Get To Know - March 27 Designs

1. What type of services do you offer?

At March 27 Designs, I offer custom design services for wedding invitations. This means that I try to make the invitation as personal and unique as possible! When meeting with brides, I want to learn everything I can about their wedding and vision so that I can accurately create a design that beautifully introduces their dream, and is uniquely theirs.

2. Where are you located and what area do you service?

March 27 Designs is located near downtown Grand Rapids, and I provide invitation design consultations via email or phone wherever your wedding destination might be! I also love to meet brides in person in the Holland and Grand Rapids areas.

3. How long have you been business? How and why did you get started?

My passion is making things beautiful, but it hasn’t always been invitations.

I grew up actively participating in various forms of art and design, and it was my love for helping others that led me to obtain my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Health Communication. After three years of working for the local hospital, however, I discovered I was not able to fulfill my dreams in that setting and slowly began to see that design projects for friends and family were my breath of fresh air.

It was about a year ago that March 27 Designs was born. My husband had proposed and I had begun to work on invitation design for my own March 27, 2010 wedding.

4. What do you think sets you apart from other vendors in the industry?

A lot of invitation companies are customizable within certain boundaries. My husband and I found this out first hand when shopping for our invitations… We loved the style, but it didn’t come in our color. Or the color was perfect, but we were looking for something with more pizzazz.

At March 27 Designs, I want to reflect your style and your wedding! No cookie cutter invitations, please! I will often take two to three elements from a wedding and weave them into the invitation design to reflect the dream behind the event. Is your favorite part the elegance that a chandelier brings to your reception hall? The simplicity of the flower on your dress? That color that effortlessly describes the tone of your affair? Whatever it is that makes the bride smile, I will do my best to uncover her dream and create a work of art that they will love to share with their guests.

5. Is there anything that you specialize in?

March 27 Designs started out as a full service design studio, taking your invitation through design, printing, and assembly. But eventually we began to see that many brides today want to assemble their own invitations—whether it is to save money or just to experience the process.

That’s when we began to specialize in custom design work that the bride can take to a printer or print at home, and then assemble with family and friends.

Believe it or not, assembling invitations can be a fun part of the process… as long as you have the kinks worked out! Stress usually comes from unexpected problems that arise when you don’t have all of the information that you need. You’d be surprised by how many brides want that special embellishment, and then end up in tears when they go to the post office and learn how much that “bump” is going to cost them… That’s just one example of why I try my hardest to give you all of the information that you need to take your invitation from design to the post office—without the unexpected problems that can arise from never having done something like this before.

After I send you your design, I’m not going to disappear off of the face of the earth! I will provide you with the information and support that you need to send off your invitations without a glitch.

6. When you’re not busy working, how do you like to spend your downtime?

Right now, I am learning how to cook! My husband, Matthew, is hoping I will make great strides in this area (let’s just say he’s graciously eaten a lot of burnt, overly-seasoned, and just plain messed up food in our 8 months of marriage!). My biggest challenge aside from cooking would have to be training my five-month-old Bichon-Poodle puppy named Lexie. She is my fuzzy princess and I love her to pieces… even when she chews on things that she shouldn’t! I love hanging out with family and friends and am hoping to do lots of ice skating and exploring of downtown Grand Rapids this winter.