7 Simple Ways to Scale Your Wedding Stationery Business
Starting this off with a rather generic phrase, BUT–
Time is money.
(Attention grabbing opening line, I know.)
You’ve probably heard that so many times before, but it’s often where a lot of people get tripped up. I get so many questions from people–just like you–who are wondering how to manage their time as a wedding stationery designer.
I’m often asked, “How do I know what to focus on?”
Whether you’re an aspiring stationer still working your day-job or whether you’ve finally achieved full-time status as a stationery designer, it seems like there are a multitude of things to do and everything feels like top priority.
It’s difficult knowing what to prioritize, especially when everything seems important, and when all of the tasks that need to be done are usually pretty time intensive–like making social media content, answering emails, designing new products, or taking the time to finally connect with that wedding planner you’ve dreamed of working with.
To maximize the amount of time you have to work on your business (whether you have a little time or a lot), you need to make each hour more valuable. Meaning, you need to get the same amount of work done in less time.
The hard truth is, many of those things on your to-do list are a priority.
You should be fulfilling orders, following up with clients and potential clients, building excitement for your brand on social media, and designing new products.
So, how exactly do you do maximize your time to make each hour/minute/second as an entrepreneur more valuable? Through scaling your business.
As your business becomes more streamlined and scaled, it frees up time for you to work on other big-picture tasks that can actually move the needle in your business.
The problem is that most of us simply don’t do it.
Either we don’t know how to scale our business for growth, or we don’t make it a priority.
Instead, we just think things like, “Responding to this email only takes a few minutes. One day–when I have more time–I’ll make a list of canned email templates I can use over and over again.”
Of course, one day never comes, and you’re still spending fifteen minutes every day writing an email that you could’ve done in one. And each day, you could’ve had an extra fourteen minutes to post something on IG stories, finally fix that typo on your website, start working on another client project, or just take the time to light a candle and say your daily affirmations.
As a stationery designer with over a decade in business, I’ve been exactly where you are.
I’ve gone from wondering how I’d ever get my business off the ground while working a full time job to being overwhelmed with client projects and feeling like there was never enough time in the day to get it all done.
But, today, I can breathe easy because over the past four to five years, I’ve streamlined my business enough that many of my daily tasks are practically automated, outsourced, or are so streamlined that they take a lot less time to complete.
Keep reading to discover all seven ways to scale your wedding stationery business.
#1 Outsource printing.
Picture this–you’ve been standing next to your printer all afternoon trying to fix a printer jam for an order that has to go out tomorrow.
During that time, you could’ve done a multitude of other things, like following up with clients who recently ordered an invitation sample box from you, sending client proofs, creating an Instagram reel to grow your following, or finally gaining the courage to reach out to that wedding planner you’ve been wanting to connect with.
But instead, you’re sitting there trying to figure out why that stupid printer is jammed again on the last set of envelopes you have to print for an order that has to go out tomorrow.
You’re stressed, time is running out, and now you have even more things to add to your ever-growing to-do list.
You really need to hire someone else to do small tasks like this while you work on the big picture stuff, but, you just don’t have the money to do it right now.
Enter outsourcing.
I am a huge proponent of outsourcing all of your printing. I get questions all of the time like, “How much do I need to invest in equipment for my stationery business?” My answer is always, “None!”
Of all the business ideas out there in the world, most require a lot of money in startup costs. But starting a wedding stationery business can actually be incredibly inexpensive–especially if you outsource of all your printing.
It can take hours to print stationery at home, and most of the time, you end up babysitting the printer the entire time.
A few years ago, I invested in a Canon Pixma for envelope printing. I thought maybe I could have the envelopes printed more quickly than some of the print shops I use, since the production time is usually three to five days (plus shipping time!).
But I quickly learned that I had to literally babysit the printer to either feed more envelopes in (it could only do 8 at a time) and make sure that didn’t get crooked along the way. And don’t even get me started on the 4bar rsvp envelopes, which were even more frustrating.
I waisted hours of my time, and vowed to never do that again.
One quick thing to note here. Yes, you could hire someone for your printing. But, if you’re going to pay someone to do something in your business, wouldn’t you rather them do something more productive, like packaging orders or social media management?
Call me crazy, but I just don’t think standing next to a printer for hours is productive. Unless you’re running in place, trying to get those ten thousand steps in.
Plus, what takes us hours to do on a measly desktop printer, a professional print shop can have it done in ten minutes on a real printing press.
And by the time you buy all of that printer ink and toner–you aren’t saving any money.
Alright, I promise I’ll keep the rest of these tips shorter. (Well, I’ll try.)
#2 Write out every step of your entire process.
Next, I want you to write down each step of your process–even if you are just starting a wedding stationery business. It doesn’t have to be pretty or polished–this is for your eyes only, and maybe your employees, if you have any.
Writing down each step of your process is going to help you map everything out, down to the last detail.
It’ll keep you organized each time you onboard a new client. So you aren’t using as much mental space when working on client projects or spending any additional time wondering, “Okay, what’s next?”
Keep this checklist on your desk or digitally stored somewhere on your computer (the Notes app will work just fine!), or if you have a client management system like Dubsado (which we’ll talk about later), you can also implement some of the steps in your process there.
Writing out each step of your process is also going to help you nail down project timelines, too. As you onboard each new client, you can plan out how long it will take you to complete each step and relay any important dates to your client (for example, you may need their guest addresses by a certain date).
Plus, it helps with this next tip…
#3 Create canned email templates.
If you only take one tip from this entire list, use this one.
In your wedding stationery business, there are many emails you’ll write over and over again.
And while you don’t want everything to sound cookie-cutter and unpersonalized, many of the information in your emails will remain the same from client to client.
One of the best things you can do for your business is to write out canned email templates. For a wedding stationery business, that could include things like emailing proofs to a client, communicating the project timeline, answering any FAQs you anticipate, an email for when a client is behind on the project timeline, etc.
After you’ve written down each step in your process, make an email to go alongside each one.
Not only is this going to help streamline your business and save you time, but it’s going to help you appear (and feel!) more polished and professional–like you’re always ready for the next step.
#4 Invest in a client management system.
I know, I know–why can’t you just email your clients directly rather than paying for a program that basically does the same thing?
I went about eight years or so without investing in a client management system. I kept hearing people over and over again talk about using things like Dubsado and Honeybook to “streamline their wedding invitation business”.
But, the truth was, I’d been going for so long just email client proofs without any issue that I didn’t see the need to invest in something else for my business. And, I didn’t want to pay for anything else, either.
But client management systems are so much more than just a platform to contact your clients.
They’re Gmail on steroids.
I’ve been using Dubsado for almost four years now, and I really can’t imagine how I ever lived without it. Not only does it help me organize each client project and keep everything together, it’s also a more effective method for sending client proofs, approval forms, contracts, proposals, and everything in between.
Plus, you can automate many of your tasks in Dubsado, which can save you so much time.
I understand that investing in something like Dubsado can be a big investment. So, I wanted to share my affiliate link* with you, so you can get a bit of a discount.
Use this link to sign up and get 20% off your first month or year of Dubsado.
#5 Create a checklist for managing production tasks.
As you add more products and designs to your wedding stationery business, a production checklist for managing client orders can become so helpful. There’s nothing worse than having all of your clients prints in, only to realize that you forgot to order the wax seals. (Speaking from experience here!)
If you can’t tell, I make checklists for just about everything.
But, as I mentioned before, this is meant to keep you more organized so you aren’t wasting time and/or making unnecessary mistakes.
Again, it doesn’t have to be pretty or beautiful. This isn’t something you need to show clients. If you have employees or would love to hire one in the future, you can pass it off to them after you’ve done it a few times and worked out any possible kinks.
I’m a huge fan of using Notion. Many stationers also use Trello, but I found it too complicated and the interface seemed cluttered.
#6 Create a pricing calculator.
Rather than pricing out each individual project as it comes your way, take the time to create a pricing calculator either in Google sheets or Excel.
This works for any wedding stationery business, whether you’re a custom stationery designer or a semi-custom designer, and it’s going to free up a ton of time. You can refer to your pricing sheet any time you need it, and quickly price out each project.
Pricing is a very complex topic, but if you want a cheat sheet for a few things you should add to your pricing calculator, check out this blog post.
#7 Create a semi-custom collection.
Custom stationers, hear me out–especially if you are still working a full time job in addition to running a wedding stationery business.
Or, if you’re in the camp of, “I tried a semi-custom collection, but it didn’t work for me.”
(And if it’s the latter, don’t worry! I have a few exciting things in the works to show you how to make it work.)
People are always shocked when I tell them that the foundation of my business is what allowed me to grow so quickly...
The foundation of my business is not a curated, glorious Instagram feed or having a large social media following.
It's not from networking with wedding planners.
And, it definitely isn't through having some big break.
So... what is it?
The primary foundation of my business is running a successful semi-custom collection.
A semi-custom collection is a full suite of matching stationery designs, from save the dates to the coordinating invitations, place cards, and everything in between. For more information on what a semi-custom collection is, watch my free mini course here.
You can also take a peek at one of my wedding invitation collections below.
I started on Etsy in 2013, selling a handful of stationery and wedding stationery projects. On the side, I designed custom invitations. Meaning, I would design invitations completely from scratch–rather than having couples choose between my pre-made designs.
At first, it was just for family and friends, which was really fun and special to do. Then I started booking real clients–as in, people I didn’t know.
I continued offering custom stationery in addition to my semi-custom line for several years in my business.
Custom work allowed me to stretch my creativity and work more closely with couples. It’s a wonderful service to offer, if you feel aligned to do so. And, I do think that there are a multitude of ways to scale a custom stationery business.
Plus, you should be charging a lot more per project with custom, than with semi-custom. (Please tell me you are!)
But, there’s one main reason why I stuck with semi-custom stationery and removed most of my custom options.
Semi-custom stationery frees up an exponential amount of time. And you can use that extra time to work on other tasks to grow your business, as a way to balance your full time job + side hustle, or to just take the extra time to rest.
So, let’s talk about how a semi-custom wedding stationery collection frees up more time in your business…
With semi-custom stationery, I wasn’t starting from scratch every time I booked a new client.
Because pricing was easy to post to my website and in my Etsy shop, I no longer had to send proposals.
I spent less time doing things like concept sketches and design, because the foundation of the design was already laid out.
And I was sending each client three different design options, which really increased design time. (If I were to take a custom project today, I’d only send one design option! Position yourself as the expert.)
With custom stationery every project was so different. A lot of setup was involved each time I booked a new client. While that made each new project feel so exciting, it was incredibly time intensive.
Semi-custom stationery virtually eliminates all of those extra steps, and reduces the amount of time it takes to complete each project.
I’ll be honest, I do miss the fun and creative side of custom stationery. It’s something I might offer again in the future to change up the pace. And if you’re the kind of stationer who loves the freedom of custom design–I’ll still be over here cheering you on!
But, if even part of you is curious about how a semi-custom stationery collection can free up time in your business and expand your reach, I have a lot of resources up my sleeves coming soon to help you out. Stay tuned!
One last thing…
Full disclosure, this post was not supposed to be this long! I really thought I could get my thoughts succinctly wrapped up in a pretty little bow.
But, I decided to put a lot of really actionable advice in here and spill all the tea on streamlining your business for those who are ready to make money (in half the amount of time).
In this post, you’ve learned that:
Streamlining and scaling your business can help you get the same amount of work done, in less time.
That outsourcing all of your printing can spare you from spending hours working on a printer jam.
To write out each step of your process and a canned email template to go with each step.
Investing in a CRM like Dubsado can make you so much more efficient. (Use this link to sign up and get 20% off your first month or year.)
You need a healthy amount of checklists to run your wedding stationery business, especially one for managing production tasks for each client project.
A pricing calculator/spreadsheet is going to make things so much easier for you in the long run, no matter if you are a custom or semi-custom stationer.
Running a semi-custom collection is one of my favorite ways to streamline your business because it virtually eliminates dozens (or more) steps in your process every time you book a new client. And you can use all the time you just saved to work on other things in your business or balance your full time job until you get your stationery business off the ground.
Alright, pencils down.
Now that you’ve got all of these tips and tricks in your back pocket, I can’t wait to see how you use them to make magic in your business.
*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links. There is no cost to you–you’ll actually get a discount. Win, win.
