The Story House ~ Beautiful Bespoke Wedding Illustrations and Handmade Paper Roses

 

** The Story House is offering a 10% discount in October. Simply quote Love My Dress in your initial email. {Minimum order of £20.00 for rose items}. **

 

Many of the wedding suppliers we feature on Love My Dress really need very little introduction because what they do is fairly self-explanatory. I mean, you all know a photographer takes photos, and a designer can make you a wedding dress.

Every now and then though, Annabel and I stumble across something a little more unique, something that requires a touch more detail to be fully appreciated. The subject of today's post is one such business.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Images Copyright (c) 2012, The Story House

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations

The Story House offers bespoke illustrations designed to tell a couple's story. The beautiful art work can be used to form part of a wedding invitation – like a storybook or fanzine of your journey to share with your guests – or larger scale illustrations can feature as part of the decor at a reception venue, or as table centrepieces. Similarly, smaller illustrations can be used to embellish your Order of Service. The possibilities are seemingly endless!

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations

Lucy McDonald, the talented artist behind this small business, says…

'I think it's great to have something
in your invitation that tells your story – for those elderly relatives, school
friends, family friends or cousins that may not have met your other half, it
really helps them get to know your future husband or wife before the wedding day. Beyond that, it's also wonderful to have a memento as a couple, full of meaningful details.'

The Story House also sells Lucy's handmade paper roses
for bouquets, corsages, buttonholes and decoration. The unusual blooms are bespoke and made only to order.

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations 

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'I can use sheet music, map or literature to make
them. You can also request other papers or post them to me – current other
favourites are computer code and comic book. I love the process
of making them – from flat paper to rose. Going from a single rose, building up, flower by flower, curling
each petal individually, to create a big rounded bouquet, is always exciting.'

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations

Maps-bouquet-003 

Lucy told me a little more about how The Story House came to be… 

'My sister was getting married and I was designing her
invitations. She liked the type of designs that included the story – but I
couldn't fit it all on one page! I suggested doing a little story book style
invitation, and it went from there.'

'Around the same time, I looked at my
big pile of vintage magazines and decided I had to do something with them! I
made some greetings cards out of them, and mentioned to my other half that I
might take them down Brick Lane and try and place them in some shops. He's the kind
of man to make you stick to your word, so that's what I did, and I placed my
collaged vintage cards in shops around London.'

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations

'After collaging, I had some lovely
vintage paper left over, and I started making roses from them. I sold them in
craft markets and then more recently, at wedding fairs.'

'Recently, I realised that I love the
bespoke work – making bouquets especially for brides, or spending my day
illustrating for a couple, so I have stopped making the vintage cards to really
concentrate on this aspect of the business.'

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations

What do you love about your work?

'I love
the bespoke nature of the work I do. I really love getting to know the story of
a bride and groom and finding a way to illustrate it that they will love. My aim is to
produce something that looks great, that is personal, clearly describes their journey, and is a
little witty.'

'Illustrating for couples feels
like a big privilege – spending my afternoons drawing and painting the hours
away is fantastic. Or even when I'm out and about, and I suddenly have a
breakthrough about a design, and have to scribble it down.'

'I've always loved paper. I'm one of
those people that has multiple lovely notebooks, refusing to use them, in case
I 'spoil' them! I love the texture of different
papers. With the roses, I really love the way music, text and map look when
they have been transformed. Map always looks beautiful with it's muted
blues and oranges and reds, and little bits of text – I have a huge soft spot
for map!'

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations

Can you provide a price guide for the different illustration options? 

Single Page Illustration A6 size – £80
(suitable for save the date, order of service, any greetings card, to frame for gifts for birthdays, anniversaries and Valentine’s )

Single Page Illustration up to A2 size -£120
(suitable for framing as gift, or to be displayed as decoration in venues)

Event Invitation or other booklet – £175
(suitable for invitations for weddings, civil partnerships, birthdays, christenings and engagements, or booklets as gifts for anniversaries, birthdays and Valentine’s, or to decorate guests tables)

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations

'Initially I just work on a design, for which I have one clear fee. If
you're eco or cost aware, I can provide solely digital images, allowing
you to create a digital invitation or
have them printed locally. Alternatively, I can provide quotes for printing.'

Rose Prices –
10 rose bouquet – £30.00
20 rose bouquet – £55.00
30 rose bouquet – £85.00
Corsage/Buttonhole/One Rose Comb – £4.50

'If you have a particular paper in mind, you can post it to me and I will happily incorporate it into your bouquet. This will mean a small reduction in cost – generally about £10.00,
depending on the size of the order.'

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations 

Where do you
ship to?

'I'm happy to ship anywhere, although postage prices will
obviously change depending on the destination.'

'For illustrations, the process is very simple and can all be done by
email. First, I send a questionnaire, asking details about how they met and any
exciting events since then. I may email for
more information, or perhaps a photo of a person or a place. They will receive a proof via email and, after any relevant changes, I will send a final draft of the illustration.'

Personally, I'm completely smitten with The Story House. Not only are the paper roses beautiful, but I love the concept of using Lucy's illustrations to share the story of your relationship with those present on your wedding day.

handmade paper roses and bespoke illustrated wedding invitations

In short, if you want to bring something a little different to your wedding day, then The Story House is perfect. As an added incentive, Lucy is offering a 10%
discount for orders placed in October. Simply quote 'Love My Dress' in
your first email. There is minimum order of £20.00 for rose items.

Be sure to take a look at The Story House website, blog, Facebook page, Pinterest and twitter

Much love,

Franky

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This is a sponsored feature.  Sponsored features can be one off posts, or part of a longer advertising campaign to accompany a banner advert.  All
sponsors receive an introductory feature like this, as well as ongoing support that has proven that click-through's lead to enquiries, bookings and sales.  With a readership leaving a trail of over half a million page hits behind them every  month, and 70% of these readers being brides planning a wedding, Love My Dress provides the perfect platform for you to promote your wedding day product to a large number of savvy, stylish brides.  If you are
interested in becoming a sponsor, please email [email protected] and request a media pack to discover the different ways you can work wtih us.  We'd be delighted to hear from you.  Annabel and Franky x

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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