Mini interview – Prettywild

Pret­ty­Wild have relaunched their wed­ding sta­tionery web­site this week and I had a lit­tle peek yes­ter­day and instantly fell in love with the place! Not only that, there’s a brand new blog — Pret­ty­Ga­lore — which promises of lots of excit­ing things to come! I got in touch with designer Suzanne Osborne for a mini inter­view. I love her answers…

What inspires you?

Beau­ti­ful typog­ra­phy and tac­tile paper items! I love rum­mag­ing around curios­ity shops and boots sales for vin­tage pack­ag­ing, tins, posters and mem­o­ra­bilia. I bought a tar­nished old bugle the other day just because I loved its engraved inscrip­tions. I’ve also acquired 2 small vin­tage print presses and chest full of metal type — it’s not being used much but I just love the look and feel of it. The great­est inspi­ra­tion though, comes directly from cou­ples who present you with a theme that really reflects them and keep an open mind — that’s when the cre­ative sparks fly!

What do you love most about your job?

I was sit­ting on a beach with my fam­ily last week­end. Within the hour I had note­book out and was sketch­ing ideas for a bespoke order. My hus­band said “Don’t you ever stop working?”

“I’m not work­ing,” I said, “I’m enjoy­ing myself and relaxing.”

But I love the feed­back from my clients as much as the actual design and cre­at­ing process. I get to work with such lovely cou­ples, it really isn’t a job, it’s a pleasure.

Do you ever get unusual requests?

A few years back I under­took a bespoke com­mis­sion for a wed­ding loosely themed around Alice in Won­der­land. At the time that was quite unusual but since then, par­tic­u­larly with the release of the film, I now get a least one Alice or vin­tage tea party theme enquiry every week. Some clients are par­tic­u­larly spe­cific — I recently had a cou­ple who wanted to incor­po­rate 2 otters within their sta­tionery, related to their Loch cer­e­mony venue.

Do you have any excit­ing projects com­ing up?

I’m really excited to be get­ting more oppor­tu­nity to design for let­ter­press. It’s such a beau­ti­ful, tac­tile medium in con­trast with flat dig­i­tal print and it’s enjoy­ing a wel­come revival. In the longer term I’m work­ing towards hav­ing a new stu­dio up and run­ning, with even more space to hoard my papers and notebooks!

What one piece of advice would you give readers?

Your invi­ta­tion is the ambas­sador for one of the most impor­tant days of your life. It sets the tone e.g. relaxed or for­mal, should reflect your spirit & style and ulti­mately whet your guests’ appetite – that’s a tall order for the lit­tle guys! So please don’t treat them as a dis­pos­able after­thought, they have an epic job to do! And if cho­sen with thought and sent with love, they are likely to be squir­reled away as a long last­ing memento.

Thank you Suzanne. What a won­der­fully cre­ative world you live in! I’m so glad I inter­viewed you!

Bespoke wed­ding invi­ta­tions by Pret­ty­Wild www.PrettyWild.co.uk

Pret­ty­Ga­lore — the inspir­ing new wed­ding sta­tionery blog by PrettyWild

enquiries@PrettyWild.co.uk