Featured Vendor: Astrid Mueller of Champagne Promises
Astrid
"Anne and Peter" Design
Fully Personalized Invitation "Celine and Armin"
Astrid specializes in wedding illustrations for the bride who is looking for a unique way to personalize her wedding. She creates a unique image for the bride and groom, which can consist of a stylized illustration of the bride and groom, of their wedding location or of several illustrations that reflect their own unique love story…. she can also create further products which all feature their design – from stationery to cake toppers, favors, drink coasters for a bridal party or even luggage tags– the sky is the limit. Champagne Promises is based in the US, and works with vendors in NYC, as well as other notable areas. Our quality-control/distribution center is based on the East Coast, while the headquarters is based on the West Coast. Be sure to visit Astrid’s website and follow her on Twitter.
What inspired you to start your company?
I am inspired by the female elegance, and have been designing for international women’s magazines for several years now, with my Swiss-based company, PotatoMammaDesign.com. A designer colleague in Switzerland once asked me to illustrate a wedding invitation of one of her clients. This led me to meet the wedding planner of this client – and from there a continuous collaboration evolved – she has been referring numerous couples to me since then. I love designing for brides! It is great fun for me to get to know the couples and hear about their love story, then develop a unique design for them. So, when I was looking at growing my business, my business coach recommended that I should take this passion to a new level and start a separate company, focusing on wedding illustrations.
What wedding trends are you currently loving?
I’m seeing a lot of longing for new unique ideas by the brides – and a need for personalization – every bride wants her day to be special and uniquely “them”. It seems while some years ago, weddings in the US were mostly traditional, now brides dare to add some new, modern touches. I just love to consult them on this – through my network of high-end wedding professionals and product manufacturers, I can recommend unique accessories to the bride (all featuring their wedding illustration by Champagne Promises), product ideas and materials that match their dream wedding story – hearing a bride’s happy and surprised outburst when being presented with such an idea makes me very happy in return! For example, I just had a client that used a celebrity name for them in their wedding – this had to be explained to the guests. The bride wasn’t sure how to do it, and I suggested that a wedding poet that I work with could create a poem for them, which would be reflected in the wedding favor tags that I was creating for them. She was thrilled!
What wedding planning advice would you give to engaged couples?
I’m not a wedding planner, so I won’t go out on a limb with this one – but from my heart I’m giving this advice: Don’t try to do everything that everyone tells you to do. Instead, do what makes YOU happy – this is your special day, and you want to remember it as your own unique celebration of love.
What do you love most about your job?
When I can make brides happy! The other day a couple told me that they still admire their wedding cake topper, which I had made for them, with their illustration. Now it adorns a special place in their living room and reminds them of their wedding day whenever they look at it.
What are your favorite wedding websites and/or blogs?
http://itsajaimething.com/
All things beautiful http://mcscanzano.blogspot.com/
http://weddingchicks.com/
http://bklynbrideonline.com/
http://www.thebrokeassbride.com/
http://orangeandblossom.com/
http://www.bridaltweet.com/
And many more….
