Stationary VS Stationery

There has been a battle brewing in the wedding and events industry that some of you might not know about. It is something that has been seen by some as a common mistake and a major faux pas by others. So much so that memes and products have popped up addressing the issue.

Do I have you at the edge of your seat? Are you dying to know what I'm talking about? I'll give you a clue below...

This great pillow created by Elizabeth at Pomp Creative can be purchased on her ETSY Shop. Click the image to purchase now.

That's right. The issue that has been plaguing countless Facebook Groups and subjects of frustration amongst vendors has been how the word stationary/stationery is written when used in the context of invitations and paper goods. Just in case you don't know, stationary is when someone or something is completely still; not moving. Stationery is used to describe products used for writing such as paper, pens, pencils, and ink. It has actually gotten some folks pretty upset when one mistakenly uses stationary instead of stationery.

You may be reading this and thinking, "These people are nuts for being offended that I mistakenly misspelled the word. It's a common and honest mistake." Well, I mean wouldn't you be slightly peeved if someone misspelled your name? Truth be told, I made this mistake in our business within our first year. Needless to say after I began to learn more about this industry and what a privilege it was to create these treasured paper goods, I quickly made the change to the correct spelling of my occupation.

Any who, for those of you passing through and thinking this is silly, here's some expert food for thought.  If not, just remember recheck that spelling before you send that email or social media status. 

Change is Coming...

Yes, yes, I know...I'm getting Game of Throne Fans excited by my blog title. Truth be told, neither Gus or I are into Game of Thrones (don't throw your computer to the wall just yet), but felt like this title, in a sense borrowing the sentiment of #winteriscoming, was really appropriate.

Back to why we've taken you away from your regularly scheduled social media scroll break. We have some news and it's about time we told you about it. We have been in business for almost 6 years. Trust me when I say that there has been a lot of blood, sweat, and hard work (okay okay...tears too) that have gone into everything we've done since starting on this journey in 2011. But like any good movie plot, change is immenent young padawan (total Star Wars reference...look it up). 

Change can be scary, but so needed. After taking some time and reevaluating everything from our branding, logo design, website, and presence in general, I think I should tell you about some changes that will be taking place in our company.

OUR BRANDING AND LOGO DESIGN

Although it went through a slight redesign, the logo you see today was as it was at the beginning of our company; from the text written in my hand writing and the fountain pen that many of you have probably been puzzled about. Our branding elements like the wood background and accents that were purely from a photo taken of our dining room table (that we still have). The electric blue color throughout our branding was a random idea that I thought was needed. 

All of this imagery just doesn't feel right anymore.

OUR WEBSITE

When the needs of your project changes, so do the tools in your tool belt. Our website has always been a great tool for our us to communicate not only what our business does but who we are. We have been brainstorming and making moves to provide more services to benefit the experience that you, the client, will be receiving. This means we need to expand and change the way our website is coded, shaped, and make sure we are using to its fullest potential.

....which brings me to our biggest change....

OUR ROLES IN THE COMPANY

As a lot of you may know, Gus and I work as a husband and wife team. Although we have probably mentioned it in conversation, we haven't specified our roles in the company (which is totally our fault). We both feel it's important to be totally transparent with y'all if we haven't discussed it before.

I, Monique, handle all of the day to day work from answering emails, putting together invoices, and running our social media accounts. I also am the only designer and customer service representative that will not only walk you through the process but be a source of knowledge and comedic relief when things aren't always going right in your planning. 

Gus is responsible for our back end. He is the one that keeps track of our accounting and finance department. Gus is my biggest supporter and has been known to be my minion when in need of another set of hands to complete an order.

For these reasons and others, Gus is taking a step back in terms of presence in our social media accounts and other aspects of the business. So, in a sense, it will be I, Monique, that you will hear from and interact with on a daily basis. But don't freak out, our relationship is fine. I'm still going to include the emotionally, sappy posts that I know you guys love seeing (and I love sharing) about us as a couple. We just want to be clear on why Gus won't be as visual in the future.

After watching YOU PANIC A LITTLE, LET ME EASE YOUR MIND BY TELLING YOU WHAT WE AREN't changing...

OUR MISSION

I genuinely feel like our mission is to serve couples by helping them create beautiful, custom invitations and paper goods. There is a reason why a light bulb went off in my head after our wedding. Ultimately, WE WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO STRUGGLED DESIGNING THEIR DREAM INVITATIONS. So many of you are in that struggle right now (or were until we helped make that wish come true). You should be able to have a design you love and treasure as something that tells the epic story of your prequel. Like Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars, your children and their children's children will want to know the details of how you two came together. Your invitation is a great way to help tell that story.

With all of that said, I hope you keep along with our journey to see whats in the future for Only One Mark, Inc. Change will come along slowly (or all at once), but one thing remains: our mission to create your dream stationery for your big day. 

Until next time!

Finding Community

About a month or so ago, I was talking to a vendor friend about a local group that met once a month with the goal to help one another with their businesses. As usual, I was skeptical. Right now in the wedding industry, there are vendors who will actually go through high lengths to bring their competition down. For example, some vendors type terrible reviews on their competitor's review page on event review sites to ruin their chances at booking couples. Sounds like it's straight out of a movie right?! But this is happening every where and unfortunately small, flourishing businesses end up taking major hits because of these shenanigans. Small businesses also take a hit because "big box or big name" companies within the industry have a monopoly on certain venues and locations throughout the USA.

Needless to say, I was interested to see what it was all about. The group's name is called Tuesday's Together and it is part of a national group called The Rising Tide Society. Their belief is that instead of competing against one another, we should all help each other and grow as a community. 

After our first Tuesday's Together meeting and interacting with the community online through Facebook, I couldn't be any more positive that this was one of the best decisions we have ever made as a business and as people. As Stationary vendors, we don't really get to interact with other event or wedding vendors for a specific client. We may reach out to the photographer of a client's event to hopefully get some shots of our product or even a wedding planner to make connections. Otherwise, we are all by ourselves. 

(Come on...tell me you didn't sing the lyric!! You forced me to do this.)

Now that you get the picture, let's get back to the point of my post. We all desperately need community. Whether it is with people from work, home, school, you name it. We are not meant to live alone. Like it says in Proverbs 27:17, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." We are meant to live in community and I'm glad we found one that we can turn to when we have happy, sad or challenging moments in our business. Even if it means using Periscope to include us at a meeting because we can't make it.

Tuesday's Together Group for August! 

Until next time!

As September Rolls In...

As September rolls in, I'm really looking forward to getting out some awesome new designs. We are also excited to be participating in the Thalatta Estate Bridal Expo on Sunday, September 27th. Some of you may remember that our first Bridal show was at Thalatta Estate, where we met some of the best clients we could have ever asked for. :D We can't wait to go again and meet some more fabulous couples and vendors. Come stop by and say "Hi". We promise not to hug you, unless requested. Being outside in Miami weather for a few hours will leave us feeling a little sweaty, but its worth it. LoL

I also started reading a book by Lara Casey called Make It Happen. There has been (and still will be) so much change in the next few months for Only One Mark, Inc. and Gus and I personally. Good and sad (if that makes sense). I have reached the point where you just need an encouraging push to take a step into the unknown. I feel like we are right on the dotted line before some great changes and I can taste it. With that being said, I'm freaking out a little over it. I am definitely someone that has anxiety over change and the unknown. It might be as bad as my fear of the Halloween section at most stores...but we don't have to talk about that at the moment. For right now, just keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I hope to have some great news to share soon. :) Back to the book, I will definitely let you know what I think of it once I finish. So far, I'm liking it.

Make It Happen by Lara Casey

I'm also jumping onto a Calligraphy Bootcamp with Boxwood Avenue! I'm really excited because although I can "sketch" pretty calligraphy on chalkboards and such, I definitely don't consider myself to be a calligraphist. And did I forget to mention that it is completely FREE? Wish me luck as I make time to sit and learn this art method!

Keep up with us on Social Media to keep up to date with all of our day to day moments and sneak peaks of our gorgeous, custom designs. 

Until Next Time!