Pretty Personalized

Pretty Personalized is a wholesaler of personalized favors and packaging for weddings, showers, birthdays, religious events and more! Find us online at www.prettypersonalized.com. New resellers are always welcome! Get to know us as we share bits of behind the scenes photos and information, as well as new Pretty Personalized product updates.

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New Monogram Favors Coming Soon!

We've got some exciting new product coming very soon!  The photo above is a sneak peek at one of the new items.  Monogram Cupcake Wraps!  We'll be debuting 8 modern monograms that can be customized on our fabulous cupcake wraps and all of our bags and boxes!  Stay tuned - we're just finalizing the details and the product will be up this week at www.prettypersonalized.com!

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Let's Get Personal

Today I'm trying something a little different and blogging about myself rather than new product!  After doing a few trade shows, I've been fortunate enough to meet so many of our wonderful resellers in person, but for those of you who haven't been able to come out to NYC to the Stationery and Gift Fairs, this post is for you!

I'm Melanie and I make up one half of the owners of Pretty Personalized.  My husband and I started the business in late 2008 and we've been growing ever since!  My background is in Event Planning and I spent years in the hospitality, education and government sectors as a corporate event planner before deciding to follow my dreams and start my own business.  My passion has always been for packaging and printing and while working as a wedding planner in 2008 in Vancouver I realized that there was a void in the market for the kind of packaging that we now sell at Pretty Personalized.  I wanted to offer small volume, custom packaging that retailers didn't have to stock and so I jumped in with both feet and the website was born! 

I was pleasantly surprised at the positive response that we immediately received from vendors across Canada and the US and sooner than I expected, we began to receive orders daily!  There were definite growing pains with this business - from machinery that couldn't keep up with our demand, to staffing problems, but we continue to grow and offer great product to retailers around the world! 

Soon I'll blog about our studio space and some other tidbits about being a business owner but for now there are orders to process and pack!

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New Party Themed Favors

We've got some really cute new Party Themed favors that have just been added to www.prettypersonalized.com! 

Our personalized muslin bags continue to be one of our best sellers, so we've added these full color bags to the product line!  Your customer can choose from 9 fabulous party themed designs and add their own text to create a unique favor that their guests will love.  These bags are made from unbleached cotton and have a single drawstring closure.  Available in a large 4"x6" size and a small 3"x4" size.

12 bright shades of boxes, colorful cotton twine and a pretty full color label make for the sweetest cube favor box! 

One of my personal favorites - the scallop favor bag.  Also available in 12 cheery shades, with cotton twine and a round or square label.  Who wouldn't love these little favors?

Visit prettypersonalized.com for more info and to add to the product to your website.  High resolution images are available by request.

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Recap: NYIGF January 2012

Waaaay back in January, Pretty Personalized travelled to NYC to exhibit at the New York International Gift Fair.  We closed down operations in our WA state studio space for the week and got to work shopping for fixtures at our favorite Brooklyn Ikea, setting up our booth and running last minute errands before the show started.

Here's what our booth looked like!  We're really glad that we didn't go with the Manny Stone walls that we had been using at the Stationery Show in past years because pretty much all of our fellow exhibitors were also using the provided curtains.  Not the prettiest background, but certainly the most cost effective!

We weren't feeling very positive about the show for the simple fact that we had been assigned to Pier 92.  Yes, that separate building a shuttle ride away from the Javits Center that houses only about 200 exhibitors.  Apparently if you haven't shown product at the show before, you have to exhibit your first show in this building.  We tried and tried to get moved out of this space.  Having walked the show in previous years, we already knew that traffic is low and frankly show management do a terrible job of marketing the New York's Newest to the attendees of the show. But they couldn't make it happen for us so we decided to do the show and see what happens.

We put on our happy faces and did our best to be positive for all 5 days.  Lo and behold, Pier 92 was more than a little bit disappointing!  We heard from everyone around us that this was one of the worst shows they had ever done.  It wasn't just us!  I walked the floor in the Javits Center and the aisles were crammed full of buyers!  No booth was empty and sales were being written everywhere I looked!  This isn't to say that we didn't meat some great new companies and clients because we did!  And our fellow exhibitors are amazing people that we really got to know (because of all the free time on our hands).  It was certainly not a good use of time or marketing dollars for Pretty Personalized and we would never do the show again unless we had a space in the Javits Center....but you never know unless you try right?  That's our motto here.  You've got to try sometime once and maybe even twice before you can say it didn't work. 

If we had the pleasure of meeting you at the show, thank you for coming by and seeing us!  We have since learned that New York's Newest is being relocated to the Javits Center this August.  We have opted not to do any more trade shows in 2012 but we might take on next January again.  We'll keep you posted.

Any questions about doing trade shows, particularly the NYIGF?  Feel free to email me and I'm happy to give you some advice. 

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Countdown to NYIGF

The NYIGF is only 2 weeks out and the to-do list is growing longer and longer!  It's tricky for small businesses to focus on booth design, travel logistics, new product debuts and more while still servicing clients, filling and shipping orders and all the other daily tasks that come with running a business!  Not to mention, we close for nearly a week during the time that we're away.  Orders are still printed during this time, however, we do not ship until we are back from the show.

This year is our first NYIGF show and we're super excited to be returning to NYC since the National Stationery Show in May.  Since we're first time exhibitors at the gift fair, our booth is located at Pier 92.  It's not what we wanted, but we'll be in good company with about 300 other new exhibitors.  Our booth is tiny and Pier 92 is quite small, but we are hoping that this makes an ideal setting to be able to spend a little more time with new and existing clients and to get to know the other exhibitors around us.  After all, we'll be together for 5 days straight!

We'll be tweeting during setup and throughout the show so be sure to follow us and we really hope that you'll come by to say hello!  Our fingers are crossed that the snow holds off until February (unlike last year).  To a successful show and to an even better 2012!!

Pretty Personalized Booth:  34037 at Pier 92.  Shuttles are frequent (and warm) from the Javits Center. 

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Canadian customers can benefit too!

Many of our resellers don't know that Pretty Personalized is actually a Canadian company (unless you talk to us on the phone and then it's a dead giveaway).  Yes, we're all born and raised in Canada and our business operates in both Canada and the US so that we can cater to both markets. 

Our physical address is in British Columbia, Canada and that is where our boxes are manufactured, where orders are printed and packed and ready to be shipped.  If an order is being shipped to your customer in the US, that's when things get complicated with border crossings and customs BUT your customer will never know!!  We take care of the whole process and the order makes its way into Washington State where it waits to be picked up by FedEx or UPS.

Many of our resellers have been contacting us lately to ask if we ship to Canada. YES we do!  There are no additional charges for Canadian orders, other than tax that is charged at checkout.  We don't like it either, but we have to do it.  All orders for Canadian customers are shipped from BC and usually go by Canada Post which has guaranteed delivery dates, insurance and tracking.  Your customer will receive their order and will be thrilled that they don't have to pay a penny of duty, brokerage fees or international shipping fees!  Canada Post is built into our shopping cart software so just select Canada as the ship to country and the Canada Post shipping rates will come up.  It's easy!

So why not market our product to Canadian customers and take advantage of the party market north of the border too?!  

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NYIGF - Jan 2012 - See You There!

This year we exhibited at the National Stationery Show in May.  Have you been?  If not, this is THE show for the stationery and wedding world!  This was our second time exhibiting and we had such a great time getting to meet new resellers and some existing resellers in person so we decided to head back to NYC in January for the New York International Gift Fair!

Here is a photo from our booth at the Stationery Show.

The setup for the show is exhausting but I think it was well worth it when all the product had been put in its proper place!  In May we had a large display of imprintables and favor box kits, but in January we’ll really be focusing on what we’re known for - our personalized favor boxes and favor bags.

Since I recently joined the masses and bought my first smart phone, I’ll be tweeting photos and updates while we’re there. 

At this point our booth assignment is at Pier 92 (not the Javits Center) so we’re a shuttle bus away from the main show but we’ll be in the company of about 300 other first-time NYIGF exhibitors so I hope that you’ll come by and see our product in person.  The short ride on the shuttle bus will be worth it, I promise!

I’ll be updating again closer to the show with a sneak peak of what we’ll be offering at the show along with our booth number so check back here again soon!

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Custom Packaging for your Corporate Holidays Gifts

We didn't mean to be away for so long, but the rush is on for holiday gift packaging and we're printing some beautiful orders for clients!

If you're looking for custom packaging for your corporate holiday gifts this season, check out our favor boxes and favor bags at www.prettypersonalized.com.  They Pyramid Favor Box is extremely popular and we have lots of orders coming in with corporate logos on these boxes as well as our Personalized Satin Bags.

Yes, we can print your logo on any of our packaging!  We offer one color printing of your logo on our favor boxes or favor bags.  Whether you're gifting holiday cookies, chocoloates or other delicious edibles (or non-edibles) we've got you covered this season with our custom printed packaging.

**An additional fee applies for custom artwork so please contact us directly for specifics.

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New Drink Mix Favors

                                                                Hot Cocoa and Apple Cider favors are now in stock at Pretty Personalized!  These are complete favors - no need for additional packaging or personalization!  Each favor includes your choice or a baby theme, fall theme, monogram theme or winter theme design in an eco-friendly muslin bag or a silky white satin bag.

The Hot Cocoa single serving packet comes with 8 marshmallows in a separate packet, and the Apple Cider single serving packet comes with 3 vanilla caramels also in a separate packet.  Packets are tied with chocolate brown double-faced satin ribbon and finished with a white hang tag printed.

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NEW - Personalized Satin Bag Colors

Our new Satin Favor Bags are now in stock!  We have updated the brown to a more rich chocolate brown color, now called Coffee.  We have also added a Hot Pink, Orange, Turquoise, Lime Green and Light Blue.  The Light Blue is very pretty and is a lighter shade than the existing and very popular Fren Blue bag.

All satin favor bags colors are available in a 3"x4" (small) and 4"x6" (large).  Bags can still be personalized in any of our fabulous designs and fonts!

We hope you like these new colors as much as we do!

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Here's a sneak peek of the new Satin Favor Bags that will be available at www.prettypersonalized.com this week.  Turquoise, Lime Green, Orange, Hot Pink, Light Blue and Chocolate Brown!

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Custom Boxes for Your Business

Did you know that Pretty Personalized can manufacture favor boxes and gift boxes for your business?  We currently work with a number of businesses in the US and manufacture boxes for candy and baked goods as well as custom designed favor boxes for retailers.

Years ago, I knew I wanted to manufacture patterned favor boxes but I had no idea where to start.  I went back and forth with suppliers in China and India but the process of shipping and importing and sending samples back and forth across the world was too much, so I let the idea go.  Fast forward to 2 years ago after Pretty Personalized was launched and I decided to give it another try.  We were fortunate enough to meet a great box manufacturer in China and did our initial first 2 orders with his company.  Everything seemed perfect....until the 2nd order arrived and 6000 of the boxes had a flaw in the design.  The order had already been paid for in full, shipping had been paid, customs and brokerage fees had been paid, and now we couldn't resell 6000 of our boxes.  To make a long story short, thankfully this supplier agreed to reprint and ship the entire batch to us at his cost.  Most suppliers overseas wouldn't do that.  Through all of this I realized that we needed to be able to manufacture locally either in the US or in Canada so that we had more control over the process and could physically see samples, colors and the quality before thousands were manufactured.

All that hard work has paid off and we're now proud to say that our boxes are manufactured from start to finish in Canada.  We're supporting a local business which was important to me, and the quality is far better than I would have imagined at a price that is comparable to China.  Turnaround times for proofing and production are much faster and of course, there are no shipping containers to worry about, or customs fees and duties.

If you are a business looking for custom boxes for packaging your product, or would like to manufacture your own line of favor boxes exclusive to your business, feel free to contact us for more information or for a quote.  We would love to help create something special for your business!!

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Damask Cube Favor Box is Back In Stock!!

We know you've been waiting a VERY long time for the black and white damask cube favor box to be back in stock and it's finally here! The cube box is in stock and ready to ship.  The pattern of the cube has been updated slightly to match our other damask favor boxes, so you'll notice a difference from your original photo.  Simply enlarge the product photo and feel free to use the images on our site.  There is one with a label and one without so that the pattern is more visible.

The black and white damask Pedestal Favor Box and Scalloped Favor Bag photos have also been updated.  These boxes are also in stock.

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Summer may be just getting started here on the West Coast, but we're in fall favors mode and have added some great new favor designs and fall favor products for 2011 at www.prettypersonalized.com.

A brand new Fall Favors theme has been added under the Themed Favors Header.  Open the Fall Favors page to see all of our favor boxes and bags line in fall colors and personalized with fall designs and text. 

6 new design options have been added to the Fall Theme, and we have also added some new personalized muslin and satin bags, with bold colors and a modern feel. 

Now is the perfect time to add the fall theme images to your site!  You can click each product image and you'll be able to download a 600x600 version of each image.

All designs and products are now available!

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Welcome!

Welcome to the Pretty Personalized blog!