I have been so looking forward to sharing this feature with you today. One of the reasons I started Festival Brides all those years ago, was because I wanted to create a platform where I can share unique, talented and exciting wedding suppliers with couples planning bohemian, festival and outdoor weddings. Suppliers who have a huge amount of passion for what they do and a drive to better their business with every tick of the clock. Suppliers like Julia Eastwood – Illustrated Wedding Stationery.
Like me with Festival Brides, Julia began her gorgeous stationery business off the back end of planning her own wedding. With a background in design and graphic illustration, it felt very natural for her to design her own wedding invitations and enjoyed the process so much that Julia Eastwood was born! Since then the business has grown from a one man band to a business of 5 and you can see why from the gorgeous images below.
Julia describes her style as…
a bit boho and rustic in equal measure and unashamedly romantic
and we couldn’t agree more. We adore her designs. They are absolutely beautiful and we have no doubt in our minds that you will agree!!!
We asked Julia a few questions about her stationery business, her design style, what you can expect if you were to book with her and all of the different stationery options you have.
Look out for her Wildflower and Highland Autumn Collections. We love all of her pieces but these two are our favourites for sure.
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
A little bit about me…. I’m married to Gary, and am mum to Lottie and Archie (Archie is a 12 year old very pampered cat). I’m starting to freak out that I will be 40 next year and am also very humbled by the incredible support I’ve had for my little business. I’ve been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember….in 2001 I graduated with First Class Honours in Graphic Illustration and from there spent 6 years designing for an Advertising agency followed by 5 years teaching. I’ve been building my business for 7 years now and every year it still feels brand new and exciting…onwards and upwards!
If you had the chance to go to any music festival, which one would it be?
It’s a classic but probably the best; Glastonbury. Being a Yorkshire girl I’ve done Leeds more times than I can remember and I’ve also travelled abroad for festivals (Benicassim was my fave) but not yet got to Glastonbury. I’ll make it, even if I’m a grandma in my wellies when I do!
What made you decide to start your beautiful stationery business?
I first started to think about setting up my business in around 2011 when I was planning my own wedding. Having an illustration and design background creating my own wedding stationery felt a natural fit and it turned out I loved creating the illustrations and designs more than I had imagined! At the time I was Course Leader for Graphic Illustration in post compulsory education and the workload and pressure was increasing year on year, so, in 2012, I took a deep breath and made the leap to set up my own business. It wasn’t easy – I had £200, an ironing board for a desk in my Mum and Dads spare room, a stool my mother in law gave me and an A3 printer, but slowly and surely I’ve managed to forge a strong little business. In 2016 I moved into a small space at Croft Myl which is probably the best business decision I’ve made. Vicky and Brian, the owners, have been so supportive, and really enabled my business to grow. Three years and two studio moves later, I now have a lovely big studio there with space for my growing team. Only a year into being self-employed our beautiful daughter Lottie arrived on the scene and I really discovered what it’s like trying to juggle being a Mum with running a business, I’m nearly 7 years in and I still don’t think I’ve mastered it! But what it made me realise was that there simply is not enough flexible work options out there and so I’ve developed an ethos that each member of my team be able to work flexibly – whether that’s because they are a Mum, Dad or retired…we support each other to keep all of the plates spinning!
How would you best describe your design style?
I’d say my design style is a little bit boho and rustic in equal measure, and unashamedly romantic!
Tell us a little bit more about your collections and the design process behind them?
When I begin work on a new collection I tend to start with a very vague / loose idea of the style and theme I am going for and then see what happens. I just start drawing and painting and see what appears, it’s quite an organic process. I’m not sure if it can be attributed to being creative or just disorganised! When I’ve created sketches and water colour paintings I scan all in and start to create the compositions in Adobe Photoshop. I’m not what you would call a minimalist, so I usually spend a day or two going wild composing and then a few days later, spend another day or two stripping the designs back and refining. When I’ve created illustration work I am happy with, that’s when I begin to really look at the wedding theme the work would suit and selecting fonts and invitation formats which would suit that theme. I then create all the finishing touches in Adobe Illustrator.
When ordering stationery with us it will be myself who creates all proofs and works with you to ensure they are perfect prior to printing. From there the artwork will be passed to my in house team, who are very much family, although not all in the traditional sense.
In 2018 I invested in our very own printing press, industrial guillotine and creasing machine which means we now have full control over the finished quality and timescales. My Dad, Chris has joined me as my Print Manager, running the press. Just when he thought he could put his feet up and relax, I persuaded him out of retirement to set up the printing press and he’s now become a permanent fixture! We run 350gm luxury textured card stock through the press which is all sourced within the UK and are currently in the process of testing a recycled version. I’m really hoping it works. We went plastic free with our packaging last year so if we can use sustainable materials in the products too that would be fantastic.
After stationery has been printed it will be hand finished by Natalie. Natalie works in the studio as a Stationery Maker and I’m thrilled to have her with me. I’ve known Bobs (as she is known to me…long story…) since we met at play school some 38 years ago (!) and the most important thing I can tell you about her is that she has the kindest heart of anyone I’ve met in my entire life. Your stationery is in good hands!
Last but not least are Aneta and Julie. Aneta is my most fabulous Mum who runs the accounts (and I would be lost without her) and Julie who runs social media, the website and answers enquiries. Julie is my beautiful friend who had her babies at the same time as me, we’ve got each other through many sleepless nights!
We see you were awarded highly commended at the 2018 British Wedding Awards. That’s amazing! Can you tell us a bit more about it?
It was a total shock! At the time I was still a one man band in my first teeny studio, illustrating, designing, printing, hand finishing and packing all by myself and I was up against some really great companies, so I really didn’t expect to get anywhere. The night itself was amazing, it was held at The Royal Horseguards in London and was really beautiful. I’d love to go again and win outright, that would be amazing!
When it comes to designing new collections, where do you draw your inspiration from?
I’m very typical of a Graphic Designer in that I am a bit of a sponge for everything going on around me, soaking up not only what is going on in the wedding industry but fashion, interiors and art. I can spend literally hours on pinterest! But, I’m a little bit guilty of not focusing too much on trends and just designing collections that I quite fancy doing because I think I’ll like them. As I grow my business it’s something I’m making a conscious effort to work on!
What stationery trends are set to be big in 2020?
We are seeing a big rise in orders of envelope liners, which I love because I always think they really finish a suite off and give a sense of luxury. We are also seeing a leaning towards our ‘Wildflower’ collection and ‘Highland’ collection.
What’s your best piece of advice for couples when it comes to choosing their wedding stationery?
Oooooo I have two big ones! Remember you only need one invite per household not person…it’s a game changer with your budget! And the second would be time, particularly ‘on the day’ items. Ensure you order no later than 4 weeks before the big day (although ideally 6) to leave time for design, proofing, amendments, printing and hand finishing. I always prefer to dispatch ‘on the day’ pieces no later than 2 weeks before the big day – it means I can sleep easy!
Finally, what’s your life quote/motto at Julia Eastwood?
A quote was actually the inspiration for our logo. It comes from a chain my Nanna wore around her neck everyday with her front door key on (she was quite a character!). The chain was a plain old chain from a hardware store with a feather key-ring attached to it – the feather has etched onto it:
‘do the thing you think you cannot do’
It’s completely priceless to me. When my Nanna passed away I wore this around my neck every single day too, for 5 years. But the key attached this time was for my class room door. I tried to pass the same ethos onto my students (judging by the amazing things they’ve gone on to achieve I think I might just have done it.) My Nanna taught me many things; quite a few (rude) Irish songs, how to pop chewing gum and the many uses for sticky back plastic. But most of all she taught me about real proper forever love. I put my heart and soul into our little business, so it seems fitting that my Nanna be part of it, if only as a feather.
Julia Eastwood is a member of our Festival Wedding Directory. To read more on her stunning collections, please visit her listing: Julia Eastwood | Illustrated Wedding Stationery or visit her website: https://julia-eastwood.com/
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