We caught up with the brilliant and insightful West Foglia a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi West, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

I’m a phone person. Or even a zoom person? When it comes to making reservations, I’ll always call before checking an app. I try to treat my clients/brides the same way. It really blows my mind that so many wedding vendors will resort to email or etsy chat (cringe!) to gather information from their clients. I’ve found that getting on the phone almost always leads to a more successful project and often times results in getting me repeat business or expanding the scope of the initial inquiry. It’s a great way for me to explain more about my services and I think brides enjoy being able to tell me about their vibe, aesthetic, or even totally digress and chat about their fiancé and love story. Sometimes it even leads to random connections we would have never found through email. For example, I just completed a wedding for a bride that found me through Etsy and we discovered that our husbands work for the same company (different departments but still took us both by surprise!).

West, 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 like to think of myself as the “paper girl” when it comes to weddings. And I’ve been “pushing the envelope” for a few years now. Pun intended. I specifically specialize in calligraphy and watercolor stationery pieces. I cater mostly to brides for their wedding or those big events leading up their special day.

I hand paint everything from florals, pets, or food & drink items to put on escort cards, crests, invitations, signage, and especially menus.

I actually got my start painting wedding menus and even though I offer a wide variety of services, menus are always my favorite. I painted my first menu back in 2017 (I think). I put a listing on etsy and to my (huge) surprise, someone bought it. It was a complete surprise. Never expected it to become my career but wow, Im glad it did. I’ve learned a lot along the way, and I’ve refined my skill set, but I’ll never forget that first sale.

I don’t remember how I became inspired to post that listing but I’ve always loved the notion of gathering over a meal. And for me, there’s something romantic and sentimental about your first meal as husband and wife. Don’t you think?

There’s practicality in custom menus as well. Your guests appreciate knowing what’s in store for them and having a hand painted piece of artwork on each place setting… it adds a huge element of interest and dimension to your tables. Lately, the majority of my brides have been combining menus & escort cards too. It eliminates that extra piece of paper to track as a bride and frees up real estate for florals, food, and drinks.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Instagram has transformed my business. Once I learned how to leverage it in a professional capacity, my sales and stats on Etsy skyrocketed. I wouldn’t say I have an huge following but you wouldn’t know it from the state of my calendar or business.

I’ve learned that putting my face online along with my voice is the key to social media success (at least for me). So many people will post a picture of themselves with text or a cute caption. I’ve learned that in order for people feel like they’ve connected with you, they need to actually hear you. A lot. But in an interesting or informative way. So posting reels or stories with my face and voice (with a story or tip) has been the big game changer.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

I used to think that the best way to get business was to post, share, etc. (And it might be for some)… but recently I cold called. On social media. Is that cringy? Oh well. I did it – and it worked!

I dropped a comment on a company’s post, publicly declaring how much I loved them and hope to work with them one day in the future. I kept it short, sweet, but I definitely “shot my shot” so to say.

To my major (and I do mean MAJOR) surprise, they sent me a DM and agreed to let me work on their next project. Did I faint? No, but I did immediately call my husband to make sure I read that correctly.

I’m making a dinner menu for their next big (sold out) event and I’m still pinching myself about it. Here’s hoping I can manifest this again with another dream brand…

Contact Info:

• Website: MenubyWest.Etsy.com
• Instagram: @menu_by_west

Image Credits
Brie Thomason Jamye Chrisman