The Framers Forum

Seems a good subject for the forum at this time of the year. I've had a few customers in recently asking for wedding related framing and its one of those times when you really can suggest some ideas for framing that will "preserve" there special day.

some of the suggestions that seem to work with my customers are - Framed seating plans - Extra wide mount picture frames (for guests to sign). Box frames for various items. Multi aperture mount frames - these work well if you ask the customer for the wedding theme - colour etc - if you can build these aspects into the framing they can add that special touch - Ribbons - confetti - fabrics etc. Good idea for a window display that shows your creative flair.

Have you seen the colourmount celebrations mountboards? Ideal for weddings.

Those Colormount Celebrations mountboards are lovely.

We have had a fair few enquiries for seating plans as well.
In fact we do a fair bit of business with a local 'wedding organiser' who as part of the 'package' rents out the frame to the couple complete with seating plan. On completiion they have the plan as a momento.

Not really sure what I would do with a 900 x 700 seating plan mind you.

The speciality photo mounts are also popular.

What type of core do those particular CM boards have?

Whitecore - and they are conservation standard.

I made this for my sons wedding last week... Black mountboard with a black foamcore backing, silver gel pen .... tied to a ribbon so nobody nicked it...and by the end of the night it was full!!

A bit different to a guestbook

He said he wants to frame it...

My wife makes wedding stationery and this is an 800 x 600 tableplan decorated to one of hr designs... she leaves it to the happy couple if they want to get it framed afterwards which is why she makes it a standard size.

I have to make the mount and set it out and print it.... hang on!! She gets all the money and I make it!!! LOL!!!!!

I love weddings as they're probably my main earner on the photography side of the business.

Since I've been framing I've seen my reprint orders steadily climb as I've gained confidence in providing bespoke mounts and frames to couples.

I've been laminating confetti and ribbons onto mounts after a tip from Steve Goodall on a Hot Press course. Framing place settings, and multi aperture mounts of the day are quite common and I've even framed the notes from speeches and a garter.

Last year saw a massive increase in canvases and prints onto acrylic which seems to be the new 'big thing'. Fortunately nobody has asked me to download files to a digital frame as I'd probably throttle them.

CanvasChris wrote:silver gel pen ....

That'll fade faster than a pair of Levis! (But so will 6/10 marriages!)

A hanful of 2B pencils is what you need; not on black of course though.

To preserve the signatures I would probably photograph the whole thing and print a copy.

wasn't expecting them to keep it... just a bit of a novelty for the guests.

Looks like the MKII version will be slightly different...

Roboframer wrote: That'll fade faster than a pair of Levis! (But so will 6/10 marriages!)

A hanful of 2B pencils is what you need; not on black of course though.

interesting, thanks for the info.

Presumably a gold or silver calligraphy type pen instead would be fine ? Or not>?

kev@frames wrote:[

Presumably a gold or silver calligraphy type pen instead would be fine ? Or not>?

Probably worse - graphite won't fade, Indian ink is also good, then there is artist quality watercolour, some colours last longer than others - ever had an old watercolour with a brown sea?

But then you don't want to be messing with dip pens and blotting paper at a wedding etc. So just stick to light coloured mounts and pencil.

CanvasChris wrote:I made this for my sons wedding last week...

Very handsome couple, btw, Chris, and beautifully captured!

Moglet wrote:

I know that feeling!

Moglet wrote: Very handsome couple, btw, Chris, and beautifully captured!

Takes after his dad!!!.....

Signature mounts (mats) are getting increasingly popular over here.

When we present the oversized, blank mat to the customer, we suggest a few things to consider when they display it at the reception to be signed.

1) Have a “dummy” photo in place, since the real one is likely to get banged up.

2) Run a strip of 1/2” or 3/4” 3M “Magic Tape” around the perimeter of the entire mat so that people won’t scrawl their name too close to the edge. The tape is easily removed without leaving goobers on the mat.

3) Place the mount on an easel. If it is laid flat, there will be some clown (usually drunk Uncle Mike) who will be tempted to set his sweaty drink glass on the mat while he is searching for the right end of the pen.

Signature mats are a great money maker for us.

Bill Henry wrote:) Have a “dummy” photo in place, since the real one is likely to get banged up.

Ah! The good old "same language - different meaning" - nice context though.

Bill Henry wrote:..... goobers on the mat....

For those not familiar with the above term, Bill has kindly added a defiition to the Terminology section of the Oracle. Also, some interesting background to be found about wreltneys and flumbs (the latter would be even better with an audio track by David Attenborough) ....

Okay, I’m a little nervous asking, but what does “dummy” mean on your side of the world? … if it is too vulgar, I can live without knowing … Nah, tell me anyway.

With encouragement from and thanks to you, Àine, I screwed up my courage (please, no comments about that verb) and gave the Wiki a shot. It’s kinda fun to play around with new things. You did a good job setting up the template. It was easy to follow.

David Attenborough was unavailable. I could have gotten Rowan Atkinson, but he didn’t sound pretentious enough.