1 major lesson I learnt is not to be overly reliant on your wedding coordinators, be it from the hotel/banquet/bridal boutique. I took it for granted that they will be project managing the whole event for me, keeping track of timeline & milestones, and remind me of the things I need to go (eg. select invites, print cards, go for food tasting etc.). All the while I assumed it's their job to do so. Big mistake. I'm not sure if it's the coordinator I'm working with or that's the way Sheraton works or that's how the industry functions, but I made the mistake of assuming that my wedding coordinator at Sheraton will do everything for me, sending me reminders/nudges etc. I was waiting for them to make arrangement for us to choose our cards, and I stupidly ASSUME that they will remind us to do so. Nada. I have to ask them, before they said we need to make our own arrangements. not sure if this is the case for the other hotels, but take this as a flag out.
NEVER ASSUME. ALWAYS ASK. DON'T WAIT FOR THINGS TO HAPPEN.
For the benefit of everyone, the hotel will usually provide a list of contacts for the cards supplier, printer (may differ from the card supplier) etc. You'll need to take the initiative to liaise and contact these suppliers.
For invites, Sheraton's appointed card supplier is American Wedding Treasures (also provides printing service), and printing services by T-Dragon (printing only). You'll need to give American Wedding Treasures a call about 2 -3 months in before the wedding to make an appointment to go choose your cards. I assume Sheraton will make this arrangement for me, and it's only till around 1 month before the wedding (and everyone was asking "where is my invite?")when I contacted Sheraton and learnt I need to make the appointment myself so it was a mad rush for the invite.
After choosing the card design, depending on stock availability, you will need to wait around 1 week for AWT to prepare the cards (excludes printing). When choosing card design, AWT will show you a catalog of invites that have been nicely done up and accessorized. By "accessorizing", I mean the ribbons etc. you see on the invites. By default, AWT only provides the cards, insert paper (if you choose a design that has one), and envelope. Everything else like ribbons etc (like the ones you see below) are excluded. You'll need to buy the ribbons and tie it yourself. If you choose something like the one on the penguin card, you'll need to tie the ribbon and stick it to each card yourself. When we went to choose our cards, a lady was there to pick up her cards, and you should see the look on her face when the lady told her she needs to buy the ribbon, tie them one by one, and stick it on. Alot of hard work, and people may not necessarily appreciate or even notice it. Not really worth it imo, but I'm lazy and I don't have alot of time for such stuffs/any interest in such things, so if you love handicrafts, by all means go ahead! :D
So, my hubba and I are very busy (and lazy) and are not good at handicrafts, so we focus on the ones that requires none or minimal work (best is those that only need us to write the names of the invitee, put in envelope and go!) and yes, our chosen design requires almost no additional work except gluing the insert to the invite. If you're like us, choose wisely! :D
After you've collected the cards, you can then bring it down to T Dragon to get it printed, or you can choose to get it printed by AWT as well. Both takes around 10-14 days after confirmation of artwork to get it printed (meaning you have confirmed the names etc. on the invite). I'm not sure about AWT but T Dragon allows express service at an additional charge of S$40 and you'll get your printouts within a week.
If you prefer convenience and don't care about cost, getting the invites printed by American Wedding Treasures is more convenient since you'll just let 1 vendor take care of everything. However, being the budget conscious me, I decide to call up both to get cost estimates. WOW. Quite a cost difference I must say (not surprising since I doubt AWT print it themselves).
AWT quoted me around S$160 for I can't remember 100 or 200 pcs of the insert. and this is before we even talk about those add-ons like cute little icons etc.
T Dragon quoted me S$100 for 200 pieces of the insert (basic printing. each icon at S$10 each).
Being the budget conscious me, I went to T Dragon. Connie is very professional and shows she knows what she's doing. We feel very comfortable with her, and she was guiding us in the selection of font, paper etc. We decided not to pay extras for hot stamping, glitter paper etc and we see them as unnecessary costs and I honestly do not like hot stamping as they look so...erm...retro. :)
So there! here's a little sharing from me about my experiences in invites selection, and on project managing my wedding. Hope you find this helpful. :)
American Wedding Treasures (Selection of cards/printing)
14 Jalan Pisang
Tel: 68340662 & Fax: 6858 3040
Email: proofs.awt@gmail.com
Contact Person: Shirley or Ginger
Business Hour: Mon to Sat- 1pm to 7pm
T Dragon Singapore (just printing only)
5 Coleman street, #03-23
Excelsior Shopping Centre
Tel: 6292 8338 or 6333 5761 & Fax: 6333 9279
Singapore 179805
Email: sales@tdragoncards.com
Website: www.tdragoncards.com
Contact Person: Connie Koh
Business Hour: Mon to Fri - 11am to 8pm Sat - 10.am to 5pm
No comments:
Post a Comment