Archives: November 2010

I’m always thrilled to come across vendors is the wedding biz who are full of passion for what they do – in the wedding industry it is not such a rare thing.  Today’s interview is with Pamela – the owner of Papier Gourmet - who discovered a passion for all things paper while planning her own wedding.  Surprised by her new infatuation, she began working in a stationery store part time … and eventually took over the business!

Photo Credits: www.andunlimited.com and www.sharynpeavey.com

How long have you been in business?
The store was opened in 1996 by its original owner and we bought the store from her in July 2004.

What inspired you to start your business?
I’ve always had a love for all things paper even though I don’t have an art or graphic design background. I really fell in love with stationery and invitation design when I planned my wedding in 2002-2003. I loved looking at invitations and found it very hard to narrow down what my own would look like as I loved everything! We ultimately came to Papier Gourmet to order our invitations and had a wonderful experience working with and getting to know the former owner. After we were married in August 2003, I started working at Papier Gourmet one Saturday a month both to help the owner out, as well as to get a feel for what the stationery world was all about. I had dreams of someday leaving my career as an Epidemiologist at the Maine Department of Health (I have a Master’s degree in Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics…totally different from invitation design and running a small business!) and opening my own stationery store. Little did I know that when Papier Gourmet went up for sale the following spring, that I would leave my job, take a leap of faith and become a stationery store owner!

Tell us why you think your business is successful.
I think Papier Gourmet is successful because I’ve been able to carve out a niche as being Maine’s premier fine stationery store by offering a wide selection of high quality stationery and invitation lines combined with personal, attentive service. We have a large customer base, many of who I know on a first name basis and see regularly in the store. Even with the multitude of stationery & invitation websites these days, people still want to actually touch and feel the paper, see the quality of printing in person and receive personal guidance on wording and etiquette.

What makes your business unique?
We offer custom-design and in-house printing services on-site giving us the flexibility to print invitations, announcements and stationery in as little as a few days for all special occasions such as save the dates, wedding invitations, bridal & baby showers, rehearsal dinners, birthday and anniversary parties, ceremony programs, placecards, menus and so forth. No other stationery store in our area has such capabilities or provides the level of quality product and services as we do.

Is there a particular niche you target?
Whereas about half of our business is wedding-related, we target couples (& their mothers who are often involved in the planning) who are planning weddings by attending bridal shows, sending out promotional wedding mailers to couples registered with the Maine Wedding Association and TheKnot.com, email blasts to our ever-expanding email list and regularly updating the Papier Gourmet blog and Facebook page.

What is your company’s philosophy when working with wedding couples?
Our philosophy when working with wedding couples is to make the whole process as easy and as enjoyable as possible. We like to get to know our couples by hearing about their plans for their big day so that we can help ensure their invitation both sets the tone for their day as well as reflects their style as a couple. At the initial bridal consultation (usually a two-hour appointment), we have couples casually flip through our custom wedding albums at their leisure in our comfortable meeting space and provide quotes for the invitation suites they are interested in. This allows an opportunity for couples to price out a variety of invitations before narrowing down their final choice.

How do you help couples customize their weddings?
Depending on the nature of a couples’ wedding, we are able to customize their wedding stationery trousseau to suit their particular needs for their wedding day whether incorporating a particular color-scheme, design based on the wedding location, or printing corresponding menus, table numbers, favor tags, ceremony programs, thank you cards, etc.

At what point in the planning process do you typically work with couples?
We generally recommend for a couple to start working with us (for either Save the Dates or invitations) once they have ‘the big stuff’ figured out – when/where, guest list, color scheme and style – as all of those can play a role in selecting an invitation. The invitation should convey the formality of the event and also be a reflection of the couple’s taste and style. It’s important to know the number of guests so that an accurate price quote can be provided during the browsing stage since price can often be a factor when selecting an invitation. Also, it is important to know any additional information you may need to provide to your guests, such as accommodations or other wedding-related events, so that such additional pieces can also be included in a price quote so there are no surprises and the couple can accurately account for all their wedding stationery needs in their budget.

As a prominent wedding vendor in your area, are there other local vendors you would recommend to our brides and grooms?
Most definitely! There are many great wedding vendors we have had the pleasure of working with including:

Sharyn Peavey Photography
Minott’s Flowers
Compositions
Maine Season’s Events
Buttercup Cupcakes

See more from Papier Gourmet below or hope on over to the website …

Photo Credit: Sharyn Peavey Photography

Photo Credit: Sharyn Peavey Photography

Photo Credit: Mark Davidson