Buying local is treated almost as a favor to the vendor. Don’t get me wrong, my business thrives on local customers, and I appreciate the business beyond measure. That being said, I like to think that they, in return, are in a unique position to receive superior service as a result of buying local, and that is a huge focal point of my business. I want to make sure every customer experiences pleasant, communicative service and feels like I went above and beyond to help attain that. Local buyers make it even easier for me to do so!
I recently did a wedding envelope gig for a woman here in Houston. Originally it was supposed to be 140 envelopes, and I’d have 3 weeks to do them. That’s a pretty reasonable time frame to expect a job that large to take. Alas, even the best laid plans. Suddenly, the invitations were a number of weeks behind schedule. She had to send them back for reprinting multiple time. First the invitations, then the envelopes, then the envelopes again, then the envelopes again. Suddenly, we were down to 10 days ’til her desired send off, and she was going to be on vacation when the envelopes arrived. We figured out a way to have the invitation designer send the envelopes directly to me, but still. Yikes!
I was able to finish them 2 days early, all the while, communicating with her regularly. Because I was local, we were able to meet up at a local coffee shop, Catalina Coffee, for our exchange, both saving her shipping costs and total days until the envelopes were in her hands. A few days later, she realized she wanted to add two more people to the list of outgoing invitations. Because I was local, I was able to offer to have them in her hands in under 24 hours. This would have been impossible had I not been local.
Now, some brides are really, really organized. They’ve had their guest lists planned for months, and more power to you if you’re one of them! I’m engaged right now and I tell ya what. Between work and some big life changes that are around the corner, I’m going to mix some things up in the planning of my own wedding. With this in mind, I’ll be considering my service providers very carefully to ensure I have the lowest stress, most hands-on, and simplest pathway to the altar!
Calligraphy by Danielle 