Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Erin Alexander Keefer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Erin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
The absolute largest challenge is the misinformation about how much it costs to purchase wedding invitations. Couples look online and see photos of these gorgeous wedding suites with all of the trimmings within an article that says invitations cost a few hundred dollars. Can they? Yes, but you’re not going to get that from a professional, even Minted can’t get you in that price range.
At current costs an average wedding suite costs $1.24 to mail, you add in the bells and whistles and that takes each invitation up to $1.52. Pair that with the average 100 invitations and you’re already looking at $152 and that’s if you’re doing an online reply. Mailed response cards add in another 78 cents and that means couples are paying $230 in postage alone for their invitations. Postage is something I’m sure the blogs and magazines aren’t considering when they are talking price but couples don’t know that. So they are already ballparking waaay too low for invitations and then on top of it aren’t taking into account the fact that these invitations actually have to make it to the guests.
The confusion these articles cause can mean the loss of potential couples and thereby profits. I’ve had some come to me asking for a proposal, walk away because it’s too expensive, and then come back again when they realize the internet is wrong and my pricing is on par with everywhere else. And this isn’t just a me thing, it’s a consistently complained about topic in my social media groups for those not only in the stationery business but the wedding industry as a whole. You can’t show couples photos from a million dollar wedding and show a budget of $75k alongside it and make them understand the two don’t match. It’s not fair to couples, most haven’t been married before, how would they know? When they find out the truth some can be heartbroken to know their wishes aren’t possible.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve loved art since I was a little kid, I grew up with Bob Ross and created art right beside him whenever he was on tv. I’m an elder millennial so I of course went through my marine biologist phase but after that wore off the only place I could really see myself was doing something artistic. I received my BFA with concentration in Graphic Design from Pennsylvania College of Art & Design in 2006 and moved back to Baltimore shortly thereafter to work for a newspaper.
At first I loved it, feeling like a grownup in my “corporate” job but then I got bored and began freelancing on the side. I opened an Etsy shop and began designing wedding invitations for friends and family and knew I would eventually end up there, wedding stationery was my end goal. After nearly ten years in the corporate world I walked out and got the freedom I wanted in time, creativity, and design.
My main focus is weddings but I market myself as a ‘designer for life’ meaning that I will be there for all of your events, big or small. I have quite a few couples who came to me for their weddings and now I design their Christmas cards and kids birthday invitations. It’s fascinating to me to watch families grow and change and to be able to help them along the way is a very special experience.
As far as my main focus I am hired to create a couples wedding invitation suite. Suite refers to all of the parts of an invitation, so not only the invitation itself but also the additional information cards, envelope liners, accessories such as ribbons and wax seals, all the way down to the envelopes, addressing, and postage. Most of my couples then have me create items for their actual wedding day, things like menus, escort cards, welcome signs, cocktail napkins, etc.
I believe one of the things that sets me apart from other stationers now, not as much ten years ago, but currently is that I am professionally trained in graphic design. I know all of the ‘rules’ of typography and design, and I understand when they can be broken. I am also an artist so I have the ability to paint and draw when necessary. I pair that with my knowledge of the wedding industry, from etiquette to trends to how to handle an MOB that is a little too involved.
As far as problems, I really hate that term when it comes to what I do. Couples don’t really have a problem unless it’s they can’t create their own invitations and I don’t see how that can be construed as a problem. I love working with couples to create the stationery of their dreams without blowing their budget. Going back to the industry-wide issue that people are unaware of how much invitations actually cost, I guess that is the problem I solve, finding the common ground between what a couple wants and what they can afford. In art school I was taught that inspiration can come from anywhere and so I keep my eyes open, I take in everything and I look for that inspiration. This can mean changing the rules and creating things that haven’t been done or evolving current techniques and trends so I can fully satisfy my couples.
What am I most proud of? Being true to myself. At the beginning I took on clients for the money, there were a lot of headaches and heartache as I worked on things I didn’t really like, things that weren’t my style, and couples who raised red flags. I did it all because I thought I had to, I was used to doing what I was told in corporate. As my business grew, I did too, and I learned that not every client is ideal and the money isn’t always worth it. I strive to only create pieces that I am proud of and that means saying no. If something isn’t my style or is out of my scope I politely decline. If someone raises a red flag I’m not going to pass immediately but I am going to dig a little deeper to make sure I’m not putting myself in a bad situation.
What am I least proud of? My inability to step away. I have two kids now (7 yo boy and 3 yo daughter) and I’ve gotten better at putting things aside and waiting until I have the time, but I’m also a mom who works from home and I have a difficult time making and keeping boundaries when it comes to my couples. If they email me at 3 am and I happen to be awake, I’m most likely going to email them back. I’m working on separating my personal and my business life but also my business is sooo personal to me that it can be very difficult to do so.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Asking for help, which I will admit, I still struggle with at times. I grew up with two military parents, both retired before I really have any memories, but their military service reflected on me. They also taught me that I could do anything. If I could do anything that meant I didn’t need to ask for help, I could do it on my own and I would figure it out.
As a solopreneur I don’t have coworkers so it wasn’t really people help I needed but more not taking on everything myself. That meant a lot of long hours and times where I was taking on tasks that I could pay people to do, or pay companies to create but I knew I could do it on my own and therefore I didn’t need them.
I eventually came to the realization that while I could do it all myself, and I wouldn’t be putting out as much money to do so, I was using up my free time and that comes at a price too. After that I started adding in my hourly charge to projects when I was pricing them out. If it is still cheaper for me to make them with my hourly added then it was worth it, if it is cheaper to have it made for me then that’s what I’ll do. I learned that I can do anything, just as my parents taught me, but that I don’t and shouldn’t have to.
One area I will never sub out is assembling invitation suites, something about fresh printing, ribbon wrapping, wax seal stamping…. it makes me so happy! But applying the postage? Nope, I’ve subcontracted that step out to my husband now. lol
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
The very first wedding suite I designed was for my college best friend the year after we graduated. She didn’t go to art school like me but we worked together at Gap Outlet. Anyway, she was getting married and I don’t even remember how it came about that I would do the invitations. Not sure if she asked me or if I offered or what, but I had so much fun designing them for her. It was at that point that I completely fell in love with the craft.
I had just begun my job at the newspaper at that time and while it could be fun it was monotonous. I literally did the same thing every day. I needed an escape, a different creative outlet, and then I found out about Etsy. I opened my shop and started designing stationery, back then weddings weren’t so big on Etsy and most things sold were physical items, not downloads. Stationery was fun but then digital became more of a thing and I started designing party invitations that people could buy, I’d customize, and send them a final file for printing. That’s where things got busier.
I also continued weddings for friends and family, a sister there, bestie there, cousin here, and each time I fell more and more in love with it all. Weddings are such an intimate time in peoples lives and I love getting to glimpse into that and be apart of their special day in even just a small way is a privilege.
As a decade at the paper closed in I was unhappy, I was bored and I was done with the job. At that point I was settled, I owned my house, had a great group of friends, amazing family, and an incredible boyfriend (who later would become my husband). With their encouragement the right time happened and I was free.
But then I got really scared, in the past all of my clients had been personal, they all had found me, how did I find them!? Thankfully those friends came in handy! One was a wedding planner, one was a wedding photographer and they helped me get my feet wet. I learned how to to work with couples that I didn’t already know. They taught me about the industry, they pointed me to resources for not only weddings but also to growing my business. They forced me, yes forced, I’m an introvert at heart, to attend some wedding industry mixers and I got my name out there.
They also taught me things that I wouldn’t think of as a newbie. My first escort card order for my planner friend I didn’t alphabetize the cards and she had to do it on the wedding day. It had never occurred to me that it would need to be done at all let alone that I should have been the one to do it. She was so kind as she explained how she wanted to ring my neck that morning but I learned and thankfully I learned it from her, someone who would forgive me! My photographer friend taught me about what she and fellow photographers love to get from stationers, each couple now receives a photography set of whatever they order with extra details like matching ribbon pieces and/or extra wax seals. The packet makes it more difficult for the couples to forget and makes it easier on the photographer because they have everything they need for their details shots.
From there I met more people in the industry and social media became a bigger thing. I continue to sell on Etsy but I also have my own website where yet another friend gave me a hand with his specialty in SEO. Every few years I reach out to wedding planners I’ve worked with in the past and try to find at least two local to me that I haven’t worked with before and send them a box of on brand goodies. Last year I sent a notebook and pens along with candy, coffee, and nuts as a “before, during, and after a wedding” theme. These boxes also include some information about me, my business, and of course samples of my work. These have helped me branch out, meet new planners and event spaces and bring in some of their couples.
Social media has been helpful, but I do tend to fall into the cracks there. I take photos of me actually working constantly, especially when I’m painting or in assembly mode, but then I forget to post them, I get caught up in the awkwardness of trying to write an engaging caption and then I don’t post. Pinterest however doesn’t need engaging captions so I’m pretty decent posting there and have gained clients that way.
As a SAHWM (stay at home working mom, I don’t even know if that acronym is a real thing or something I made up) I’m not looking to scale up too much. My average number of couples is about ten a year and I’m comfortable there. Would I like more? Sure, but for now my kids are little and we don’t want to have to pay a daycare. This allows me to be there for them and still do what I love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ealexdesigns.com
- Instagram: @EAlexDesigns
- Facebook: @EAlexDesigns
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-keefer-592a386/
- Other: https://EAlexDesigns.Etsy.com
Image Credits
Ashton Kelley Photography
Audra Wrisley Photo
Laurel Lane Photography