So you’re newly engaged?  Congratulations!!  Or, have you been engaged a while and are beginning to look for a custom product?  Congratulations to you too!  Whatever the case may be, it’s important to understand all the ins and outs of this type of industry, from someone who knows it well.

First things first, you need to know what you’re ordering and who you’re ordering from.  Unlike three years ago when Kiss And Wed first opened its virtual doors, now there are TONS of different “shops” that offer similar products to ours.  But, the key is knowing what to look for.

• How long has the shop been in existence?
• What quality of products do they offer?
• Are you able to read testimonials or reviews on the shop?
• Are you able to see pictures of finished products?
• Aside from their website, where else might you have seen their work?

Being in this business as long as I have, I have done lots of research on my competitors, especially the ones whose products are offered at prices much lower than mine.  But, then I took a deeper look at some of these companies and want to share my findings with you, without divulging the other companies.  But, here’s my disclaimer – there are a number of quality companies out there who have been in existence longer than me and/or offer the same type of quality products I do.  However, there are soooo many more that do not.   Here are my answers to the questions above, with some information relating to the other shops as well:

• A lot of these companies are popping up are run by women who painted their own aisle runner and decided to start selling to others.  Now, there is nothing wrong with this as it’s how I started this business.  But, I cannot begin to tell you how much I learned over the three years I’ve been doing this.  With experience you are generally ensured to get the true product you want.  For example, when I first started out, my logos were painted a lot smaller on custom aisle runners and I used a much lower quality fabric.  But at the time I didn’t know better; now I do.
• Quality matters.  As I said, when I first started out, I used muslin.  For those of you who don’t know what muslin is, it’s a very thin fabric used for lining purposes.  Not only is it thin, but it also wrinkles easily and sometimes has stray marks on it and hideous seams.  I don’t see too many people offering muslin today, but instead the sheer lace type aisle runners.  Don’t get me wrong, I have offered them too (as budget options), but they really are not a good quality runner at all.  And, when asked, that’s what I tell people.  Compared to our other three runner types – non-woven, fabric, and nonslip – the quality just isn’t there.  But, that’s what you will find from most of the other shops, this quality-lacking material.
• Testimonials are SO important.  As you see, I have some right on my website, but I also have some on  third-party website (Wedding Wire) that I cannot change.  So, this means if I get a negative review, you will see it and you will see why.  It’s really important to see about getting these types of reviews (third-party) because you really get the whole side of the story.  However, don’t be limited in your beliefs that if a shop gets a negative review, they should not be purchased from.  Sometimes customers are just difficult to please, no matter what we as shop owners try to do.  If there is a pattern of negative reviews or a good description as to why the review is negative, then that’s definitely something to think about.
• Pictures are super important in this industry.  If you can get a close up shot of the image, that’s best.  Take for example, this picture:

KissAndWed.info

This is one of my runners, from early in my career.  In the picture, you can see the quality of the fabric (almost see through and wrinkled), and you can see the size of the logo, not too bad, but small.  But, you can also see how it appears that parts of the logo are crooked and there are parts where the paint is a lot thicker than other parts.  Back when I did this runner, it was acceptable to me and to the client.  However, now that I’ve been doing this a long while, it is no where near acceptable.  The logo is too small (it should extend almost the width of the runner) crooked (Jeffrey is lower than Karen), and the paint is just not up to par (look at the 2 in 29 as compared to the word Karen – thick vs. thin).  Compare that runner to this one for example:

KissAndWed.info

The fabric is better quality, all words are straight across, and all paint seems to have about the same thickness.  In addition to that, all the letters are smooth.  That’s a difficult one, but something I cannot show you without compromising the quality of another shop’s work.  All of my aisle runners, past and present, have had smooth lines.  Click on the picture and zoom in, you will see smooth lines.  But, in may of the products I’m seeing today, I’m seeing jagged, sharp, not smooth lines.  Keep your eye out for that and if you can zoom in to look at a picture, do that.

• The last point is not as important as the first few, but it’s still important nonetheless.  Has the company had their work featured anywhere reputable?  We have – Platinum Weddings, Carolina Bride, Southern Weddings magazine and blog, Destination I Do blog, and more.   But, that’s just recognition.  It’s important to some, but not to all.  As long as the other points are satisfied, this is just a bonus. 

So, when shopping around for a good custom aisle runner company, it’s definitely important to consider the details.  Can you think of any details we may have forgotten to highlight?  If so, leave us a comment or send an email; we’d love to hear from you!

Best of luck in your search for the components that will really make your big day special and unique.