Thursday, January 17, 2013

When Should I Order My Book?


I get this question a lot.

When is the best time to order my guest book?

Or sometimes it's just,  Is it too late to order?

When I got married, it was one of those things that was a given. I needed a guest book for my wedding day. I had it on my check list along with types of decoration supplies for shopping a nearby party store. Yet, I didn't buy my guest book there. I wanted something more personalized and matched the rest of my wedding theme. So, I bought an old guest book and recovered it.

(One of these days I'll have to go up into the attic and pull it out so I can show you all.)

But today, guest books are either well thought of or left to the last minute. Most of the time they fall in the latter category.

I can't tell you how many nights I've prayed for a book to reach it's destination on time that even with priority shipping was going to arrive on the day of the event. Now that is close!

How do you avoid higher shipping rates and the stress of whether or not it will get there on time?

Here are some tips from my experience of working with all of you for the past several years on Etsy.

1. Know what you want when you contact the book maker and be as detailed as possible. Don't be afraid to send links or photos of your event theme or ideas of what your looking for.
2. Be prepared to compromise when time is running short.

If you were to contact me today to create a custom book for you, here is the waiting time I'd give you.

Custom hardbound (2-4 weeks completion time)
Custom paperback (1-2 weeks)
Pre-designed paperback (1 week)
Pre-made paperback (ships within 48 hours)

Keep in mind, that these are completion times. You'll need to add on the time for shipment. Most of my paperback are shipped USPS First Class mail. It usually takes about 3-9 days for delivery depending on your location within the US. Outside the US takes almost two weeks or more. And if time is running out or you choose any hardbound book, I generally ship them PRIORITY MAIL that gets it there a little faster - 2 to 3 days in the US.

I've been considering making all my books PRIORITY MAIL, but don't know how you all would feel about the $2.00 up charge in postage for the faster rate all the time. Of course, you can let me know how you feel about switching the postal options in the comments below.

And tell me, at what time before the big day did you realize you still needed a guest book?


post signature
Thanks for stopping by!  Won’t you take a minute and like me on face book?  Right over there to the right?!  Why thank you!  Also sign up to receive these posts by email so you don’t miss out on any projects, easy do it yourself tutorials, or all the fun we are having here!!! 

No comments:

Post a Comment

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...