At long last Annemie's wedding pics!

Beautiful Bride! We counted the days to see Annemie, the Elsje Designs studio manager, in her dress and it was indeed the most special moment ever...

All the table decor was carefully planned by Annemie and her mom. Every table had a collection of special vintage collectables, family heirlooms, old books, tiny plants in dainty pots, origami folded boxes.

Elsje Designs created these vintage style post cards for the guests to write their messages to the bridal couple.

Annemie and Mitch enjoying a special moment during the speeches.

The girls from Elsje Designs: Linnett, Regina, Leanne, Fransiena and Sarah.

Annemie and Mitch at Bosman's Crossing.

A tender moment...

Annemie's photographer was Lizelle Lotter, to see more of her work, please visit: http://www.lizellelotter.co.za/ - Well done Lizelle, we love your work!

A quick guide to an Order of Service wording

Nowadays, the wedding ceremony programme can really be in any form you’d like, from a brief description of the ceremony to a complete rundown of every detail, the program could include a brief summary of each member of the wedding party or even an explanation on how the couple met. Wedding program wording in its most basic form is used to explain the details of your ceremony to your guests.

At least each couple and each single guest should receive a wedding program as they enter the ceremony. Always be sure to have extras on hand, as you might need them. Generally, ushers will be responsible for handing out the programs. Children can also be great for handing out programs. Alternatively they may be placed at the entrance to the ceremony, or on seating or pews.

A typical guideline to follow for the order of elements on a traditional program usually has four parts:
Introduction; Ceremony order; Wedding party; Closure or special notes

Generally the introduction will include:
Names of the bride and groom; Day and date of the ceremony; Time; Location

The order of the ceremony will outline the various segments which include:
Prelude; Seating; Vows; Readings; Processional; etc.

This section lists all participants in the wedding. Use full names rather than nicknames and always use titles such as Miss, Ms. and Mr.

The wedding party should be listed in this order:
Parents of the Bride; Parents of the Groom; Grandparents of the Bride; Grandmothers of the Groom; Maid of Honor; Bridesmaids; Flower girls; Best Men; Groomsmen; Officiant; Pianist; Soloist; etc.

As for the final section, used for closure or a special note:
Thank your guests; Honor a deceased parent, friend or member of the family; On this day of happiness, we would like to remember those who are no longer with us, especially; End with a poem or quote; Include directions to the reception.

By using this guide as a starting point for your wedding order of service wording, you can create both an attractive and informative wedding ceremony program that will be treasured by all.

Transparency about negative blogging

We at Elsje Designs agree with Mack Collier (social media expert), when he comments on negative blogging: "Address them. This is always the best course of action. You can’t please all your customers all the time, but you CAN listen to them. Let them speak their peace, and see if they are trying to bring to your attention problems in your business processes that can be addressed and corrected."

Elsje Designs are aware that a client that visited us at the studio was very unhappy about their experience. This is certainly not how we would like our clients to feel towards Elsje Designs. We are addressing the issues that they have raised and view this as an opportunity to better our service and for improved transparency.

We apologize to Jason and Karina that you feel you did not receive the service which you deserve. Also a big thank you for helping Elsje Designs develop and learn what is important to our clients. We’re concerned because you’re concerned and the team at Elsje Designs would like to make things better.

We would like to use our blog as a tool to better understand our clients, and help them better understand our company. We would like to deal with any issue in a credible and transparent way, respecting and welcoming positive as well as negative feedback. This is also the reason why we request clients to complete the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire on the http://www.elsje.co.za/ website.

The bottomline is that sometimes things do go wrong, but most of the time we do things right! http://www.elsje.co.za/feedback.html.

Thank you again to all Elsje Designs clients for their continued support and inspiration.

Vintage Style Airline Ticket

Elsje and Leanne created this awesome old feel vintage travel ticket - complete with the boarding pass tear off! We loved creating something totally unique and never done before. We finished it off with a tiny wooden airoplane and cotton cord to give it a rustic feel.

What did the client have to say?
Liefste Elsje en Leanne
PERFEK!!!! Ek is blown away met die invitations!!!!! Julle weet natuurlik dat ek orals gesoek het na iemand wat dinge kan doen soos wat ek dit wil hê - en na so die 5de invitation company ontdek ek toe vir Elsje Designs!! Van die eerste view op die website, tot die vinnige response, tot die vriendelikheid en hulpvaardigheid as mens van plan verander - is ek nog elke keer meer blown away. En jong kan ek darem kieskeurig wees en nog boonop nie eintlik weet wat ek wil he nie. En met 'n paar telefoon gesprekke en emails het julle sommer dadelik my persoonlikheid en needs raakgesien en het julle my verstom met alles!

Die beste was Dieter se reply toe hy die eerste keer die invitations oopmaak Dieter: WOW WOW WOW die kaartjies is mooiste ever dis pragtig, dis die mooiste invitations EVER!!!
En wat 'n groot compliment - die man is nogals perfectionistic! WELL DONE LEANNE, ELSJE EN TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Baie dankie, ek kan nie eens begin vertel hoe gelukkig julle my gemaak het nie!!! Ek kan nie ophou praat van julle nie - nie totdat elke persoon weet hoe fantasties julle is nie!!!Weereens baie dankie - Julle is werklik die Beste en julle maak my die gelukkigste ooit!!!!! LiefdeAnere'

Annemie is excited to be a bride soon!

Annemie is getting married on 17 January 2009. We will miss her a lot. In her absence Elsje and Linnett will manage the studio while Leanne will be in charge of design and printing. Already we can't wait for Annemie to be back in the driving seat!

Currently Elsje and Annemie are working on fresh and awesome ideas for her wedding, so keep an eye open for further postings...

High Flyers in the Ideas Magazine

We are very exited about the latest Ideas Magazine (January/February 2009) with a feature on Elsje and other business women who talk about the challenges and the joys of starting up and running their own businesses! We hope you enjoy the article just as much as we do!


Also have a look out for Elsje Designs and the hottest new wedding trends in the SA Wedding Album Magazine on sale now! There is something for everyone.. from perspex to feathers in paradise!