Today on Industry Friends we present…. the 5 adorably sweet women of Duly Noted Stationery.

I first met some of these beautiful people last July when preparing for the Lavender, Gold & Lace styled shoot that myself, Nicole McInnis of Oh Dina! and Charlotte Pierce of The Flower Shop put together with the help of many local vendors. We had asked Duly Noted is they would be able to assist us with wedding invitations and place setting menus for the table. They were so excited to be a part of our shoot, and we were so thrilled by the amazing stationery they custom made for the shoot. You may have seen some of their photos before on our blog; first from the Lavender, Gold & Lace shoot, and then from the Indie Wedding Social last month.

Duly Noted Stationery has books upon books of sample wedding stationery for you to choose from, and all of the contact details to get in touch with them are in the post below. You will not believe how many options they have available, and they can also make custom pieces if you have something specific in mind.

Duly Noted isn’t only stationery, the shop is filled with so many wonderful treasures, and I could get lost in there all day. So many great things for yourself, or as little gifts for friends and family. I went downtown to the shop last weekend and spent the morning with the girls, chatting, laughing and taking loads of photos. The morning was extremely inspiring and fulfilling, I had the best time. To top it all off, the girls gave me the sweetest present; a very big box full of Rifle Paper Co. and Kate Spade goodies, I couldn’t even contain my excitement!

Thank you so much for the great day ladies, and for agreeing to being part of our Industry Friends series, you are all so talented and a pleasure to be around. Teddy and I look forward to collaborating on styled shoots this Spring and Summer.

Scroll through their photos (its another long one friends, but so fun), then read all about Duly Noted, and helpful hints when deciding on your stationery.

Nicole Smith
Owner
Nicole Smith is the owner of Duly Noted Stationery and Halikids Inc. She has been running shops for 12 years and loves being an entrepreneur in Halifax. She loves working with the amazing teams at both stores!

Rebecca Dimock
Graphic Designer
Working at Duly Noted for almost five years she has become an integral part of the team. Coming from a small town in the Annapolis Valley she has blossomed into the creative force behind the office door. You can find her perched in front of her computer with a cup of coffee scribbling with her “make it happen” pen. She enjoys the challenges that come with making custom stationery. In addition to her graphic design work, she also creates charming handmade items for the shop including photographic, hand-lettered, lino-cut and quilled greeting cards, crepe flowers, and other paper crafts. Paper is her spirit animal.

Laura Walton
Invitation Manager
Laura loves love. She has fun getting to know couples and helping them incorporate their story into their invitation style. Her side project is teaching kids to sew their own clothing and give their style a story. Check her out on Youtube or her website: CinderellaSew.com

Lisa MacPherson
Invitation Consultant
Obsessed with ALL things stationery, Lisa draws from her background in Fine Arts to help guide couples through the process of creating visually stunning and unique custom Invitations. Luxe paper combinations and clever beautiful designs literally make her squeal. You may have spotted her eye-catching, ever changing painted windows at the shop. She also instructs art classes at NSCAD – School of Extended Studies, and may be contacted directly to create beautiful custom chalkboard signs and modern calligraphy for your next event.

Kate van Gurp
Store Manager
Having first explored Duly Noted as a customer, Kate fell head over heels for the store and joined the team almost four years ago at the Brenton Street location. She is often the go-to lady when there are any questions about product and is always eager to help each of the multifarious of customers have a good visit. She has a passion for supplying locally and hand made product and makes some cards and paper-crafts herself. Kate also graduated DAL with a Bachelor of Community Design and is often thinking of ways to implement what she’s learned into her job. In the summer you can tell she’s working by looking for her bright green bike in front of the store, rain or shine.

How did Duly Noted Stationery get started, and what made you choose to pursue stationery design?
Duly Noted Stationery started in the owners (Nicole Smith and Cindy Midgley, sisters) apartment, doing mainly wedding invitations and personalized stationery. They starting creating stationery because there was really no place to get any custom made in Halifax. They filled a void and loved to do it.

Give us a little history about the shop, and where are you located?
Sisters Nicole and Cindy opened up their first brick and mortar shop on Quinpool Road about 11 years ago. Selling stationery, greeting cards and gift ware, they also were one of the only custom stationery shops in town. The business grew so much they decided to look for a new bigger location. That’s where we are now, 1459 Brenton Street. Our invitation selection has at least tripled since we’ve started here, the call for custom wedding invites in Halifax is going strong. We love working with all our clients and are excited every time a new file is started.

Where do you draw your inspiration from when it comes to wedding stationery design?
We draw inspiration from our clients, they all have such wonderful ideas and we love to build upon them. We also like to watch trends in the stationery and wedding industries. A great source of that, of course you know is Pintrest we also love checking out what other Independent shops are doing around the world.

What are some other paper products that wedding couples can incorporate into their wedding day, other than invites?
In our business we call it “Day of Stationery”, this is programs, menus, place cards, escort cards, table numbers, anything you can think of that you may need for the day of your wedding. We also do lots of Save The Date cards and Thank You cards.

What are your favourite wedding trends, colours and themes for the upcoming 2015 season?
We are obsessing over the letterpress style. Seeing graphics pressed into thick paper makes us all swoon. There is something about feeling the texture of the words under your fingers, it feels so enduring and long-lasting.
It seems that the typography style is ruling this year. Invites that don’t have a lot of other graphic elements other than text are a great way to feature some beautiful typefaces. There are different types for every style. This is a great way to create a beautiful invitation with just your words.
Gold is a very popular colour this year and for good reason, it is so versatile in stationery. It’s great as an accent or a main colour. Metallic can add a hint of glam but also works in rustic themes.

What are some of the “golden rules” for couples to follow when thinking about their wedding invites, menus, escort cards, etc.?
Time management is the biggest golden rule. We usually say to give yourself a month from start to finish for your wedding invitation suite to be completed. We also recommend to send your invites at least four months before your wedding date. That means you should be starting your invite process at least five months before your wedding. Giving yourself extra time will help relieve stress of short timelines. Another key thing to think about when you’re looking at quantities is that you only need one invite per household, many couples forget and think they need more than they really do. Starting to collect addresses early is always a good idea too.

What are some things that couples can have ready for their wedding stationery consultation?
Couples don’t really need anything when they come in. We can start from the very scratch with them. Bringing ideas, examples, quantities and a rough idea of their wording is always helpful but not necessary.

Do you ship your to other parts of the Maritimes and Canada?
We do ship to other parts of the Maritimes, Canada and anywhere that is requested. We actually do a lot of invitation suites from couples in Northern Canada.

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