Friday, March 27, 2009

Vendor Series Interview No. 5, Praez Occasions Couture Invitations

Through our recent joining of Facebook, we discovered Praez Occasions Couture Invitations, a fabulous custom invitation studio located in Hamden, CT.. Funny enough I grew up in Wallingford,CT which is the next town over! Small world right? Well, these two ladies really have their designs together... take a look at their website for more incredible designs and enjoy the interview!

Praez Occasions Couture Invitations


Zeb and Rae



Their incredible invitations!






KP: What is your favorite part of the wedding process?

Z&R: Our favorite part of the wedding process is the design process. Whether it's event design, dress design, or invitation design...it's all about the manifestation of the bride and groom's dreams . For us, there's nothing like seeing the bride's (and groom's) face when they come to pick up their invitations, and they're exactly what the couple envisioned, or better than they expected. It's wonderfully rewarding to know that we help them make memories that they'll cherish for years to come.


KP: What do you love most about your job in the wedding industry?

Z&R: What we love most about our job is that we are purveyors of fine details that make each invitation distinctive and special. We absolutely love to shop for jewels, papers, fonts, and unique materials that set each design apart from each other, so the client gets a truly individual expression of their own.

KP: What is the biggest misconception about your industry?

Z&R: The biggest misconception about our industry is where invitations fall on the bridal priority list. Often, invitations are one of the last things considered, which is a huge mistake. The wedding invitation sets the tone for the event, and are part of the overall scheme of the event design. They tell your guests what kind of event they are expecting to be a part of - average or exquisite. This dictates the guests' behaviors and attitudes about the event - how to dress, and even more importantly, how to gift.


KP: How did you get into the wedding industry?

Z&R: We started as graphic designers, providing in-house printing services. The demand for our invitation designs increased so much and so consistently that we had to create a separate business entity just for that service. And we haven't looked back!


KP: Tell me one wedding vendor other than in your industry you highly recommend? Why?

Z&R: Another wedding vendor (not in our industry) that we highly recommend is Matthew Wagner (Matthew J. Wagner Fine Photography). His work is simply jaw-dropping. He doesn't just capture a shot, he captures a memory, a moment in time. You can feel the raw emotions of the couple and their guests just jumping out of the photo at you...it's awesome!


KP: Tell me one wedding vendor in your industry you highly recommend? Why?

Z&R: A wedding vendor in our industry that we would recommend is designer Sherri Weese of Simply Unique Invitations, because she has a similar affinity for clean designs and fine embellishments, particularly her collection of Swarovski brooches!


KP: Favorite wedding story- funny or serious

Z&R: Our favorite wedding story so far comes from one of our current clients, Tracy and Mike. They're getting married May 2009. When they came to get their invitations, it was Tracy (the bride, of course) that was completely into it, and excited, while Mike was very laid back about the whole thing. Just prior to the delivery of their invitations, Tracy asked that we print all of their recipient's addresses on the mailing envelopes. She absolutely loved her design, and after seeing the physical sample, could not see having the envelopes done any other way. It took Mike so long to get his part of the guest list finalized, she released us to print her envelopes only, and deliver his envelopes blank because it wasn't a real priority for him, and "he'd probably have them done in crayon!" Within about a day or so after delivery, Tracy called back to say that Mike was ready to go with his guest list, because her envelopes were so beautiful that he got jealous, and wanted his done too!


KP: What other part of the industry would you not want to work in? Why?

Z&R: We most definitely would not want to be a wedding or event planner. It's enough work bringing the invitation to life, we couldn't imagine replicating that kind of effort on every other aspect of the wedding as well!


KP: What differentiates you from the rest of your industry peers?

Z&R: What separates us from our industry peers is our professional design services. We do not use templates, we create custom designs for each client based on their personal style, their distinct vision for the wedding, and other factors that we learn about during our initial consultation. We also create new design concepts several times per year, because not every couple knows what they want at first, and seeing the latest bridal trends and our cutting edge ideas can be extremely helpful in defining the look of their ensemble. The icing on that cake is that we don't impose high minimums and or spending thresholds, so we can accommodate any size event, any size budget.

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