Laurie Chapman Shares Insight Into The Wedding Industry

Today I had the honor of interviewing business owner, Laurie Chapman. Laurie designs and prints invitations, announcements, and all things "wedding". She was kind enough to send a few samples and I have to tell you that she does an "exquisite" job: very professional, high quality work! I was very much impressed, and should you give her a try, I am positive you will be too. To get to know Laurie better, we've put together a quick Q&A, enjoy...

How did you get into designing wedding invitations and favors?

There were a couple of little, old ladies in town that liked to give parties but weren't computer savvy. I would make invitations for them for free. This went on for awhile when I realized that I really enjoyed designing and creating new layouts. Soon I became a total font-a-holic and that's when it hit me..."Maybe I could make money doing this."

The wedding industry is huge, but so is the competition. How do you get people to choose your company over the competition?

I offer competitive pricing (25% off of the major wedding printer's published prices). I have a custom line of wedding programs that are made to the brides' specifications and cannot be found anywhere else (and are also affordable!). I offer envelope addressing for 50 cents per set (a STEAL compared to most of the competition). And I'm almost always available since I work from home, which means people can catch me all the time via phone or email. Plus, just being nice, helpful, and knowledgeable seems to go a long way!

Do you have any referral programs in place?

Not at the present time. I am looking at the possibility of wholesaling my line of custom programs in the near future. I think it would be a perfect fit with photographers who could sell them to their clients to use with their professional picture printed on the front.

Do you have a special way of advertising?

I have recently had my website totally re-worked and have been working on getting links to the site to help increase my page rank since I have been getting more and more orders from the internet lately.

I have been in business for 7 years and most of my customers are referred to me by former brides. However, the most successful way that I have been able to advertise my business is through attending local bridal shows. In fact, I had one last weekend and I'm getting ready for another one this weekend right now!

At the shows, I hand out tons of samples and catalogs and get to meet the brides face-to-face. After the show, I get a lead list that I use to send emails that are tailored to the brides according to their wedding date (for example, I send a "Save the Date" or "Engagement Party" email to those brides who are newly engaged and a "Don't forget the Programs!" email to those brides whose weddings are almost here).

I have tried newspaper and magazine advertising and have not had great results with either. Being a small business, I've found that most print advertising is cost-prohibitive, so I stay away! Many magazines do offer lead lists too, and if my budget was unlimited, I'd love to get in on that again. I do advertise with The Knot, but have not seen great results from that investment.

Brides can sometimes be demanding and emotional at the same time. I just try to keep it professional-that way I don't get too much into the emotions of it! I did have one bride tell me that she didn't love her fiancé and another ask me if the fact that they got married the weekend after September 11th happened was a sign that she should call it off (the groom worked for an airline and most of their guests didn't get to come)! Other than that, not too much of the emotional-stuff going on!

It's usually a great experience, and I love sharing in the joy of the occasion with my customers. There are a select few that have become dear friends-which makes it all worthwhile.

This can sometimes make service jobs such as yours a bit difficult. What tips can you offer, based on your experiences, to help calm irate, nervous, or disatisified customers? Or what tips can you offer to keep customers happy if you've never experienced the previous.

I've been lucky to only have had a few unhappy customers over the years. I always do anything in my power to fix any potential problems, even if it means loosing money on the job. This is the biggest day in my customer's lives and I want my part of it to be perfect as much as they do, so it's in both of our best interests to get it right! I've found that offering a proof to the customer before items are printed is a great way to avoid most potential problems.

Visit her at http://wiregrassweddings.com/

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