Meet Sadie Sanchez | Wedding Stationery Designer & Small Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sadie Sanchez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sadie, how does your business help the community?
Studio Sanchez is a wedding stationery business that provides a way for couples to celebrate their love and weave their unique stories through the decor of their Big Day. Love is love, marriage is for everyone who wants it, and I’ll always be one to design and hype anyone’s celebrations of love, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. I feel like I might not be changing the world, but I hope that Studio Sanchez can be a little sanctuary, specifically for LGBTQ+ couples in their wedding planning.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Studio Sanchez is a full-service wedding stationery studio, owned and run by me, Sadie. Wedding stationery includes everything from Save the Dates, invitations, escort cards, programs and menus, and even signage of all shapes and sizes. It’s all the paper goods that your guests will enjoy before, during, and even after your big day. I specialize in creative, artful, and thoughtful design. All my processes are designed to provide you with the most stress-free wedding stationery experience.
Whether you’re throwing an intimate elopement or an all-out rager of a wedding with hundreds of guests, I’ll handle all the design, complicated invitation wording, paper selections, color corrections, printing, assembling of all the tiny details, and even mailing, so all you have to do is sit back and cross “stationery” off your to-do list.

Studio Sanchez has officially been in business for about 6 years, and it feels cliche to say, but Studio Sanchez’ first ever “clients” were me and my now husband! I’ve worked in graphic design for about 15 years now and done everything from logos/branding, product design, social media, large scale event promotion, surface patterns for clothing, and t-shirt designs. When Nick and I got married, I wanted to create something unique for us. That desire eventually presented itself in hand drawn illustrations that I integrated into the invitations, as well as had printed on neckties and silk scarves for our bridal parties. I loved the work so much, and loved the way that every single element of our wedding was perfectly coordinated around those illustrations and our vision. The fully customizable elements (like the ties) were a hit with friends and family, and I just kept slowly doing weddings. After 3 years I was working about 80 hours a week, 40 at my corporate design job and 40 on weddings. It just naturally came to the point where I couldn’t sustain that lifestyle and so I quit my day job to pursue this full time.

My experiences in the other realms of graphic design prepared me to be a business owner, which made the transition so much easier. I knew how to talk to clients, how to ask them the right questions to get a good look into what they do and don’t like, how to hit deadlines, and I had the design part down so I felt confident in my abilities to do the work. Financially, the transition from employee to self employed was not necessarily fun, but I’m incredibly lucky to have an extremely supportive husband who can support our financial needs and encouraged me to take on my dreams.

Overall, I feel like I kind of just fell into the business, but I’m grateful every day that I did. Weddings have brought me so much joy and so much more fulfillment in my work than any of those other jobs did.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love this question, because taking people around my area is one of my favorite hobbies! I live outside of Portland, so there’s no shortage of good food, weird people, and fun activities.

Most people know Portland for it’s donuts, but one of its greatest food successes is the use of innovative ingredients. You want a donut? How about a Blueberry Bourbon Basil donut from Blue Star. Pizza? How about one with figs, smoked ham, and gruyere from Pizzicato (my personal favorite pizza place of all time). When you order fries from somewhere, they’re not just regular french fries, they’re truffle fries, topped with truffle oil and garlic. And then of course there’s the Portland dessert icon, Salt and Straw ice cream. Each month they do an array of speciality ice cream flavors based on a theme. In July it’s berry month, since fresh berries are jumping off the vines in bushes all around the PNW. You get ice cream flavors such as Wild-Foraged Berry Slab Pie and Goat Cheese Marionberry Habanero. They let you sample as many ice creams as you want, meaning you get the full experience of flavor from yum to just plain weird.

Multiple times a year Portland hosts food weeks, where all kinds of restaurants participate by making their own spin on a classic dish, such as hot dogs, dumplings, sandwiches, and pizza. On the same street, you could eat a Korean style hot dog topped with sriracha mayo and kimchi, and then go next door and get a traditional beef dog with chili cheese, ranch, topped with Fritos.

Only an hour and a half away, you can hit the Oregon Coast, where you’d stop at the Tillamook Dairy, home of Tillamook cheese and ice cream. You can take a tour of their cheese production, get free cheese samples, eat insanely delicious mac and cheese, and then finish with rich ice cream.

Just 30 minutes up the coast is a place called Pronto Pup, the home of the corndog (there’s a big dispute on whether it was born here or in Texas, but of course Oregonians will always say we birthed the corndog). Imagine sitting at the beach with a freshly fried corndog, filled with delicious beef dogs and local Tillamook cheese, and nice crisp Diet Coke.

All of this to say, if you visit me in Portland, you better be ready to eat!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people that have gotten me to this point, both in my life and in my career! First, my family. They have always encouraged me to pursue art and creativity in all forms, and made sure I had the resources and help to be successful.
My sister Sammi, has been a huge influence, especially on the business side. She has always been the one to reassure me when I’ve doubted my abilities, and my sounding board when I just need to vent about how hard things can get.
Mostly importantly, my husband Nick! He has always had my back 100% and been my emotional and mental stability through everything. Love you, Nick.
On the business side of things, I have to shoutout Niki Day from Niki Day Creative (formerly Ember and Stone Events). She has carried Studio Sanchez and given me opportunities that have launched me and sustained my success. Niki is the rock star to whom I owe it all.

Website: https://studiosanchez.design

Instagram: studio.sanchez

Image Credits
Chelsea Adams Photo
Love and Wolves Co
Kassie Gunn Photography
Jenni Photo Co
Georgia Miller
The Olive Bungalo