Meet Carmen, the personalized wedding invitations artist behind Mi Historia Contigo

Today we meet Carmen from Mi Historia Contigo in an exclusive interview where she reveals all the details of her work and her art in creating personalized wedding invitations.

With great perfectionism, ingenuity and originality, her personalized wedding invitations and stationery always cause a wow effect on couples and guests, ensuring that each piece is unique and memorable.

Her artisanal approach and commitment to environmentally responsible production add exceptional value to her work. From personalized wedding invitations to complete stationery, guest books, vows and personalized stories that tell love stories, Carmen turns a blank canvas into a masterpiece that reflects the dreams and essence of each couple.

In addition, she pays special attention to every detail, combining images, textures and words in a masterful way so that both guests and couples feel truly special.

Find out more about Carmen and her art in this interview, and delve into the world of stationery that leaves a mark. Without a doubt, an artist who transforms your ideas into unforgettable memories.

Let’s get started!

What inspired you to specialize in wedding stationery? Do you have any training or previous experience in graphic design or art?

I started out with the idea of ​​telling very personal stories through words, design and illustration to give beautiful gifts and make the person you love feel special. I started receiving proposals from people close to me to make their wedding invitations personalized in a very personal way and that were different from the typical invitations that were seen at the time.

I saw that an invitation can do much more than just give basic information: it can move the person who receives it, it can tell the personal story of the couple while making it universal to connect with the guests. In this way, we turned it into a first gift that the couple gives them.

I studied audiovisual communication and television production, and for more than 10 years I worked telling stories on television, film and advertising. This, and my own self-taught personal search, have given me the basis to tell stories in different formats and mixing techniques, without forgetting that the important thing is to move the person who receives the story.

What defines you as a designer? What is your hallmark, what distinguishes you from the rest?

I like to say that more than a designer, I am a storyteller. I put my creativity at the service of what you want to tell; giving words, image and texture to the most special stories to convert them, through different sustainable stationery techniques, into memories for life, always under a production that is respectful of the planet.

Personalized Wedding Invitations / Photo via Perfect Venue

What trends have you noticed recently in the design of wedding stationery?

Without a doubt, betting on sustainability is something that has gained a lot of ground in recent years and although there is still a long way to go, I trust that it is not just a passing trend, but that it is here to stay. Certified ecological papers and responsible production, natural materials and thinking about giving a second life to personalized wedding invitations or stationery details have been non-negotiable for me from the beginning, and of course, I like that they are now a trend.

In addition, we see how the beauty of imperfection and everything that brings us a close and familiar style is gaining importance. Illustrations with imperfect strokes, handwritten calligraphy and embroidery on paper or fabric. I think we are allowing ourselves to mix the most careful and elegant details with others that seem more casual. I hope that this is not a passing trend either, because I feel that it allows us to live, and in this case, celebrate, less corseted and make the wedding much more personal.

In addition to personalized wedding invitations, what other products or services do you offer? Which do you think is the most requested by couples?

Of course, we can do the stationery for the rest of the wedding so that all the decoration is coherent, creating that personal universe; the guest book for the guests to leave words of affection, making it much more special with a personalized story that tells the story of the couple; sheets with a custom design for the witnesses telling them why they chose them and not someone else; or the favorite option to give to parents, grandparents, siblings and more special guests: a mini story that tells their story, and highlights all the beautiful and bright things they share or that inspire the new couple.

Without a doubt, the favorites are the personalized story and the guest book with a story. It is something very original, which always excites and makes them feel super special. It can be read in private, or in front of all the guests, making it even more emotional.

Could you tell us more about the book with a personalized story for marriage proposals? It is something very original and unusual. How did this idea come about?

Until then, I had made guest books with the couple’s story, family books telling a whole life from the grandmother’s point of view, another book that started from the need to give a special place to all the memories of the wedding; even a book that told the story of a brave and beautiful woman’s overcoming.

And then my boyfriend gave me a book. On the first page he invited me to write the first chapter of our story, leaving the rest of the pages blank so that together, we could fill it with photos and memories. On the last page, he suggested that once this first chapter was written, why not start the second by celebrating the party of our life?

It was something very simple, but very personal, and without a doubt, a memory for life.

Obviously, I said yes and naturally, the first engagement book came about.

Could you describe the process from the conception of an idea to the delivery of the personalized wedding invitations? How long does it usually take to create a handmade invitation from start to finish?

To make personalized wedding invitations with a 100% custom design, you have to plan at least two and a half months in advance of the date on which you want to deliver them.

I like to meet the couple, to know what wedding idea they have in mind, what is important in their invitation and if they imagine it in some way, and obviously the number of guests and information they want to include. Based on all this, I will make a personalized proposal of materials and budget. Once confirmed, we start working.

We finish defining the style, color palette, fonts, format, … and we move on to a first sketch, until we reach the final design. I share each part of the process with the couple so that they feel every detail is theirs. Once we have the perfect design, I print a sample to check that everything is correct and when it is, I move on to printing and assembling each of the personalized wedding invitations.

The couple receives the personalized wedding invitations ready to deliver and, most importantly, to thrill.

Personalized Wedding Invitations / Photo via Perfect Venue

How do you manage to perfectly capture the essence of the couple and their needs? How do you capture what they really want in the invitations, considering that it is something so personal?

Getting to know each other. Asking, letting them tell me and paying attention to all the details. It is important to know what kind of wedding they have in mind, everything they would like to have and their tastes; but it is also important to know what they are like as a couple, how they talk to each other, what affectionate expressions to use, what their favorite places or anecdotes are and why it is important for them to have the party the way they are going to have it. All of this gives me an idea of ​​the format that can fit them and then, we will refine it in the process together.

Of course, if they have an idea of ​​what they want, or the budget they can invest, it will be much easier to make a first proposal that fits what they need.

What artisanal techniques do you use in your personalized wedding invitations and how are they different from the more commercial options? What materials do you prefer to use and why?

I fully trust in the power of paper, the mix of textures and natural elements to connect you with an emotion, and I also believe that we have the right and the duty to take care of our planet and allow it to continue telling stories. That is why I always opt for papers that, in addition to being high quality, are sustainably produced, handmade one by one or recycled from straw, cotton scraps, corn or algae from the bay of Venice. The latter, in addition to giving your personalized wedding invitations a beautiful appearance, provide a solution to a very important environmental problem.

We can give all the prominence to a single paper, or we can mix different textures, algae paper with a handmade one has a lot of personality; we can play with brushstrokes of paint on the invitation itself, with fabrics… when there is a lot of information, we can make different pieces and add a simple binding. When we allow ourselves to go beyond the ordinary, the possibilities are endless.

What are the most important elements that you consider when designing a wedding invitation?

Without a doubt, emotion. To be honest, nowadays, when we give out the invitation, many times it has already been announced that the couple is getting married, and sometimes even the date and place are known, which has been provided in the save the date.

So the important thing in the invitation is to make the person who receives it excited, to convey the same desire and excitement that the couple has for the day to come. From there, the date and time, the place and whether it is a religious or civil ceremony would be the basic information.

Tell us if there is any personalized wedding invitation project that has been particularly memorable or challenging for you.

My own wedding invitations. I wanted to do something very personal, very much ours, around the idea of ​​the picnic, but escaping from the typical picnic concept. For us it was important to make them feel special and send a positive and exciting message that they could keep close, that they would not forget the date that for various reasons we had had to change several times, to convey that it would be a family day, very country, elegant but very fun and without great protocols. The challenge came in bringing a lot of information and many non-negotiables that the client (myself) had to an invitation that without being simple at all, conveyed precisely simplicity.

With the advance of new technologies and artificial intelligence, do you think that paper invitations are at risk of disappearing in favor of digital, or do you think that they will always have a special place?

I do not at all believe that AI will steal the spotlight from paper invitations. It is true that for some time now, there are people who are betting on making a digital invitation, generally very little personal, and forget about a paper invitation. I think it comes from the idea that to give basic information, it is not necessary to make that investment. Therefore, my proposal is to give them a special value and turn the invitation into a work of art that the bride and groom give to their guests. Those who have sensitivity, a taste for detail and plan their wedding thinking about exciting their guests, will always opt for paper invitations.

Speaking of the future, how do you see the evolution of “Mi Historia Contigo” in the next 10 years? What changes or innovations do you expect to see and how do you plan to adapt to them?

Today, my studio is on the top floor of my house, so I would love to have a studio outside, with street access and very bright where I can have more space, do workshops to design your own stories, collaborate with other artists and why not, grow the team. Of course, the project has evolved so quickly and I am so aware that the path is never exactly as one imagines, that I also know that we have to play with what we find to get there.