Yay! I’m so excited for y’all to meet this sweet lady! This is Jess of
Jess Creates! I collaborated with Jess during my first workshop! I loved her work ethic and kind spirit and knew I had to work with her on future endeavors! Thankfully, many other people saw how awesome she was too and we’ve worked together several times and many different projects!
We finally got to meet each other in person at the first Creative at Heart Conference! She is such a sweetheart and I’m so excited for y’all to get to know more about her and her awesome business! 🙂
How did your business begin?
A lot of people don’t realize, but I actually run
Jess Creates alongside my full-time design job! After I graduated college (I have a BFA in Graphic Design) I started working for a design firm and would do small freelance design projects here and there. As time went on, the workload picked up and I officially launched Jess Creates! As my business grew I decided it was time to specialize in what I enjoyed most; branding for creatives and wedding stationery. The wedding portion of the business really began when my first close friend got married. Designing her invitations started a trend in my group of friends and things just snowballed from there. I started designing invites for friends of friends, guests who received my invitations, and brides who found me online! After I designed my own invitations, I realized how much I love custom wedding stationery. The rest is history!
What’s the story behind your name?
Coming up with a business name was actually quite a struggle for me initially. At the time I wasn’t married and everyone mispronounced my last name, so I knew I didn’t want to go that route. I have an adorable miniature dachshund named Lucky, so I thought about incorporating that somehow but nothing seemed to fit. Then one day it just hit me….why don’t I keep it simple and combine my first name (Jess) with what I do (Creates). Yay!
(Photo by: Alicia Lacey Photography)
Why paper? What makes this your passion?
I used to spend hours creating handmade birthday cards for my family as a little kid, so I guess you could say I’ve always had an obsession with paper. My mother taught us the importance of a handwritten thank you note so I think that has always stuck with me. When it comes to wedding stationery, your invites are the first glimpse guests have into your special event and I’m so passionate about making them tell the story of you!
What has been one of your favorite moments in your business so far?
Oh my gosh, there are so many! Honestly, some of my favorite moments are receiving sweet emails or text messages from my brides. It makes my heart so full to hear how excited they are to see the invitations in person! Participating in A Wedding Collective Giveaway was also an amazing experience! Katelyn James put together a incredible team of vendors who joined together to give away a wedding to one deserving couple for free! Seeing so many people come together and volunteer their time and talent for such a wonderful cause was so rewarding! Also, having our wedding featured on Style Me Pretty was pretty special as well. Designing for yourself is such a challenge, so seeing our wedding on such an incredible blog was such an honor.
(Photo by: Katelyn James)
Tell me about your dream client:
A dream client for me is really any couple who truly cares about the wedding planning process. From selecting vendors all the way down to the smallest details, I love when a couple values everything that goes into planning a wedding.
If you could design any type of paper creation for a wedding, what would it be and why?
Anything that involves letterpress! Letterpress printing is my absolute favorite thing. I love how the final product is so luxurious, but also classically old at the same time. If budget allows, I always encourage my brides to go this route if they can. It’s definitely something that you would want to keep forever.
What gets you motivated when prepping for an event/wedding day?
The wedding stationery process starts way before the actual wedding, but a good station on Spotify and a warm cup of coffee always gets me motivated!
Any words of encouragement you’d like to share with other dreamers out there?
I think it’s important to follow your passion, but make sure that you still learn to create balance in your life. I’m so thankful I do what I love for a living, but I also have to make time for myself, my husband, friends, and family. I’ve also learned that is so invaluable to make intentional friendships in the creative industry. Building community over competition is such a wonderful thing!
And here’s a sneak peek of some awesome invites Jess did for my 2013 and 2014 brides and grooms! Isn’t it lovely?
