..And so this happened!!
I'm very proud to say that I've been voted Regional Finalist in the English Wedding Awards 2019!
I want to say a huge thank you to all the couples that voted for me! I absolutely love what I do, but I couldn't do it without you, so thank you!
The awards ceremony is held on the 26th November and as a Regional Finalist I was asked to submit lots of evidence to a panel of judges, which I found pretty nerve racking! When I began writing I didn't really know what to say but when I looked back at the last year I realised that I have achieved quite a lot.
As you know my designs always centre around capturing the essence of the couple I’m working with. This might be by hiding or proudly showing the things they love: their furry friend, their love of Lego, or a nod to their favourite music or movie. For other couples I will draw their beautiful wedding venue or illustrate the gorgeous flowers from their bouquet. I think it is this that, along with my friendly, approachable personality, means I've never had anything less than a five star review.
I have always believed that the success of my little business relies on excellent communication with you lot, my customers. I always go out of my way to ensure I speak to you regularly, so that you feel that you are in safe, organised hands and that you understand the process clearly so that you know what is needed from you, and what can be expected from me. I manage every element of the process through an organisational app called Trello, which makes my workflow and your required inputs clear. It also allows you to feel more involved with the process. As a recent review stated: ‘the whole experience of designing our invites was fun, stress-free and exciting’.
To improve my communication and the process I encourage you to fill in a feedback form after completing the stationery too.
When I looked into awards, I was quite amazed (and proud!) at how many I have been awarded:
English Wedding Awards 2019: Regional Winner,
Wedding Industry Awards: Regional Winner
Lux-Life Magazine: Award for Excellence in Wedding Stationery Design - Somerset
Bristol and Somerset Wedding Awards 2017: Finalist.
Articles have been written about From Sally With Love in:
Wedding Ideas Magazine
Bristol and Somerset Wedding Magazine (three times)
Vow Magazine
Bride and Tonic Blog (twice)
Festival Bride Blog
English Wedding Blog
Whimsical Wonderland Wedding Blog (twice)
Since last year I have developed my skills and my product range to offer new options for my customers. I’ve expanded my range to include my own watercolour illustrations. One of these stationery sets was recently featured on Whimsical Wonderland Wedding Blog for a fierce tropical shoot I was involved in, and also wrote on my blog about recently.
I have also expanded my off-the-peg range of stationery, creating more budget friendly options, such as this one:
To see the whole budget stationery range please follow this link.
I have also had lots of amazing reviews come in:
7: 5* Google reviews
53: 5* Facebook reviews
“We decided to use Sally for our wedding invites based on seeing another friends invites that she designed. We really wanted something unique, colourful and to really set the tone for our wedding next year and nothing online seemed to fit the bill.
"Sally absolutely nailed the brief and the designs far exceeded our expectations! We’ve had so many positive comments about them and we can’t wait to work with her on designing some more on the day stationery.
"Sally was so hands on right from the start and made us feel very comfortable about the whole process. Our initial consultation was over the phone but I felt like I’d known her for ages even though we’d never met, I knew then that we were in very safe hands! Would happily recommend her to anyone!” Ella Tappenden 14/11/19
“We commissioned all our wedding stationery from Sally - starting with the invitations, which we loved so much we then also had our seating plan, name places and menu cards all carefully designed by FSWL. The process itself was really enjoyable, and the attention to detail Sally placed on hand painting each individual flower (even suggesting in season flowers to match our colour scheme), as well as the different options she presented in terms of layouts, fonts and overall look - was all so impressive and truly bespoke. The end product was beautiful and exactly what we had in mind - which Sally instantly understood from the start! We received so many compliments on every piece and choosing Sally to design for our wedding was one of the best decisions we made! Thank you so much” Lisa Adams 14/9/19
“Sally was absolutely fantastic throughout our process. She did my daughters wedding invites and we loved them so much we had a welcome board, seating plan, serviettes and order of service made too. All designed especially for them. We had so many lovely comments on the day about them and I can't recommend her highly enough. What a talent! (and a lovely lady too!)” Karen Walker 13/9/19
I have also worked really hard to minimise the environmental impact of my company over the last couple of months. I'm very proud to say that everything that I send out is now plastic free. I also use paper tape, stickers that are biodegradable with biodegradable adhesive, tissue paper that is acid free and recyclable, and boxes that are recyclable and re-usable (no branding). All card is also FSC grade and the electricity I use to run my computer comes from 100% renewable sources too. The printers I use to print stationery recycle all their waste products from ink tins, plates, pallets, paper and plastic as well as using a green energy supplier. Between us we have agreed not to use unnecessary packaging, such as bubble wrap, and even the cardboard boxes the invites are delivered in are reused for future jobs.
Wish me luck on the 26th! All my limbs are crossed :-) Sally xx