Happy Holidays!

Thank you to everyone for your continued support throughout the year. May we all have a blessed 2013 filled with love, laugh and success! We are open throughout the December holidays so if you are planning your wedding or require any designs, ideas or quotes please send an email to merciamdesigns@gmail.com

Mercia M Designs in BRUIDSGIDS 2013

We are so excited to be proud of the new BRUIDSGIDS 2013 magazine. This Afrikaans bridal magazine features the latest wedding trends and is the ultimate guide for any bride.
We unfortunately only feature a small advert, but we appreciate the exposure! We are listed under Invitations and Stationery, Gifts as well as Albums.

Wedding Friends

We are so excited to announce that we are now part of the Wedding Friends family! They are fast becoming one of South Africa's leading wedding blogs. They feature real weddings, fabulous ideas, DIY's and loads of inspiration. Even if you are already married but still a wedding junkie at heart (like me) you will adore this website and visit it at least once a day!
We are very proud and honored to be on board and I totally agree "Cheers to a winning relationship!"

The Design Process and How it works

Jolene & Pieter's Invitations

For this upcoming wedding a modern and stylish but more traditional affair is being planned. Jolene and Pieter wanted something special and unique for their wedding invitation. The DL invite was printed with a special white clear ink on matt white paper and finished off with the most beautiful white lace and plum paper band. We can not wait to see what the rest will hold as we get closer to their big day!

If you want invites like these send a email to merciamdesigns@gmail.com

Save the Dates

Todays post is a Save the Date design we recently designed and printed for Geneveve and Jeandre's upcoming wedding! It is a postcard sized card and finished off with a gloss coating, rounded corners and a magnet at the back so people can put it on the fridge.

The design was inspired by the vintage theme of the wedding. Geneveve wanted to include their engagement photos on the card so we combined it with the vintage theme by adding the photos as a film strip at the bottom of the card. This design can easily be sent out as a email version as well.

For quotes send your details to merciamdesigns@gmail.com or phone 083 555 3052.

Year End Function Invitations

As we are fast approaching the end of year celebrations we have been keeping busy designing year end invitations amongst other things. One of our recent designs are postcard size cards printed both sides for a corporate fun filled year end celebration. The cards were printed on a uncoated recycled paper and finished off with grey and white twine and a customised printed envelope. This so rustic, elegant, earthy and stylish!

Coffee Table Books

We design and print photo coffee table books for weddings, family books, birthday books and more. With a clean design the books are printed on crisp white coated paper and wiro bound in either silver, white or black. 

The cover is designed to conceal the wiro and is covered with a stunning customised design and a matt laminate to keep it from stains. Each book is finished off with a customised printed box (base and lid) to protect your book for years to come.

Minimum amount of pages are 60. Please send an email to merciamdesigns@gmail.com for a quote.

Johan & Melise Wedding

I am so happy to blog this wedding today! I made the stationery for Johan and Melise who tied the knot on a beautiful day in September in Riebeek Kasteel. I posted their wedding invites a while ago, so here's the stationery. The ceremony booklet had the songs for the ceremony and the thank you's in and to bind all the pages we stitched it together. The table seating was printed on loose cards and put up in old vintage frames with twine and wooden washing pegs. All the amazing photos of the stationery and the happy couple is from Gilliam Olwage.

Paper Straws!

These stunning straws will brighten up any party or event! You can use it at weddings, birthday parties, kitchen teas, baby showers, family get-togethers or even at Christmas time! It will add a special touch and details to your pre-drinks, home made lemonade, juice or punch. It is available to buy in packs of 25 straws and there are 4 colours to choose from. Red, Lilac, Grey and Green (other colour requests are available).
Contact me on merciamdesigns@gmail.com or 083 555 3052 to place your order or if you have a specific colour request. (no postage included)

Logo Designs

Today's post feature 2 of my latest logo designs.
The one is for Boesmanland Trading, a small company that sells firewood, firelighters and other related products. I liked working on this project and I had so much fun drawing and putting together the pattern  of the little characters in the background.

The second logo is for a new small company called Daily Bread. They are putting together convenient, healthy lunch options to enjoy in the comfort of your office. Together with physical sustenance they also give thanks to the Lord. The have gourmet sandwiches, wraps, juices and other healthy snacks to offer. They also donate some of the money to help the less fortunate to a meal. How can you not be inspired by this!

Logo Design

I recently did a logo design for a farm, The Jacaranda Farms Trust, outside Villiersdorp where I live. This was a challenging and intimidating job maybe because I couldn’t use swirls and pretty patterns :-))

I had so much fun with this project that once I started I couldn’t stop! I learned so much during this process and that always is very rewarding! In the end I was very satisfied with the outcome and the client loved it! Featured below is the logo design and letterhead design.

To get a quote for any logo design send me your details to merciamdesigns@gmail.com 

or phone 083 555 3052.

Wedding Table Numbers

When deciding on table numbers for your wedding it is always best to keep in mind that it must be big enough for everyone to see but still pretty and fit in with your table decor. You don't want your guests to look everywhere for which table they are seated and be confused!

These easy and plain table numbers I make is practical and affordable. What's not to love! The paper it is printed on and the design is in the same style, look and colours of the rest of your stationery. It then slides into a painted wooden block and voila! It's plain and elegant with a slight rustic element.

The wooden blocks are available to hire (Western Cape only) for only R10 each. Collection and return not included.

To place your order email your details to merciamdesigns@gmail.com or phone me on 083 555 3052.

New Design: Square Pocket Invitation

I want to share with you this recent invitation design I did.

It is a stunning idea or variation to the traditional square invitation. The invite is printed on a separate card that is inserted into a pocket/sleeve.

For this specific invitation the bride chose a natural textured paper with no printing on the pocket. But it will look amazing with a soft pattern printed on both sides so you can see it behind the insert as well as on the flap it slides into.

This bride even included a magnetic strip on the back so guests can put it on their fridge as a reminder of when to rsvp, what to get for a gift and also to make reservations.

This stunning invitation and pocket slides easily into an envelope to send to guests via post, but looks just as beautiful when delivered by hand without an envelope. So you can save money and just order the exact number of envelopes you need.

Send your details for a free quote to merciamdesigns@gmail.com or phone 083 555 5052.

Wedding Newspapers

Wedding newspapers are a big trend at weddings. It can be handed out to your guests before the church ceremony and give them all the necessary info they need for the day. You can include the songs they are singing in the church, who is part of the bridal party, the seating arrangement for the reception, the menu, the thank you messages and any other special message or even a pop quiz you would like to include.

Not only is it practical but it will save you money, as you won’t have to print all the different elements like menus and table seating cards separately, as it is all included in a stunning designed newspaper.

The best option to go for is an A3 newspaper folded to A4, but when printed in black and white it looks even more like a newspaper but with a nostalgic touch.

For a free quote send an email to merciamdesigns@gmail.com or phone Mercia on 083 555 3052.

Don't forget about all my stunning handmade products!

Including a range of fabric covered beads, french petersham ribbons, printed pillowcases, fabric gift cards and gift tags, fabric gift bags and invites, tags and paper place mats for your dinner parties!

For any questions, enquiries or quotes send an email to merciamdesigns@gmail.com or phone 083 555 3052!

Kitchen Tea Email Invitations

Are you a bridesmaid at your best friends’ wedding and you have to plan her kitchen tea? Look no further. Start by getting a fabulous invitation designed specially for the day. This is the first impression guests will get of the day you have planned for the bride. This should set the mood and make guests not want to miss it. And to make things even easier you can email it to everyone you have to invite. This is so much more special than sending out a boring sms!

We have a special offer for kitchen tea invitations!! For only R300 you get a three-part invitation, which consists out of the following:
1. The invitation design in email format to send to your guests.
2. You also get the design in a printable file if you have to make a few prints.
3. You get a designed mms and/or email reminder the week before to send to the guests to remind them again of the date, time etc.

Send me an email to merciamdesigns@gmail.com for more information.

Zach & Jurina's Wedding

Zach & Jurina have been going out for the last ten years, so when they finally decided to tie the knot a huge celebration was to follow. Jurina is one of my best friend's sister, so we are basically family!

Zach and Jurina had a gorgeous summer wedding in the small town Villiersdorp, where they both grew up. 
The wedding had a slightly more traditional feel to the theme and everything was perfect from the decor to the flowers and every last detail. The colour scheme was fresh with shades of green, cream and white. Oh and the bride looked amazing in her dress by Elizabeth Stockenstrom.
I designed the email save the date, invitations, table numbers, table seating, church programmes, tags, gift boxes through to the thank you cards.

(Image Credits: Invite photo was taken by me :-) and all the other images by Lilac Photography)

Jaco & Jonandi's - Vintage Bushveld Wedding Sneak Peek

This is only a sneak peek of one of the recent weddings I worked on.
Great friends of our family, Jaco and Jonandi tied the knot on a beautiful autumn afternoon in the bushveld just outside Pretoria. The wedding had a vintage farm theme and everything was perfect from the decor to the flowers and every last detail. Have a look on the awesome wedding photographer Simoné Franzel's website for even more stunning photos from this wedding.

I designed the invitations, table numbers and a stunning wedding newspaper, but will share more stationery photos soon!

(Image Credits: Invite photo was taken by me :-) and all the other images from www.simonefranzel.com)

The happy couple!!

Mercia M Designs on Facebook and Pinterest

We are now on Facebook and Pinterest and loving it!
Follow the links and like my page and find inspiration on my pin boards!
Go to www.facebook.com/MerciaMDesigns and www.pinterest.com/merciamdesigns

Thank you for all the support!

2011 to now...

I want to share with you what I have been up to for the past year and a half. I was taking time off from doing my own thing and started as a graphic & layout designer at the fabulous BRUIDSGIDS and WEDDING GUIDE magazines in Pretoria. 


Bruidsgids is an annual magazine and was first published in 1996 and is distributed every year in December throughout South Africa. Wedding Guide was first published in 2006 after they realized that there is a need for an English bridal magazine based on the same format as the Afrikaans Bruidsgids. It includes an African Bride section and featuring suppliers in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KZN and the Cape.


I learned so much by working here and really enjoyed every minute.  Have a look out for the latest issue of Wedding Guide 2012/13 as we are currently finalising the layout and it will be on the shelves by the end of July.


Through the year I also worked on small freelance jobs and had the privilege to work on many invitation and stationery designs for weddings, which I will feature on the blog soon.


After moving back to the Western Cape in April I am hard at work with my own design studio again.
I am passionate about creating great designs. From logo design, event invitations and stationery, greeting cards, business cards, letterheads, brochures, wedding photo books, magazine adverts, book layout and design and other industry related concepts. I strive to produce the best unique design for each client's requirements offering them a one-of-a-kind product with the best attention to detail. 

If you’d like to get a free quote for your design project, please email me on merciamdesigns@gmail.com or phone 083 555 3052.