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Meet Brittany Kirkwood

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Kirkwood.

Brittany, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I stopped working six years ago when we had our first child, and have stayed at home since then. I started this business as a “hobby” to keep my mind occupied while staying at home. It was intended to be an outlet for my creative side and I never intended for it to be full-time, or even part time for that matter. I started an Etsy shop in January 2019 and made homemade signage; the frames and signs were completely built by me, and I would write on the signs with my calligraphy. A few months in and it had grown some but I did not enjoy how impersonal it all was. Someone would place an order, I would make it, but I had no idea what these signs meant for people or the story behind why they wanted a certain phrase or verse or lyrics. Six months after I had opened my Etsy shop, a local florist asked if I would do all of the signage for her wedding. I said yes, not knowing anything about the wedding industry! Throughout the process, I fell in love with all of the pieces I got to create. I got to work directly with the bride, which felt very personal, I got to know their story and why they wanted the pieces that they chose. It felt so much more right then just making signage for people I had never spoken to.

After the wedding, I decided that was the avenue I wanted to take in the business, talked to some local wedding planners and other vendors and went into the fall wedding season expecting to maybe have one or two weddings. I worked hard in the off season to create items for my inventory as well as test a lot of items out since I had never done weddings before. I ended up having over 16 weddings that season, which I had not expected, and multiple couples book me for 2020 as well. It was a career that I had never thought of or expected but it has blossomed and has continued to grow every month. I recently have added stationery to the business with hopes that a couple will use my services from the stationery all the way to the day of the wedding.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a struggle being self-taught in everything. I do not have a teacher or a guide that I can go to when I have a question about how to work Adobe Illustrator, or about why my ink won’t print on handmade paper, so I give myself ample time on new projects and use google… A lot! I deeply value community over competition, and social media has been amazing to connect me with other calligraphers and stationers to bounce ideas off of and ask for help when even google can’t! Every bump I have encountered though is still seen as a positive in my eyes, because there was always a lesson learned from it, and the next time I crossed that bump, it went much smoother.

It has been a smooth road in the fact that I feel very fortunate to have come into the industry when I did and have been blessed with brides and vendors that trust my creative design.

Please tell us about your business.
I specialize in anything wedding! A “full suite” wedding includes welcome signage, bar signage, seating chart, place cards, table numbers, and any other signage. This next year I hope to incorporate into that, full stationery as well. So your wedding “theme” would be implemented from the start at your invitations, and would match on the wedding day as well. One thing that I feel sets me apart is my love for writing on things out of the ordinary. Any wedding can have ordinary paper place cards (which are still beautiful), but yours could have a magnolia leaf that has your guest’s name hand written on it if you choose to book me. Or if you want a seating chart made of lanterns, filled with beautiful florals to really wow your guests, I can do that too. Cactus paddles as your table numbers? Count me in! I pride myself that, since my writing is not a font, you truly can take it and place it anywhere!

This industry fills me with so much joy. It does not feel like a job to me, because I get to work with clients in one of the most exciting times of their life. I get to devote my skills to make their day even better, and to make their day more focused on each other, while I handle the little details.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My biggest support system is my family. I still have two kids at home who aren’t in school yet, so between grandparents taking them, my husband holding down the fort, or my mom coming over to help stuff envelopes with me, they have helped ease this transition of me making this my career. The vendors that I have worked with have been incredible. They have remained patient while I learn this industry, and have allowed me to put my creative outlet to good use while helping me navigate with the whirlwind of the wedding season. I am so beyond thankful for everyone one of them

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Timothy Eyrich Photography

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Kirkwood.

Brittany, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I stopped working six years ago when we had our first child, and have stayed at home since then. I started this business as a “hobby” to keep my mind occupied while staying at home. It was intended to be an outlet for my creative side and I never intended for it to be full-time, or even part time for that matter. I started an Etsy shop January 2019 and made homemade signage; the frames and signs were completely built by me, and I would write on the signs with my own calligraphy. A few months in and it had grown some but I really did not enjoy how impersonal it all was. Someone would place an order, I would make it, but I really had no idea what these signs meant for people or the story behind why they wanted a certain phrase or verse or lyrics. Six months after I had opened my Etsy shop, a local florist asked if I would do all of the signage for her wedding. I said yes, not really knowing anything about the wedding industry! Throughout the process I fell in love with all of the pieces I got to create. I got to work directly with the bride, which felt very personal, I got to know their story and why they wanted the pieces that they chose. It felt so much more right then just making signage for people I had never spoke to. After the wedding I decided that was the avenue I wanted to take in the business, talked to some local wedding planners and other vendors and went into the fall wedding season expecting to maybe have one or two weddings. I worked really hard in the off season to create items for my inventory as well as test a lot of items out since I had never done weddings before. I ended up having over 16 weddings that season, which I had not expected, and multiple couples book me for 2020 as well. It was a career that I had never thought of or expected but it has blossomed and has continued to grow every month. I recently have added stationery to the business with hopes that a couple will use my services from the stationery all the way to the day of the wedding.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a struggle being self-taught in everything. I do not have a teacher or a guide that I can go to when I have a question about how to work Adobe Illustrator, or about why my ink won’t print on handmade paper, so I give myself ample time on new projects and use google…alot! I deeply value community over competition, and social media has been amazing to connect me with other calligrapher and stationers to bounce ideas off of and ask for help when even google can’t! Every bump I have encountered though is still seen as a positive in my eyes, because there was always a lesson learned from it, and the next time I crossed that bump, it went much smoother.

It has been a smooth road in the fact that I feel very fortunate to have come into the industry when I did and have been blessed with brides and vendors that trust my creative design.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Kirkwood Lettering & Design – what should we know?
I specialize in anything wedding! A “full suite” wedding includes welcome signage, bar signage, seating chart, place cards, table numbers, and any other signage. This next year I hope to incorporate into that, full stationery as well. So your wedding “theme” would be implemented from the start at your invitations, and would match on the wedding day as well. One thing that I feel sets me apart is my love for writing on things out of the ordinary. Any wedding can have ordinary paper place cards (which are still beautiful), but yours could have a magnolia leaf that has your guests name hand written on it, if you choose to book me. Or if you want a seating chart made of lanterns, filled with beautiful florals to really wow your guests, I can do that too. Cactus paddles as your table numbers? Count me in! I pride myself that, since my writing is not a font, you truly can take it and place it anywhere!
This industry fills me with so much joy. It does not feel like a job to me, because I get to work with clients in one of the most exciting times of their life. I get to devote my skills to making their day even better, and to make their day more focused on each other, while I handle the little details.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My biggest support system is my family. I still have two kids at home who aren’t in school yet, so between grandparents taking them, my husband holding down the fort, or my mom coming over to help stuff envelopes with me, they have helped ease this transition of me making this my career.

The vendors that I have worked with have been absolutely incredible. They have remained patient while I learn this industry, and have allowed me to put my creative outlet to good use while helping me navigate with the whirlwind of wedding season. I am so beyond thankful for everyone one of them

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