S3, EP24: How to brand your day using stationery and signage (with Brit from State of Reverie)

Eddy: Welcome back to Project Engaged. You are?

Aleks: Aleks?

Eddy: I am?

Aleks: Eddy.

Eddy: Just trying that out.

Aleks: It’s something different.

Eddy: Do you know what I mean?

Aleks: That’s good.

Eddy: That’s great. How are you?

Aleks: Yeah, you should have warned me about that one. But that’s good. I’m great. I’m really good. We’re doing this podcast in the morning, which I feel is better than doing it in the evening because I’m fresh and ready to go for the day.

Eddy: I do have one massive problem though. I have ran out of coffee.

Aleks: Yeah, I know. Should have gotten a large one.

Eddy: That’s okay. So let’s do some updates. I know it’s been quite quiet for us on the wedding front because we’re in winter now.

Aleks: Low season.

Eddy: It’s low season and it’s low season. Aleks, you had a weekend off. We can chat about what you did over the weekend. Let’s just start with you. I know you didn’t do a gig, so let’s do our weekend wrap up.

Aleks: I have to say it’s been nice and I’ve really been revelling in having weekends off. So last weekend actually we both went to, I think on Friday night we went to noisy ritual for their 7th birthday.

Eddy: We did. Happy birthday to noisy ritual.

Aleks: Happy birthday. And it was. It was a great night. We were there for just a couple of hours or an hour or so. Celebrating noisy ritual we’ve talked about before is a venue that’s local to us on Ligon street in Brunswick east. Great spot. And it’s an urban winery.

Eddy: Gotta love an urban winery. You feel like you’re at a non urban winery when you’re in there, but then you walk outside and you’re in East Brunswick. Yes.

Aleks: You’re on Lygon street. So that was fun. Saturday night. Went to see my. Was not. I wasn’t working. I went to see my parents and then I went and saw my friend Carla who we have mentioned before has started Mr and Mrs Social with her fiance Baz. So we were having a little bit of a chat about that. They are actually doing a giveaway for anyone who’s getting married before the 30 July. They’re giving away their service which is basically them interviewing guests during cocktail hour. So yeah, if you haven’t seen that, go and have a look at mister and misses social.

Brit: Ooh.

Eddy: And when is that prize being drawn? Do you know?

Aleks: Yeah. On the 2 July, which is next Sunday. So get on to get onto it.

Eddy: You’ve got just over a week left. Fantastic. So nice relaxing weekend for you. Relaxing weekend. For me too. But I did do a gig. So I was back at the Post Office Hotel in Coburg for Georgia and Robbie. Music brief here was very much like floor to the floor. Let me try again. Four to the floor dance anthem.

Aleks: Yeah, he really liked that, didn’t they?

Eddy: Yeah, they loved it. So a lot of throwback house, EDM. They loved David Guetta, Calvin Harris, they loved Fisher, they loved dob dollar bangers. It’s Al. Yeah. Really, really, really fun. We had Bangin Hangins there.

Aleks: They looked amazing. Good colours too.

Eddy: Madeline Kate was the photographer. It’s always lovely to bump into her. Nice and bit of an interesting one because Robbie co owns a sports shoe business. Really cool, bright, awesome looking shoes. His business is called Athletika.

Aleks: Yes.

Eddy: With a k. Yeah. And he had as. I guess they were like party favours. Sort of a whole bunch of shoes that people just put on for the day.

Aleks: Sneaker station, they called it.

Eddy: Sneaker station. So that was really fun and unique. You would see the stories and reels on the one more song, DJ’s Instagram. And I actually recorded about 2 hours of the dance floor set as well. So you can check that out. If you go to my Instagram, which is @eddymacdj, I should say, geez, I’m doing really well today.

Aleks: I don’t know what my Instagram handle is.

Eddy: And you can check that out. I think it’s, if you go into my link tree link in bio, you can cheque that mix out, which is. Yeah, a lot of fun. So that was really good.

Aleks: I have to say, when we say mix, it’s just a live recording.

Eddy: It’s a live recording.

Aleks: Exactly what we played.

Eddy: Yeah, exactly what we played. There’s also a Spotify playlist that I put together too. Of all the tracks in the audio. If you don’t want to listen to the mix, you can just pick and choose the tracks that you want to hear from Spotify. So that will be on my stories, I believe. And, yeah, really fun.

Aleks: So good. So good. And I’m at the Post Office Hotel next week and the week after.

Eddy: Wow.

Aleks: Just gonna move in there.

Eddy: Just leave your gear.

Aleks: That’d be so good. No, you can’t like, I do that. Yeah.

Eddy: So that’s been really, really fun. And next segment, I guess, is our.

Aleks: What have we been listening to?

Eddy: What have we been listening to?

Aleks: It’s growing on me. I like it.

Eddy: It’s nice, isn’t it?

Aleks: Soothing. All right, what have we been listening to? Well, I wanted to mention one gentleman, a DJ called Arcade who is based in the US we’ve been listening to in California on Twitch. For those of you don’t know, Twitch used to be a nerdy video gaming streaming television channel. Still is, but during the pandemic a lot of DJ’s got on there, including us to live stream their DJ sets.

Eddy: And the reason why is that unlike Instagram and YouTube as large platforms, there wasn’t any takedown. So any cutting you off basically by playing music that belonged to recording companies.

Aleks: Yeah. Now I can’t take the credit because you found arcade originally, but he does, he does his streams what like three times a week?

Eddy: It’s two times a week. So it’s, I believe it’s Tuesdays and Thursdays because you know, he’s like 12 hours behind or something like that.

Aleks: Yeah, yeah. And what time is it? Like after lunch? In the early hours?

Eddy: Yeah, it’s kind of like in the like two, two pm. So yesterday it was like 02:00 p.m. I think. Yeah. So what I do, I have the twitch app on my phone and then I just get notifications with my favourite DJs like Jazzy Jeff Craze, et cetera. DJ Newmark, they jump on. So I get notifications so I can just stream it straight to the Chromecast on our tv. And it’s a lot of fun, technological.

Aleks: But arcade we love in particular because not only is he extremely skilled and talented, he’s super engaging. His sets look really cool and he just plays like tunes you wouldn’t expect. He’s a real open format DJ and I think it’s really good for people to see that because. So there’s something for everyone in his sets, I think.

Eddy: Yeah, there really is. He has some really cool visuals as well.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: Some funny gifts and things like that that he’ll launch. Yeah, yeah. Really, really fun. Really, really fun.

Aleks: Yeah. If you’re working from home and you’re having lunch, go on the couch, turn it on for a little bit of entertainment. Late lunch. I guess our schedules are a bit different. And what have you been listening to?

Eddy: Well, pretty much I’ve stolen it. Yeah, pretty much the same actually, going back to. Cause we had some comments actually on the fresh FM thing from last week.

Aleks: Oh yeah.

Eddy: We also do listen to, it’s a New Zealand station called my M a I F M, which is basically an r and b hip hop station. They do a lot of old school stuff and some of the newer stuff too, which is really, really fun to just chuck on. For all the throwback goodness that they play, they had a really cool DJ playing this morning. There’s, like a lot of, like, ti t pain, like old school usher, all that kind of stuff.

Aleks: Like a snoop Dogg day.

Eddy: Snoop Dogg day the other day and. Yeah, so that’s. That’s really cool as well. So when we want a break from the, like, dance music from Fresh FM, we will put my Fm Mai Fm on and. Yeah, it’s really cool.

Aleks: Yeah. I mean, same issue. You get the news from New Zealand?

Eddy: Yes, we get some New Zealand news, which is great.

Aleks: So we know what’s going on in New Zealand and Adelaide, but not so much Melbourne.

Eddy: I shouldn’t know if it’s north or South island, to be honest, but. Yeah, you know, it’s New Zealand.

Aleks: Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. All right, should we get into today’s episode?

Eddy: We shall get into today’s episode. I can’t. I can’t speak today.

Aleks: Nah, just give up. I was gonna say, I think this is a really good one because it’s not something that we’ve spoken about before. It’s a. Yeah, it’s a topic that we’re not experts in. And our guest Brit, is just absolutely lovely, a legend and has so many cool ideas to share.

Eddy: Well, yeah, it’s interesting because I’ve never really. I mentioned this in the. In the episode, but I’ve never really thought about this stuff, you know, more than just seeing it and admiring it when I’m at a wedding. Yeah. So I. Yeah, I’m finding ideas coming to me now and today will be full of me saying, hey, what about this idea? Hey, what about that idea to you? So that’s gonna really annoy you.

Aleks: Great.

Eddy: But, yeah, she’s. She was amazing.

Aleks: So good. I think our listeners will get a lot from this. And look, it’s a topic that couples may not think about until a little bit late in the piece. So if you’re at the beginning of your wedding planning journey or halfway through, get onto it. All right, this intro has been a little bit clickbaity, but we just want you to listen to this episode.

Eddy: I don’t think it has. I think it’s been the same as we always talked to all of our amazing guests because they’re all incredible.

Aleks: Alright, enjoy.

Eddy: Welcome to Project Engaged, a podcast for fun loving couples planning their non traditional wedding.

Aleks: We’re wedding DJs Aleks and Eddy Mac from Melbourne. We run a business called One More Song, and our tagline is No More Nutbush.

Eddy: In this podcast, we’ll share our wedding experiences and chat to some of our past couples.

Aleks: We’ll also interview bold wedding suppliers who share our philosophy of your wedding being a celebration of you as a couple and wild. One epic party.

Eddy: Let’s get into today’s episode. So today we are talking about a topic that we haven’t yet covered in our three seasons. So we’re actually really, really excited to learn more about this.

Aleks: Me too.

Eddy: Me too. So for this episode, we are chatting to Brit Stephens, who is behind the State of Reverie brand.

Aleks: State of Reverie provides designer wedding invitations, stationery and signage, and even wedding websites. Here’s a review from a happy client. Brit was an absolute legend and a pleasure to work with creating our custom website. She was patient, thorough and attended to changes quickly and efficiently. We have had so many compliments on the finished product from our guests and can’t wait to see the remainder of our wedding stationery in person. That’s my favourite bit of the intro, is I love those reviews.

Eddy: I know you always want to say them. We actually fight over who gets to say the review before we hit record. We love it when the couple puts their own stamp on their day. And that is exactly, exactly what we’ll be chatting to Brit about.

Aleks: Without further ado, let’s welcome Brit.

Eddy: Crowds going well, Brit?

Brit: Yay. It’s so nice to hear those reviews as well. Like, they’re kind of my favourite part. It’s like all everything is has come together and everyone’s happy and just nice words. So thanks for including us.

Eddy: Give yourself a nice pat on the back because you’re doing some amazing.

Aleks: Now, Brit, we’ve. We’ve had a bit to do with you, not with State of Reverie. Oh, a little bit of that as well.

Eddy: A little bit.

Aleks: You’re a woman of many hats. Can you tell us a bit about your background and about how State of Reverie came about and what services you offer?

Brit: Yes, of course. So I started working at State of Reverie back in January 2018, which is a while ago now, because I wanted a bit of a creative outlet while I was still in law school, essentially. So I was dabbling in hand lettering or calligraphy and always loved stationary design and wanted to learn more about it. So I figured I should make the most of being able to do this now while I’m still studying, before I’m stuck being a lawyer forever. Yeah. Which we now know is not the case. But I was there for a couple of years, learning about design, print styling and events in general, and even got my calligraphy skills to use with a couple of custom imitation designs. Then I left to pursue law during COVID working with owners of small businesses, small creative businesses, and wishing I had a small creative business of my own. Long story short, the opportunity to take over State of Reverie fell into my life out of the blue, and next minute I’m leaving lawyer life behind to run the business I fell in love with all those years ago. So it’s meant to be.

Aleks: Wow. Absolutely love it. And talk us through the types of weddings. If there is a kind of typical, I’m assuming there probably isn’t, but are there kind of particular types of couples and where are your weddings at? Tell us what kind of, you know, what, what you typically work on.

Brit: Yeah, so all types of weddings really, as you said, so intimate ones, massive ones, even elopements here and there. Also sometimes the mid process celebrations like engagement party or bridal shower. I’m based in Melbourne, but I work with clients all over the world, which is pretty cool. Although sometimes shipping overseas can be a little bit stressful. I love being a part of things, from save the dates all the way through to the thank you cards. And then in between, I’ll design invitations, RSVP cards, name tags, envelopes, even wedding websites, as you mentioned. So they’re becoming increasingly popular because they allow you to use a contact form for your rsvps, which then generates a spreadsheet with all your guests answers and makes it super easy to then work out your signature chart and stuff. Speaking of those, I also design welcome signs. Seating, chats, table numbers, menus, place cards, other pieces of small signage, like signs of your wishing well, your guest book, and lots of other things too. But I’m sure we’ll get to that.

Eddy: Wow. So you keep busy.

Aleks: In other words, you don’t think about this stuff when you’re standing behind the deck? See you.

Eddy: No, we’re all very siloed. Every vendor, I think, is siloed to a certain degree. And just going back to your wedding website, because I absolutely love this. Do you still need to sort of design and print a few invitations for perhaps like legit invitations, real invitations, physical. That’s what I’m trying to get to for perhaps the older crew that might not be so website tech savvy.

Brit: Tech savvy, yeah, very, very common question that I get. So essentially it varies. It depends on the couple. It depends on how willing the younger generation is to assist the older generation with submitting rsvps online. But we do try to make it as streamlined and as simple as possible. Possible. So it’s literally just a contact form. All they have to do is pop their name in, whether they’re coming, dietary requirements, any other little questions that they’ve got. Which it makes it really handy because you can add anything you like in there, like how many seats do you need on the bus? Or like what advice do you have for the wedding, for the couple? So that’s always nice to see. And because I see the spreadsheets as well, I get to see all the answers, which is a little bit of. A little bit of a secret insight and that’s always fun. But essentially, couples will sometimes still want to print some invitations for like as a keepsake or for family if there’s some extra details, like if they’re having a more intimate recovery brunch the next day and they want those details to go to certain people, then they’ll do that. But often it’ll be an e invitation as well as the wedding website, so that there is that kind of slightly more formal thing rather than just texting them the URL to go to being like, hey, pop in your rr three p here. But yeah, it also makes it really easy because you can change the website. So if the details change, or if you want to say, for example, because the domain and hosting are valid for twelve months after the wedding, you can update the website with links to the photo galleries and things like that as well, which I, which I do for a lot of couples.

Eddy: That’s very cool.

Aleks: I am sold. Can I ask how many people or how many of your couples ask their guests for song requests?

Brit: A lot.

Aleks: Okay. And you get to see all the responses. How bad I do.

Brit: Yes.

Eddy: How cringe are some of the songs?

Brit: I don’t think you would be a fan of a couple of them. I did. I did have one recently who, you know, not to call anyone out because teach their own, but one of them said that they wanted some classical music in there that that would get them on the dance floor. And I was like, oh, okay. Oh dear, why not?

Eddy: It might get the cup on the dance floor, but I don’t think anyone else is going to be dancing.

Aleks: Yeah. Not even during dinner. But it’s. We know the answer to that question because our couples will tell us that they’ve basically scrapped, they’ve gone through the song requests from the RSVP’s and scrapped.

Eddy: About scrapped the Jimmy Barnes and et cetera.

Brit: Oh God.

Eddy: No. No.

Brit: It’s very rarely a comprehensive list of exactly what you’d want on your playlist. Let’s just say that.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: Oh, that’s so good.

Aleks: It’s. Yeah, go in at your own risk, I think, with that one. Enter with your own risk.

Eddy: I’m just loving. I’m loving this, this, this sort of picture that I’m getting of you at your computer, just with all this data flowing into you and you’re like, like the architect from the matrix for those who would get that, I might not be talking to the right people to get that reference.

Aleks: Well, we’re getting a bit off track now. But speaking of which, do you ever get any, like, stupid answers for the dietary. Just some, like, joke answers, people not taking it seriously.

Brit: I have had people not so much with the dietary restrictions, but some of them, when they say, like, when the couple asks if they’re bringing their children, and some people have been like, oh, my food baby will be there.

Eddy: Oh, my food baby.

Aleks: Do you have, like, a sound effect?

Eddy: I think I’ve got. Laughing.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: I don’t know.

Aleks: Let’s have a look.

Eddy: There you go.

Aleks: Hi, you, baby. Good one.

Eddy: Oh, dear.

Aleks: Anyway, let’s move on episode. Let’s collate the data.

Eddy: Weird requests. Anyway, let’s get back on track. So, for couples at the very beginning of their planning process, what do they need to consider in terms of stationery and signish and things like that?

Aleks: I feel like this is a big one because some people forget about it, particularly if they don’t have a planner or a stylist or a very hands on venue. And I think it’s super important to know what you actually need at the outset.

Brit: Yeah, exactly. So, of course it’s going to vary for every couple, but Pinterest is the go to for lots of them because it’s a great way to visualise how things are going to look together. Pick and choose elements from invitation suites or day off pieces that really resonate. And then I guess once they’ve gotten an idea of what they’re after, get in touch with a stationer like me and then we can point you in the right direction when it comes to designs and other pieces that fit both the vibe and the budget, which is obviously very important. But we’re always going to have some more ideas as to what you can incorporate or what’s going to go with your venue. We have a styled shoot coming up at a lovely venue that has arches everywhere, for example. So the menus and the signage is all going to be in that art shape so that it’s all cohesive and flows really nicely. So that’s so Pinterest is probably going to be the best way to start, or Instagram or anywhere that you can kind of see how things are going to look together. Create a bit of a mood board, send it through to your stationer, and also have a look at stationary websites. So on our website, for example, there’s a journal that has how things look together in our collections. So we offer collection designs, all completely custom designs. Collections are essentially designs that are flexible. So any wording, any colours, any shapes, most couples will go with the collection, just change it up a little bit. Alternatively, you can get a custom design. So if you want something you’ve never seen before, this design, especially for you and your partner, they’re a bit more expensive because they’re more involved in terms of coming up with, like, a fresh concept. And there’s a bit of back and forth to finalise things, but if that’s what you want, then it’s totally worth it.

Aleks: Can I ask? So in terms of, say you do want, because we see a lot of, like, we have a lot of very bold couples and I’ve seen some amazing kind of designs for their wedding day, you know, that really, really pops.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: How. How closely do you have to work? Or how much does a couple have to consider other styling elements, like the florals or the tableware or.

Eddy: Good question.

Aleks: I want to know. I definitely want to know how it all comes together if you don’t have a planner.

Brit: Okay. So often a couple will have something that is the main focus. So if they’re obsessed with, like, their florals, then the stationery is going to tie in with that, in terms of maybe more muted colours that pull from the florals, but don’t overpower them. If they’re stationery and their signage is the most important thing, then they’re going to have, like, fun shapes or more bold colours. It really varies, but if you are doing it, like, if you’re diy it, you don’t have a stylist. Then again, with Pinterest or socials, putting together a bit of a mood board that’s going to show you how everything is going to look and also what is going to pull focus for you and for your guests.

Aleks: Yep. I love that. Ed’s like, I’m really taking it all in.

Eddy: It’s something I really don’t know much about.

Aleks: No, I know. I’m really interested in it because I haven’t, like, I’ve noticed it. I always notice it, you know what I mean? And I always wonder. I wonder if they’ve thought of that first. Or if they thought about the florals first, or for example, they’ve banging hangings, you know? Yeah, it does depend, doesn’t it? So I suppose it’s hard for a couple and you just have to sort of sit down and prioritise. Okay. Like, do we have an idea for a theme? And if not, like, can stationary and signage and stuff kind of be your starting point and you go from there and it sounds like that’s the case for some people.

Brit: Yeah, yeah, exactly. It’ll also depend on whether they have put a lot of themselves into the invitation suite, because that really sets the scene. So if you’ve got, like, your colours in there and you’ve got, like, your fonts and your styles in there, then that’s kind of what your guests are probably going to be expecting to see, at least at the ceremony, if not at the reception. Sometimes couples will have a little bit more of like a formal ceremony and then the reception will go completely wild, which I love. So it doesn’t necessarily have to match the invitations, but there is often a through line for them.

Aleks: Yeah. I mean, we like a bit of consistency, don’t we? You definitely notice it, do you reckon? Or some people just walk in a few beers and don’t even know what’s going on?

Eddy: I think it depends on the individual, honestly.

Aleks: Yeah. I mean, I think we noticed this stuff.

Eddy: Well, yeah, yeah.

Aleks: It’s all on brand. So couples, I’m watching closely, I’m looking at everything, I’m looking at all the colours and making sure everything aligns. Anyway, that’s just me.

Eddy: Oh, dear. What pressure couples, my couples. Don’t worry, I’m not. You can rest easy.

Aleks: But you know what? If you throw some disco balls in there and some bang hangings, we’re distracted.

Eddy: I mean, we know it looks great. I go straight to the disco balls personally.

Aleks: Yeah, yeah. And what are some tips for couples who really want to. Want to stand out? What are some fun ideas? How do you make your wedding look different, particularly if you’ve, you know, got a lot of friends who’ve gotten married the 12th wedding.

Eddy: It gets tough when you’re, you know, you’re really far into your friends group in terms of their weddings. Like, how do I. How do I one up my friends?

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: How do I do something different?

Aleks: Totally.

Brit: Yeah. Yeah. So your wedding, I mean, it’s a celebration of what makes you and your partner unique. So why wouldn’t you want to incorporate as many references to that as possible? Right? Like, you want your guests to change to each other and say, oh, that’s so them not. This doesn’t really suit their vibe. Hey. So, of course, like, I’m a little biased, but in my view, your stationery, whether it’s the invitations, the signage and menus, even a sign in the bathroom that tells your guests to hurry up because the dance floor needs them, is one of the main things that’s going to get people talking. It’s going to be like, oh, look at this. Or like, did you see that sign? They’re going to be taking photos of the place card or personalised menu that has their name on it. They’re going to be having a giggle at the clever word and you’ve come up with your feeding chart, or even, like, smiling with a tear in their eye at the sign that’s got your favourite lyric from your song on it. The way that I see it, you can show your personality through your reception, styling your outfit, your choice of venue, but it’s really through words that you’re going to pull some heartstrings. Think about your ceremony. Your celebrant is going to be sharing your story with words. Your vows, you’re making promises to your partner with words. Your speeches, your loved ones are sharing their funny stories, their hopes, your future, how much they adore you all with words. Your stationary and signage are just another opportunity to do exactly that. Combine a design that speaks to you with words that speak to your guests.

Aleks: And do you help couples with the actual copy for all of their stationery as well?

Brit: Yes, absolutely. So a lot of couples will have something quite clearly that they want to convey, but if they’re like, oh, I’m not sure how to word this, or how do we inject a little bit more personality into this? That is so my thing. I love doing that because it’s such a great way to express what makes you different.

Aleks: Yeah, I love that. I love that.

Eddy: Very cool.

Aleks: They’re like unique little touches, like you said, you know, you’re in the bathroom washing your hands and there’s a cute little sign reminding you to go back to the dance floor and you’re totally right.

Eddy: That’s what you do remember. It’s those little touches that I find hit me the most. Obviously, we see a lot of weddings for us, I suppose we look for something that’s very unique because we see so much of it. But for the average punter, they may go to two or three weddings a year or something like that, and they could have the very same experience, I suppose, in relation to what’s hitting them. Yeah, yeah. So it’s really cool.

Aleks: Yeah. And it all kind of comes together to make it really super memorable and fun. Speaking of fun, what kind of fun, wild, unique ideas have you seen from your clients? Hit us with them.

Eddy: Hit us.

Brit: I love this question. So, honestly, Sky’s the limit when it comes to what types of things you can create. Add a little bit of pzazz to the big day. And I love hearing about the unique things that couples want to share with their guests. Like, I’ll do everything within my power to make it happen, even if it means, like, putting together origami for you, which I’ve become quite good at, if I do that by myself.

Eddy: Yeah, I was gonna follow up question straight away when you said that, like.

Brit: We’ll do one of our most popular menu designs is an origami fart, which has the guest’s name on the front, says, like, hello, Alice or hello, Eddy. And it’ll be like, um, opening up into the menu. So it’s a bit of a game for the guests. They see their name and they’re like, oh, cool, wait, how do I open this? And then they’ll realise that they can not only open it up, but they can put it back together. And that is such a little weird.

Eddy: Wow. Yeah. That’s awesome.

Aleks: I haven’t seen that one. I have to say.

Eddy: No, I haven’t seen that either.

Brit: Well, clearly I need to do more of those then. Also another one that I love. If the wedding is in summer or if it’s going to be warm on the day, the last thing that you want is for your guests to be sweating their faces off during the ceremony. So you can use the opportunity to incorporate a paper fan, which can double as a ceremony programme too, with the order of events, etcetera. And you can also add some personality to it. So speaking of creating some wedding for my couples, I’ve got a summer wedding coming up where we’re creating fans that say, you look hot, and then at the bottom it says, use this to keep cool.

Eddy: Oh, that’s so cool. Yeah.

Brit: Yeah.

Aleks: I love that. I can’t tell you, being outdoors at a summer wedding. Oh, nightmare. Everyone’s faces are melting off.

Brit: Yeah, it’s not fun.

Eddy: It’s not fun at all. But those little things are hugely helpful.

Brit: Yeah, exactly. Also, if you’re going to do, like, little gifts for your guests, like Bompagnet type things, you’re going to want to make them something that they’re going to use and enjoy, not just leave behind when they head home at the end of the night. Yeah, so I’m a big fan of, like, chocolate bars with personalised wraps or bottled drinks with tags or stickers. One of my clients later in the year is making Limoncello for her guests and bottling it up. And it’s going to have, like, a sticker on it that says Limoncello with love, which I just adore. There’s also drink tags, so you can pop them on your guests glasses so that they can tell them apart and also use them as place cards. I had a client last year who’s thing was lightning bolts, so we created gold acrylic, lightning bolt shaped tags with each person’s name etched into them, and they were a hit. And they can be reused again and again when they get taken home. Definitely a talking point both at the event and after.

Eddy: I must say, I’m getting a very, very much getting, like, a sustainability sort of vibe and reusing things, and I absolutely love that. So you’re clearly putting a lot of thought into multiple uses for these things and recycling, sustainability. Is that something that you take quite seriously in your line of work?

Brit: Definitely. So all of our papers are FSC certified. We tend not to use acrylic very much unless it’s going to be something that’s going to be kept. So we won’t use acrylic for invitations because unfortunately, sometimes they do get disposed of and acrylic is not recyclable. Just goes straight into waste. Whereas if we’re doing like, little place cards or something, that the guests going to keep as. As we’ll do acrylic for those. And also a. Like a welcome sign for. For the wedding that’ll often have the guests, the clients names on them, which is a nice little keepsake for the day, and then they can kind of display it in their house after the day.

Eddy: Yeah, that’s. That’s really nice. And just following off that from that question, are your couples coming to you with sustainability in mind more and more these days?

Brit: Definitely. It’s becoming more and more prevalent, particularly in the wedding industry in general. For example, people wanting to share their flowers with their guests instead of just leaving them at the venue at the end of the night, which I think is a lovely idea, even though they don’t necessarily last for very long. It’s something that is a bit of a reminder for the next couple of days that brightens up for guests homes a little bit, using, like, reusable or confetti that’s gonna, like, not. Yeah, exactly. It’ll just dissolve rather than, you know, glitter and things like that. Yeah. Yeah. So everything is definitely more sustainability focused these days, which is fantastic.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: I have two thoughts. One is I would love a little drink tag.

Brit: I’ll see what I can do for you.

Aleks: And number two is I did get a bottle of limoncello from a recent wedding, and I’m wondering where that went. Did you drink it, Ed?

Eddy: No. Did you?

Aleks: Did I drink it?

Eddy: Probably.

Aleks: It’s probably. I’m gonna have a look in the pantry.

Eddy: It’s probably.

Aleks: And have some brunt. Yeah. Anyway, these are all. These are all amazing ideas. I have one. I have to say, I have one bone to pick about seating charts. Okay.

Eddy: I’ve got a funny story about seeding charts.

Aleks: People. People who have seating charts, where they put the table, they organise it by table. And you have to search for your name amongst 120 names instead of putting in alphabetical order with your table number next to it. How do you feel about this look?

Brit: It just gives you more time to admire how beautiful the seating chart is.

Eddy: What a good answer, actually.

Aleks: Yes. Yeah. I can’t argue with that.

Eddy: No, not at all.

Brit: To be fair, though, I will suggest for a lot of couples that have massive weddings that they do go alphabetical just to keep it a little bit easier for smaller weddings. So ones with, you know, say, like, 80 guests or less. I think that sorting by table is nice, but for ones with 300, that’s going to be. That’s going to be a little bit tricky. You might just have a crowd around the seating chart for a little while.

Eddy: Coordinator standing there to help with any queries.

Brit: Yeah.

Aleks: Lucky we don’t do many, any 300 person weddings.

Eddy: No, I don’t think I’ve ever done 300 person wedding ever.

Aleks: I think. I think 220 has been my actually, 250, and that’s huge.

Eddy: Yeah. I have a funny story about seeing charts. So I was at a wedding. Did I tell you about this, Aleks? I don’t know. Sort of recently, maybe six to eight months ago or something. And anyway, so it’s beautifully styled. But the thing was, we and the coordinators at the time went over to all the tables and we noticed something strange about the menus that were sitting on the tables and the names that were on top of each of the menus. Turns out that there was an Aaron that went to the wedding, but every single menu had Aaron’s name. So. Yeah, so it of an interesting one. I don’t know.

Aleks: How do they fix it?

Eddy: Well, they didn’t fix it. I mean, it was water off ducks back for the couple at that time, and the ceremony was done. Everyone’s enjoying cocktails, all that kind of stuff, and they’re like, you know what? These things happen. But I imagine there was probably a heated phone call the next day to whoever that supplier may have been.

Brit: Yeah. No, that’s honestly my worst nightmare. Every time I get menus, especially back from my printer, I will get the seating chart up in front of me and put them in order. The amount of times I’ve accidentally, like, pulled out two menus and counted them as one, and then I’ve had to go back and do it all again, because there is no way that I could ever. I couldn’t live with myself. That’s just.

Eddy: And what a nightmare. I should mention that everybody wasn’t named Aaron. That went to.

Brit: Oh, okay.

Aleks: That explains. It was a mistake.

Eddy: It was a mistake.

Aleks: I see, I see.

Eddy: Yeah. Interesting one.

Aleks: Yeah. Very, very cool. And tell us about some upcoming wedding trends. I’m really interested in this.

Eddy: Yes, please.

Brit: Yep. So one you’ve probably seen is everyone’s getting a bit more bold with their choice of paper shapes, which is awesome. We’ve got arches, circles, wavy edges, hearts, flowers, abstract shapes for menus and signage, and everything in between. So getting paper cut into a specific shape is a bit more expensive than the standard rectangle or scale, but it adds an element of, like, flow to the space, and it’s possibly going to suit your styling choices better too.

Aleks: Yeah, I like that one.

Brit: Yeah. I also love the idea, I’ve seen this a little bit lately, of giving guests the opportunity to take photos with disposable cameras, which means that you actually get to see all the shots that people take. They’re not just on their phones. It also gives them something fun to do. So combine your disposable cameras with a sign on each table that has instructions for specific things you want them to take photos of, like an Einstein type situation. You can ask your guests to take photos of the person they think has the best outfit, or of someone getting loose on the dance floor, or even of the two of you from across the room, gazing into each other’s eyes when you think no one’s looking. Like, why not? It’s such a great way to see your guest’s perspective on things, and it gives you more keepsakes from the day. And you can also get, like, a wrap designed for the camera themselves. Of course, I’m going to say that that’s the stationary part, but add your names and the date, and some fun wording and, yeah, it’s a great little idea.

Aleks: I love anything that gives, like, gives.

Eddy: People things, activities, some fun activities.

Aleks: Take a photo of your DJ while they’re in the middle of a tricky transition.

Eddy: Take a photo of Arne Karen requesting the nut bush to the DJ.

Aleks: No, don’t do that. Yeah, I don’t want anyone to capture that. Thank you very much. Anything else that we should be looking out for, like, general, in terms of what. What you’ve been seeing or maybe even in the last, you know, coming out of the, you know, that thing, that see thing, we don’t like to talk about it very much, but coming out of. Coming out of that, has there been, like, a shift? Have you seen that people are a bit more bold, a bit more, like, screw tradition. Are you seeing much of that?

Eddy: Hates origami?

Brit: Yeah. Yeah. I would love to do, like, origami of, like, the couple’s dog or something like that. I think that would just be such a nice little touch. Speaking of, there’s a lot of couples who have wanted to incorporate things that are unique to them into the day. So, like, their pets. I’ve had a lot of requests to do illustrations of people’s dogs that they’ve given a signature cocktail to, for example. And that’ll be on a little sign by itself at the bar that people can go up and be like, oh, yes, I would love Fido’s drink, which is pretty cute. Yeah. Incorporates them into the day and makes it a little bit special in terms of, like, other little trendy things. There’s also coasters, which, similar to the drink tags, are a great way to tell drinks apart or just something else to personalise. There’s also napkins, which are also nice to personalise, but it’s extra special when you use them as an opportunity to get guests talking. So similar to the disposable cameras, like you’re giving them an activity. I’ve seen couples use them to share fun facts. So little known tidbits about the two of you, encouraging guests to share what they learn with someone that they haven’t spoken to before, which is a great icebreaker at the start of the night, and then it flows into the dance floor later on.

Aleks: I love this. I love all of these ideas how, like, I haven’t. I haven’t seen a lot of these, which is, as you said, Ed, you know, we’ve seen a lot of weddings and, yeah, these. These ideas haven’t popped up yet. I hope we see them. Couples. Listen to brit, listen to british.

Brit: Let me create these things for you. Also one of my absolute favourites. So if you’re one of the legends that hands out midnight snacks, like, you are my kind of person. You can get the wrappers designed, too, which is just like the final thing, the final cherry on top. Like adding a designed wrapper and a sticker. Like, guests are going to love that, for sure. I know. I would love that if I was a guest.

Aleks: Yeah. That is so good. I really feel like a cheeseburger now. We shouldn’t have talked about that. That’s, that’s really cool. You basically, there’s so many opportunities, isn’t there, to put your personality.

Eddy: Sky’s the limits.

Brit: So many.

Aleks: Yeah. And I like, I like your ideas as well. Just going be like using stationery, but to kind of, you know, deepen the interactions between guests and get them to know the couple even more and be more engaged with the day, it’s not just about the words, it’s about getting that kind of engagement, I suppose, from people.

Brit: Exactly, exactly.

Aleks: I love that.

Eddy: Memory fuel, I think.

Aleks: Memory fuel, yeah, absolutely.

Eddy: And this is a bit of a broad question for you, Brit, but what does the whole process look like in working with you for couples?

Brit: So I like to keep things as streamlined as possible when you’re working with me. Wedding planning, I know, can be a little bit stressful. So if, if you’ve got at least one thing that you’re like, okay, this is how it’s going to flow. Just makes it so much easier. So you can either order directly via my website, which is stateofreverie.com, or shoot me an email with the bits and pieces that you’re after so that I can put a package together especially for you. We can kind of have a bit of a chat about the bits and pieces that you would like to incorporate and also how we can make them a little bit more unique. The most important thing is to get in touch nice and early. So if you want to do, save the dates, nine to twelve months before the big day invitations, about six to nine months out and then two to three months out for the day off pieces. So that way there’s enough time for design, print and delivery, as well as some chats in between. Because I love that. I love connecting with my couples and making sure that their stationery is a great reflection of them.

Aleks: Yeah. Those time frames are so important, aren’t they?

Brit: Yeah. 100%. And so many times couples will come to me and say, oh, I only just organised my seating chart. My wedding’s in two weeks. And I’m like, look, I’ll see what I can do. Can’t make any promises, but, yeah, definitely a good idea to get in touch a little bit sooner and also maybe push your venue to give you your menu items a little bit sooner as well. So once the couple has decided whether they’re after a collection or a custom design, essentially I get to work, I send draughts through for approval, then once they’ve been finalised, I send them off to print. Then generally everything’s ready to collect or deliver within two to three weeks. Easy.

Aleks: Wow, you make it sound easy.

Eddy: Yeah.

Brit: We try to make it as easy as possible.

Aleks: I love. And I think we need to, before we sort of wrap things up, we need to mention, because you have, like I said, a very interesting set of skills and we’ve worked with you in another capacity, helping us with some legal and copywriting stuff. For one more song. Can you, for those vendors who listen to the podcast, can you let them know what other services you offer for vendors?

Brit: Yes, of course. Of course. So I love helping creative businesses. In my former life as a lawyer, I only worked with some creative businesses. So doing like terms and conditions, supplier contracts, all of that sort of thing. Services agreements for your couples, which, given the nature of the wedding industry, it can’t just be like your dry and boring legal jargon. You can’t just use something that you find on the Internet that says in witness whereof and all of that. Like, no one even knows what those things mean. So something that I’m doing in my capacity as a copywriter is just helping people jazz up their terms and conditions a little bit, making sure that they’re protected, but also that everyone actually understands what is involved. And it’s especially important, obviously, with what has been happening over the last couple of years, that both parties actually know what’s going to happen if, for example, the event is postponed or there’s some other kind of issue, just to keep everything clear on both ends and make sure that everyone’s happy and.

Aleks: Yeah. So vendors who are listening, we would highly recommend Brit. She did help us with a number of agreements and legal bits and bobs, and it’s all been great. You’ve been so good to work with, superstar.

Brit: No, thank you.

Aleks: I tell you what, if we were getting married, you would be. We would just get you to do, like, everything that you could possibly do on the way to.

Brit: And I would love to.

Aleks: Ed’s mom, if you’re listening, we’re not getting married. Don’t get excited. I don’t think she listen to this podcast. Do you want to? Ed? You can do the honours. I know you love this question.

Eddy: Yes, I do. So we’ve got one very special question for you, Brit. As our last question, get ready. What song will get you on the dance floor? You have to choose one.

Brit: Oh, just one. Okay. So you’re much more likely to find me at a karaoke bar than tearing up the dance floor, but I’m honestly down for anything that involves jumping around in a bit of a headbang. So, um, it’s got to be hyper, hyper by electric coilboy. Oh, that one.

Eddy: That’s an interesting one.

Aleks: I don’t know.

Brit: Oh, it’ll definitely get me on the dance floor. You have to go listen to it. Watch the video clip. It is insane. All of electric cool boys video clips. Um, just like, just fun. So fun.

Eddy: That’s a very unique answer to that question. Probably the most unique one we’ve had on this podcast.

Brit: So there you go.

Aleks: We are off to listen and watch the clear.

Brit: I get a prize?

Aleks: You do get a prize. You get the glory of being. Of choosing a song that two dj’s don’t necessarily know. So well done. Oh, do you? Oh, well. Well done, you. Well, I’ll have to. I’ll have to get to know it. Brit, it’s been an.

Brit: I’m sure you’ll love it.

Aleks: I’m sure I will. It’s been an absolute pleasure and you have just given so many practical tips. I really love it. I’m a. I hope we get to work on a wedding together soon. I think we probably have in the past, but not realised it.

Brit: You need to come along. Yes, definitely.

Aleks: And how can people get in touch with you?

Brit: So my instagram is @stateofreveriestudio. My email is Brit, that’s [email protected]. If you do need a hand with terms and conditions or anything like that, then my email is [email protected]. And yeah, love to hear from you.

Aleks: How good is breadit? I love breadit. So good. Thank you so much for joining us, Brit.

Eddy: Thank you, Brit.

Brit: Thanks for having me. Thanks, bye. Woo.

Aleks: Woo.

Eddy: What did you think of that?

Aleks: Loved it. Absolutely loved her. I knew she’d be great, though.

Eddy: Yeah. She’s been a, you know, we mentioned this, but she’s been a big help to us recently from the vendor perspective, taking a look at all our terms and conditions. And she has a wonderful job. She’s got a great eye, amazing attention to detail.

Aleks: Yeah. Which makes her perfect for the state of reverie stuff, too. And I love the fact that she doesn’t just design, you know, the signs and the stationery thing. She actually can do the copywriting as well, which I think is huge, because it sounds like that is really how a couple can differentiate, I suppose, from other couples and put their own personality into their wedding. So I love that.

Eddy: Yeah. I imagine a lot of. I’m just generalising here, but quite a few stationary providers wouldn’t do the copy.

Aleks: That’s what I think. Yeah.

Eddy: So to be able to offer that in conjunction with all this beautiful design is a huge deal.

Aleks: Huge. What? Just an interesting. She just got such an interesting job, or jobs, I should say. Creative and, yeah, super helpful.

Eddy: Very, very creative. And I am very excited to see a lot of origami at my upcoming weddings. Just quietly do it, people.

Aleks: I love that. I love the menus. You’re sort of sitting with me if it’s to sit down, you know, all night and. And it’s such a great opportunity to do something very, very different. So hopefully it gives our listeners some ideas and some things to think about.

Eddy: And just a whole new perspective on what you can do to put your own touch on your wedding.

Aleks: Totally. Thanks for joining us. We hope you liked the episode.

Eddy: We’ll be back next week.

Aleks: Yes, we will. See ya.

Eddy: I’m just gonna let this soothing music kind of just keep going. Keep going for a little bit. What do you think?

Aleks: Yeah, do it. Oh, it’s very nice. It starts out, and then it kind of gets a bit sort of hip hoppy.

Eddy: And we’re done.

Aleks: Thanks for tuning in. If you’re enjoying Project Engaged, please hit the subscribe button on your fav podcast app.

Eddy: You can also follow us on Instagram, @projectengaged and @onemoresongdjs.

Aleks: We’ll see you next time. And until then, have fun out there.