Vendor Spotlight: Avenue16
Brittany Legare from Avenue16 is a Graphic Designer with years of experience creating custom graphics without boundaries for the most beautiful wedding invitations. “Every wedding is unique and I love creating all of those unique elements for your special event. At Avenue16, I work with you to bring your vision to life, leaving no detail unturned. There are no limits to what Avenue16 can create for you.”
What made you get into the wedding industry?
For me it started when I worked at a marketing and design agency and my boss and coworkers were getting married or had friends getting married and asked me to design their invites, shower invites, stag and doe tickets, seating charts and so on. After a little while of that, I decided to make it a business and continued doing friends weddings and soon enough my own. It basically spiraled into what it is today.
What makes you differentiate from other vendors?
Me. I’m what is different from other stationery vendors. No one has the same experiences that I do. We are all unique with difference experiences and design styles. I do everything custom to allow for every inch of personalization. I’ve been through the process, I know what works, what doesn’t, and how to work within your budget.
What are the perks of booking with you?
Not only did I graduate with an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design from Fanshawe College, I also have many years of experience running a small print shop. I know how the print processes work, what the limitations are for materials and budgets. I’ve been a Bride, so I I know and understand the pain points. Booking with me you get complete custom design, convenience of fully assembled suites saving clients valuable time. When I hand over your printed pieces, all that is left to do is to stuff, seal and mail. Of course, I offer those services too at an additional fee. Best of all, you get points for booking with me getting you closer to winning prizes in the Bridal Confidential contest!
What other fellow wedding vendors do you recommend?
Judene of See You There Invitations and Corey of Momento Design Studio are both incredibly talented designers and you’ll be in great hands. Fun fact: Corey and I worked together on a marketing team together a few years ago!
What’s the coolest wedding you’ve ever attended?
Can I be biased and say my own? It really was incredible. We were one of the last weddings at Hiram Walker before it closed down. We took photos in the basement and ventured into some of the tunnels. Re-enacted photos from my parents wedding as they did their photos there in the 80’s. The reception was at St. Clair Centre for the arts in the Ballroom so it was waterfront. The blinds opened as we had our first dance. 90% of our guests were from out of town so it was a surprise for them to see the water right behind us. Confetti popped at the end of our dance. The best DJ in town, DJ Victorious had the floor packed ALL night long. We then had an after party bbq at my parents the next day and the day after as many of our out of town guests were from the east coast and stayed at my parents. Cramped in the house and in a massive trailer in the driveway for the week. It was awesome.
A memorable wedding beside my own, was one of our best friends who got married in the Dominican. There were 60 people that went, and it was such a close knit group of people, we had SUCH a blast all week. I cried like a baby when she walked down the aisle!
What is your favourite wedding trend of 2022?
Ahhh, I have a couple. I can’t pick just one! I love that people are getting away from the laser cuts, and going more simple, clean lines or doing geometrical shapes. Getting way from all the florals and greenery designs on the invite and focusing more on the design with great use of typography. And a trend that has been super popular with my clients is the velvet invite with foil printing. They look so sharp!
I LOVE a good seating chart. Making a statement with it to greet your guests are my absolute fav! The new wood cube that I’ve been doing this year has been a hit and my favourite!
What wedding planning advice would you give to engaged couples?
Plan to spend approx. 2-3% of your wedding budget on stationery. I know that when you get asked what is your budget for stationery, almost no one has an answer. Actually their answer is usually, we’ll we have no idea what things cost so we really don’t know! I get that! How are you supposed to know what stationery costs, you’ve never done this before. I get it. When it comes to stationery, I highly recommend having a look online for some inspiration. Find photos of things you LOVE about a stationery suite and things you DON’T like. Write out what is important to you, your must haves and your, “would like to have” lists.
General planning tips: Book your venue first and then your photographer. They are the two hardest to book. Most are booked 1.5-2 years out! So you may have to sacrifice one over the other sometimes. Go to ALL the wedding shows and enter ALLL the contests! And when you do, be sure to make labels with your contact info and event date. This will save you from having to hand write it out a million times. If you want to talk to a vendor at a show, I recommend attending the smaller shows. I find the BIG wedding show is almost impossible to talk to the vendor you want. Going to the shows is a great way to get ideas. And remember, what you see is only a TINY snippet of what they can do. I recommend talking to vendors so you can see if you click with them. You want a good relationship with them as it really helps put your mind at ease when entrusting them with your visions, the big day and your hard earned money.
