Oh, wait, you mean I’m getting married one week from today? Gee. That snuck up on me fast!
The past few months, I’ve been giving you a behind-the-scenes peek at each of my wedding vendors, and I’m excited to present more info on Bliss & Bone, the custom wedding invitations service founded by Cindy and Carl Skanderup. The word “custom” barely sums up the immersive high-end wedding collateral service that Cindy and Carl provide you with: “couture” is a much better fit for Bliss & Bone.
We’ve been working with Bliss & Bone across the board on our wedding collateral: they designed not only our wedding website, save-the-dates and invitations (which are all from the Devoir collection), but also worked with our wedding planner Merryl Brown Events on programs, escort cards, place cards, menus and napkins. I can’t wait to show you all the finished results! (Seriously, they look amazing.)
I interviewed Cindy last week to find out how she and Carl got into the wedding business, what exactly a Bliss & Bone customer (you know, one who’s not a blogger) can expect, and to hear her take on DIY. (Surprise, surprise: she and I are on the same page on that one!)
What’s the story and inspiration behind Bliss and Bone?
It came about after doing our own wedding invitations. It seemed like a natural response from being a designer myself. We realized that there was a lack of items out there that appealed to our aesthetic. We wanted something unique and elegant that speaks to who we are as a couple.
Have you always been interested in weddings?
No, not at all! I never paid a single attention to anything wedding related until I was engaged. I was not the girl who dreamed of her “big day” at all. I was a little blown away as to how much I enjoyed the whole thing.
Do you think there had been a hole in the marketplace for truly custom wedding invitations like yours? Tell me a bit about what makes Bliss and Bone different.
There isn’t a hole for custom wedding invitations; it’s just that truly customizable invitations are hard to come by. The aesthetic is where the hole is. We use a modern and edgy approach by using mixed media: bringing in all the fabrics and layering them using different processes. It’s really about the materials that we use and how we apply them. We don’t stick to typical bridal inspiration and trends. We are inspired by other platforms, interiors, arts and fashion.
What’s the typical Bliss and Bone customer like? How involved do they get, or do they completely put themselves in your hands?
They’re frustrated, until they find us! That’s the common ground. They’re relieved when they find us – it’s like an, “Oh, we can’t believe we’ve finally found you, and something we like!” People are involved in a sense that they care about their stationary and paper goods. It’s a priority to them. They’re not hands on, they don’t want to do the DIY. They aren’t DIY at all. They are involved by not trying to make it themselves.
You and your husband Carl work together; tell me a little bit about each of your roles in the company. Is it wonderful or difficult working so closely with your husband (especially on a wedding line!)?
Working together as husband and wife is surprisingly great! We both have different roles. My role is design. I deal with the customers mainly, since I’m working so closely with them and understand what they want. Carl handles a lot of business, accounting and production. After it leaves my hands he takes over and deals with vendors. He really runs around the city, coordinating timing and pickups, quality control and essentially making everything into reality. We both do a lot of everything.
It is wonderful working so closely with Carl. There are moments that are tough but we kind of got into a groove and it’s fun. It’s nice to share something together like this. You get so invested in the business you started that it’s nice to have the person that you share your life with just as invested as you on an emotional level.
For our actual wedding, it was just me because we decided I was going to surprise him. He kept deferring to me when we were making the decisions about the wedding, and one day I just said, “How about I surprise you?” He said, “Great!” He’s exceptionally involved with all the design now though. I certainly ask for his opinion and feedback and he’s a great person to bounce ideas off of.
The economy has obviously been precarious these past few years, and the wedding magazines I’ve seen have many DIY/budget/etc features. Do you think there will always be space for people who are willing to spend on quality?
Yes, 100%. There will always be those people that want to spend money on quality. I think that just like with anything in life, everyone has his or her priorities when it comes to a wedding. Different couples like to focus on and put their money into different aspects: décor, food, florals, and design. There are definitely people who crave this part of a wedding and are willing to invest in it. There’s always going to be a space for DIY, but DIY has a certain aesthetic that doesn’t suit everyone. I hear that it’s on the way out right now.
Women are getting married later in life. We are busy, have established careers, and it all comes down to a matter of convenience and having that trustworthy partner to execute the quality for your wedding because you’ve got to keep your life going.
What sort of services and features does a Bliss and Bone client receive?
Full service! Some clients ask a lot, some not a lot, and we really work to tailor not only the product, but also the experience to each individual client: flowing with them, whatever that may mean, to accommodate them best. We have one client that is so busy that she only has time to talk on 8am on a Saturday morning so that’s when we talk to her. Other people don’t want to talk on the phone at all and just want to email, so we do that for them. This tailoring experience – making it work not only with their personal schedule but also with everything else – is something a Bliss and Bone client will definitely receive.
For more information on Bliss & Bone, including pricing and to order your own custom wedding invitations, visit their website here.
And here’s a peek at our Bliss & Bone wedding invitations, our save-the-dates, and our wedding website.