We recently connected with Jewelie Rhodes and have shared our conversation below.

Jewelie, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

A client was referred to me for an invitation suite. I talked to the wedding planner who told me specific things the bride wanted in her invitation. When she reached out she sent a few examples of what she liked. They were all acrylic invitations which at the time I didn’t do. I designed an invitation which she loved and we moved forward. After everything was complete I sent her a photo of the final product, she lived out of state. She messaged me she hated the invitation. She couldn’t see her wedding ring in the small photo that was included on the invitation but she could in the digital design I sent. I tried to explain why a photo of a photo would not be as clear as in person but it didn’t sway her. I gave a full refund on a completed wedding suite, printed envelopes, and all. She went with another vendor and purchased acrylic invitations. I learned two important lessons: first, listen to the bride, she knows what she likes. Had I discussed with her that her inspo photos were different from the style I would design we could have parted ways from the get-go. Second, I didn’t have a contract in place to protect me and my clients. This left me vulnerable to losing time and product costs. I now have a contract that benefits both parties. I felt like a failure to my client, she would not be able to get her invitations out on time. I felt like a failure as a business owner, I was out hours of time and hundreds of dollars. Ultimately, it has made me more aware of what my clients wants so we can both be happy in the end.

Jewelie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve loved creating from a young age. My mother and grandmother were both very crafty and taught me many skills. I started my journey in the wedding industry as a florist when I was in high school, my mom had me shadow a local florist and learn the trade from her, and eventually, I was hired. I was then a stay-at-home mom of five children. During the time my children were growing, I took opportunities to do craft fairs selling artificial or dried arrangements, making corsages or boutonnieres for proms, and I started doing party and wedding planning which included planning the event, making invitations, decorating, and the like for friends and family. I also started teaching middle school part-time as a Home Ec, Life Skills, Health, Yearbook, and Art teacher. During Covid lockdown, I began water-coloring (something I’d done in the past but had put aside for years). I turned my watercolors into digital greeting cards and party supplies and opened an Etsy shop. Designing the invitations for my site became my favorite part. I transitioned my business to reflect my love of invitation design and started working with a wedding planner. I create custom invitations specific to the clients’ needs. I offer full-service design, printing, and mailing, or if they need something more affordable, I can design a digital image for them to print on their own. The bonus of my business is clients can have a custom design at any price point. I have specialty services such as watercolor designs of the venue, wax seals, vellum overlays, embellishments, and more. I want to make sure my client is completely satisfied with the outcome of their items and will work with them on every detail. I can then create wedding signage, menus, table numbers, and thank you cards that coordinate with their invitations for a cohesive event. I still have my Etsy shop with greeting cards and am hoping to have a website with my wedding invitations soon (most of my requests come from wedding planners or through social media). The best thing about my work is seeing a beyond-satisfied client who wants to work with me again.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

One of the biggest hurdles I faced when I started wedding invitations was printing the envelopes. Most printing companies have set options (fonts, placement, designs, colors) for envelope printing. I wanted envelopes where the fonts matched the invitation, where I could have designs on the envelope and such. Printing on home printers left creases on the envelopes, smears, or they wouldn’t pull through the feeder correctly. Most local print shops will not print on envelopes, especially the small A1 size needed for reply cards. I purchased multiple printers until I found one that prints envelopes perfectly. It also allows me to print the invitations so now I can print the entire wedding suite without using an outside print company. I’m able to do the entire wedding suite in-house. This has been a game changer as I found ink color discrepancies between vendors and had multiple reorders on invitations not printed to my satisfaction. Now, all items are printed on the same printer so the ink matches throughout the suite.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

As a new business in an oversaturated industry, I was concerned that my skills wouldn’t be noticed or needed. Finding the right wedding planners to work with has been the best source for new clients. They know they can trust my brand for their couples and I get a steady stream of work, not only with invitation suites but with all the extra details like signage and other needs for the wedding day. The wedding industry requires many vendors with specialized skills. Wedding planners bring us all together and we can then be advocates for each other as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @theprintedjewel
• Facebook: theprintedjewel
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/theprintedjewel www.zazzle.com/store/theprintedjewel