So you want to start a stationery business – you’re in the right place! I have been in the business for a decade and have taught thousands of stationers how to start and grow their businesses. My mantra is “no starving artists here” – I want your invitation business to be a source of joy, stability, and of course PROFIT for you and your family. So today I’m going to lay out the first 8 steps that you need to take to start a successful wedding stationery business. 

1. Set up Your Business Legally

When you’re ready to start your business, you want to make sure it’s registered with your city and/or state. Typically, you can just Google search “Set up a business in Denver, CO” (of course, replace Denver, CO with your city and state) and you’ll get a step-by-step to registering your business.

Most creative entrepreneurs start out as a sole proprietorship. It’s an easy way to get started, and simple from a tax filing perspective (always check with your accountant for the best scenario for you!).

You’ll also want to grab your new business’s social handles and URL. Check GoDaddy.com to see if your URL is available before you officially decide on a name. Domains should be around $20-50/year in most cases! 

2. Learn About Invitation Etiquette

When you work with invitation clients, you’ll want to come across as the expert (even if you’re brand new!). This requires a little research into wedding invitation etiquette. You need to know how to indicate if two people are married on an envelope, how to address invitations to a Judge, or how to make sure you’re indicating the proper hosts for an event. Do you need to follow these rules all the time? Absolutely not. But you need to know them in order to break them on purpose.

Here’s a post talking all about invitation wording for you! You can also visit EmilyPost.com – she has long been the reigning queen of etiquette matters.

A few other things that you might want to learn before you start your invitation business:

• Invitation Paper Types
• Invitation Printing Methods
• Invitation Card Sizes
• Postage for Wedding Invitations

3. Sign Up for Adobe Creative Cloud

Once you know a little more about what you need to create, it’s time to actually learn how to create it! The best software for wedding invitations is either Adobe Illustrator (my personal favorite) or Adobe InDesign. Either one will work really well. I find that self-taught designers often prefer Adobe Illustrator, but you’ll likely want to use Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop for some parts of your design process as well. For this reason, I recommend investing in the full Adobe Creative Cloud suite. This is an investment in your business, but it’s highly worth it as Adobe is the industry standard and there are TONS of forums and tutorials out there for you to follow!

I offer a totally free Adobe Illustrator beginner class to help you get started – it’s extra helpful in starting an invitation business because I teach it from the perspective of a stationery designer! My affiliate link should also get you a discount on your account! 

4. Create a Mood Board for Your First Project

One thing a lot of beginning designers do wrong is that they start by working with clients. When you do this, your first clients tend to impact your initial design style. And that’s not necessarily what you want to do. It’s not to say you can’t take on any work that’s outside of “your style,” but developing a style that you like will help steer your designs in that direction from the start. You’ll be happier, and your work will be better, if you’re designing from your own personal vision.

So for your first project, I’d recommend creating a moodboard. And here’s the kicker: NO invitation photos should be on the moodboard! I like to use dresses, venue architecture, nature, and other elements when working with clients. Create this moodboard and go crazy with it if you want to… there’s no client input (you’ll soon learn that that is very freeing!). 

5. Design Your First Invitation Suite

Once your moodboard is ready, and you know your way around Adobe Illustrator, it’s time to create your first wedding invitation suite! I’d recommend keeping it relatively simple here:

• Digital printing
• not too many insert cards or embellishments
• your printer’s house stock paper

If you bite off more than you can chew, it might be discouraging. So get this first project under your belt, referencing what you’ve learned about invitation etiquette and your moodboard! 

6. Set it Up for Print

After you’ve designed your first suite, it’s time to set it up for print. There are a few main things to look out for:

• Make sure your file is in CMYK
• Outline all your text
• Save it as a PDF
• Ask your printer if they need Bleeds or Crop Marks

Here’s a video showing you how I prep simple files for print with my favorite print shop:

7. Try Out Some Great Print Shops

And that brings me to step 7! A lot of designers are afraid to test out printing, and it’s really important that you get good at printing before you’re working with a real client on a deadline with 100+ suites. Those mistakes can get costly really fast. And so many new designers underestimate the difficulty that comes with printing your designs. 

I don’t mean to make this sound scary (it’s not that scary). I just mean to say it’s not nearly as simple as just clicking print. You need to understand how papers and ink mix, how colors work, and so many other principles that aren’t necessary for just designing pretty things on-screen.

I cannot recommend trying out some great print shops enough. Maybe you want to print in-house and that’s okay – but I’d recommend you read this post first because it’s not as simple (or cheap) as you might think.

My Favorite Print Shops

I have a few print shops I always recommend for new stationery designers. You might like them all, or you might prefer some for any number of reasons, so try them out and see how your work translates from screen to paper! Plus, then you’ll have real life invitations to photograph for your portfolio!

• PrintsWell: My go-to printer generally. They have a great selection of white / white-ish stocks, and offer lots of classic finishing services: folding, cutting, gold foil, etc. They’re a really good all-around printer for stationery.

Get $25 off your first order with my link (or tell them Laney sent you)

• StationeryHQ: They are also a killer all-around stationery printer, with many of the same products as PrintsWell and A TON more too. They offer additional things like guest books, signage, wrapping paper, etc. that you might find fun to include in your offerings (as well as doing a great job on the classics too).

Get 10% off your next order with code LANEY

• Mingo Press: Mingo Press can pretty much do anything. I have never had them say no to a project (if you stump them, let me know!!!). They do great work, have wonderful customer service, and can ship quickly if needed. 

Enter LANEY20 at checkout for a 20% discount on your first online order (custom orders excluded / minimum order cost $50, maximum order cost $1,000)

8. Share Your Work on Social Media

Now that you have some beautiful invitations printed, it’s time to share your work! Here are some examples of classic invitation “flatlay” photography:

A few tips for better invitation photos:

• Use natural lighting (usually right by a window, with a sheer curtain to soften it)
• A foamboard from the Dollar Tree can reflect light back toward the suite, making shadows less harsh
• Raise pieces off the background to create depth
• Keep the invitation in the middle (and maybe higher) to show its importance
• Style with matching elements like florals, stamps, ribbons, etc. for added interest

Sharing this work on your social media platform will get you out into the world! Yes, you can start working on a website, but you don’t need that in order to start booking clients and selling your invitations. You’ll be surprised once you start sharing your work how many people are interested. Not everyone will be an “ideal” client but you’re on the way!

Next Steps for Your Stationery Business

One of our students sent this nice note about the course:

“From Start to Suite was the best investment I could have made for my business. It’s worth every single penny and five times more. I have purchased a lot of courses over the past several years and I’ve mostly been disappointed at the end of them. Not so with From Start to Suite – I was blown away by the amount of content and value that is included.

It became obvious to me very quickly that if I was going it alone it would have taken me years to learn what was provided in this course. It’s not only given me the confidence to start, but it’s also saved me countless dollars in mistakes I would have surely made. I am so grateful that I found this course and think I would have given up by now if I hadn’t. I have the utmost respect for Laney and the heart, soul and value that is packed into From Start To Suite.“