I’m so excited to share with you my latest Facebook Live with the incredible Jack McGinnigal of luxury design and print studio EYI Love. EYI Love, which Jack runs with his wife Lorna, have been translating their respective engineering and fashion backgrounds into memorable, modern stationery design since 2010. They adore Jewish weddings, and work with Jewish couples all over the world from their home base in Glasgow – including many happy STG brides!
Jack and I chatted about all things Jewish wedding stationery, from timings to aesthetics, and if I say so myself we created some excellent content. If you’ve still got decisions about wedding stationery to make, this Live is truly not to be missed.
Wedding invitation suite of fab wedding planner and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachel Flax – wedding coming soon to STG!
Timings
We started off by chatting a bit about why Jack and Lorna love Jewish weddings so much, despite not being Jewish themselves – and it turns out they love lots of the same things we do: the symbolism, the traditions, the spirituality, and, in many cases, the fact that a Jewish wedding is truly a family affair.
We then moved on to timings, a subject we are constantly getting asked about. Jack recommends sending save the dates out 9-12 months before the big day; past that point, it’s worth thinking of skipping them altogether and opting to send invitations out on the early side instead.
In terms of the invitations themselves, it’s traditional to send them out 6-8 weeks before the wedding, but they can go out as soon as 6 months pre-wedding. As with all things wedding, it’s really a personal decision, depending on what works for the two of you and your wedding.
We also talked a bit about on the day stationery, and how far in advance you need to get this finalized with your stationer.
Numbers
We then moved on to numbers – another thing brides ask us about all the time. Jack’s rule of thumb for figuring out how many invites to order? Take your full number of guests, divide by two, and add ten. He suggests making sure you order at least five spares – and it’s never a bad idea to include some blank place cards in your order in case you have any last-minute attendees!
Wedding invitation suite of Julie and James
Wording
Up next, Jack and I talked text. We talked about the particulars of wording Jewish wedding invites – such as whether to include Hebrew, how much, and where – and whether and how to include information about gift lists.
Styling
So by this point we’ve dealt with lots of the logistics. But how do you decide what kind of look you want for your wedding stationery? Jack always suggests his couples get started by browsing through the designs on EYI Love’s site and making note of the features that speak to them.
When working on bespoke designs, he also asks couples to provide inspiration images. He notes that most couples choose one design and carry it through for all of their wedding stationery needs, from save the dates to invitations to on the day stationery like bencher books (EYI Love prints covers and uses inserts supplied by United Synagogue), place cards, table names, table plan, and escort cards.
Wedding invitation suite of Jane and Adam
Layouts
Jack then took us through some recent Jewish wedding layouts EYI Love has created – these are the gorgeous invitation suites pictured throughout this post!
Trends
I don’t think anyone should base their wedding decisions on what’s currently trending, but at the same time learning what’s in style can be a great source of inspiration. So what’s coming our way in 2020? According to Jack, top trends include playing with texture through the use of vellum (clear paper), perspex (clear acrylic), and blind de-bossing; personalized illustrations; pocket folds; eco stationery using recycled stock; and luxe details (gilding and calligraphy especially have taken off over the past year!).
For couples looking for the ultimate in luxury, EYI Love even offers a postage service where they assemble and post invitations themselves!
This was truly a fantastic session – it almost makes me wish I was getting married again so Jack and Lorna could design my invites! Jack’s enthusiasm for Jewish wedding stationery is truly contagious – and just from this session you can get a sense of what a joy he is to work with.
If you missed the live show, you can watch the replay below. Make sure you like the Smashing The Glass Facebook page to be notified of all future shows!
EYI Love | Call +(44) 0141 3878390 | info@eyilove.com | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest |Twitter
Join our Members Club and save 10% on E.Y.I. Love
