map that highlighted some of the awesome places to eat on the Square in McKinney, TX. Carol spent months going over layouts, concepts, and materials while I offered my occasional two cents! Finally, last week we had a layout and concept that we liked. Carol always wanted to have one of her designs screen printed on a tea towel, clearly her first generation Scottish roots were at play. We looked around the Dallas area to find a shop that would best fit our needs and were rewarded when we found the people of The Alexa Machine Co.
The Alexa Machine Company is a small family business that services small businesses like CW Designs. Roseamber and her husband, Jan, own the small shop located in a nondescript business park in North Dallas, but their work is anything but nondescript. They are truly dedicated to their craft and take pride in bringing an artists vision to life. They've worked with bands from all over Dallas, small businesses, and even some of Dallas' best know artists. Besides being kick ass at what they do, they are down to earth people who know the challenges a small business faces. We spent the morning talking about pigments, Jan's former life in metal bands, and discussing the leap of faith it took to do something they loved. It was a pretty great morning and it reaffirmed our efforts in making CW Designs a full on family business. Owning a small business has made us acutely aware of where our money goes and who it goes to and when Carol and I were watching Jan and his assistant set up the press in an increasingly warmer garage while humming classic rock tunes I saw where our money was going and it made me smile.
This map only highlights a small portion of what makes McKinney a great town. We hope that you'll support all of the great small businesses in McKinney because that's what makes it special and why Money Magazine rated it the #1 place to live in America. Small businesses across the country are what makes this country great and we appreciate every order from newly engaged couples, small businesses, real estate agents, and wedding/event planners from all across the country and the globe. Your money goes to helping us achieve our goals as a small business and to provide for our children.
The final result!
Support a small business on ETSY, buy from artisans, and shop at your neighborhood grocer. Should your travels ever take you to the burgeoning outpost of McKinney, head to the Square and shop, have a drink, and eat a fantastic meal, all while knowing you are helping a small business and a family. Oh, and buy a tea towel to remember your trip.
McKinney Home and Garden Show
This past weekend my family and I went to the McKinney Home and Garden Show and saw some beautiful homes and very nice gardens. It really brought memories of me going to garden walks in the summer with my mom as a child. I hope when my daughter is a little older she will enjoy it with me. Unfortunately we crossed into nap time and that quickly shut down the tour for us... We wished we could have stopped by the other homes, but it was not meant to be...
The woman of the McKinney Garden Club were so nice and the owners who opened up there homes were so gracious. I look forward to working with the club on future events and maybe work on my green thumb when I have some more time!
Here is the map I created for the show.
Check the McKinney Garden Club on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/MckinneyGardenClub
Connections Near and Far
Hi! I am Jeremy, Carol's husband, and partner at CW Designs. I will be blogging on this site from time to time about new offerings, events, and things we think are cool. I am just a small cog in the wheel of CW Designs, but I hope you find my posts interesting, informative, and mildly entertaining.
We recently joined the McKinney Chamber of Commerce and are so excited about the opportunities the chamber offers, the great people we have met so far, and getting more involved in our community. Carol and I are both fueled by interesting and creative people and there has been no shortage of that here in McKinney. We attended a recent gathering of local business owners and everyone was so helpful, gracious, and dedicated. We look forward to building more relationships with local vendors, clients, and making new friends along the way. I look forward to writing a future blog post about some of the clients and vendors we have recently worked with. One is a local letter press master, very cool.
On a not so local front, we had the opportunity to be part of a Twitter Q&A session moderated by Lisa of A Bride on a Budget (@abrideabudget). She runs a massively successful blog and website to help couples navigate the often costly waters of planning a wedding. We had a great time answering questions and sharing our thoughts on CW Designs past, present, and future. She wrote and awesome blog about CW Designs and Carol's work. The entry even got Carol a little misty eyed after she read it. Check out Lisa's site, www.abrideonabudget.com and the blog entry from June 4, if you want to read her thought on CW Designs. Thanks again Lisa, it was a blast.
Carol and I have really been blessed to meet such cool people here in our new home town and hopefully one day we can meet in-person with some of the great people whose faces we've never seen but feel like we know.
Off to bed, it's been a long but productive day!
McKinney Home and Garden Show
I recently just finished creating a map for the upcoming Home and Garden Show in our new hometown of McKinney, TX. Valarie Merchant Kerby, the Home and Garden Tour Chairman, contacted me a few weeks back so we sat down and discussed a little bit about the show, her real estate business, and how I grew up attending garden walk shows with my mother. We had a lot common, it was a perfect match! Valarie is such a sweet woman full of great ideas and passion for everything she does, very inspiring! I am so happy we met and I can't wait to work with her again soon. Check out the map below that will also double as a fan for the attendees! The McKinney Home and Garden Show is June 14, more information can be found at www.mckinneygardenclub.org.
