Meet Jessica Graham, Maine’s D-vite Diva
by Weddings Down East

What if you love the idea of a digital invite, but want something that doesn’t come off an electronic shelf, something your guests will immediately recognize as you?

Meet Gigi Guinott—or rather Jessica Graham, the Maine-based graphic designer behind the name of this unique wedding invitation service. Like many creative businesses, Gigi Guinott seemed to spring forth from necessity. When several friends began requesting her graphic design talents for their upcoming wedding invitations and announcements, Graham discovered her niche. “My friend was in rather special circumstance,” she explains. “Her aunt had painted a watercolor especially for her fiancé and her, which she hoped could somehow be included in the wedding invitation. Not knowing anything about production she came to me. It was a collaborative effort. In the end, I think she felt that she had a uniquely personal wedding invitation.”

Graham’s experience in advertising and design for a large company in New York City, followed by a traveling stint through Europe, helped broaden her design sensibilities. Returning back to Maine in 2007, where she’d been raised, she started her new business, naming it after her pioneering great grandmother, Gigi. Offering a variety services, including custom art and design for print invitations, Graham has also ventured into the digital arena as a way to offer her clients flexibility in the way they choose to communicate their message. “Digital invitations are a wonderful alternative for many events,” says Graham. “For one it is a ‘green’ method of sending an invite. As the primary function is to communicate digitally, there is little to no impact environmentally as no printing inks or papers have been used.” She adds, “It is also a faster alternative as the turn-around time on printed materials is going to be much longer. And finally,” she says, “with climbing postal rates, a digital invitation can save the customer $50 or more on mailing costs alone.”

It’s rare in the wedding business to find someone as genuinely passionate about the smallest details as you are, but Graham’s enthusiasm for fonts, paper stock and accent colors is infectious. With her you forget you’re talking business; it feels more like hatching a grand scheme. “I want my clients to be so excited about their invitation that they can hardly wait to send it,” she says. “The kind of excitement that keeps you up at night and has you out of bed at sunrise licking stamps!”


Invitation design by Jessica Graham
The sense of fun and humor she brings to each project is enhanced by each client’s personality. She likes to hold the initial design meeting at the clients’ home or wedding/reception location to get to know his or her personal taste and style. “It a great opportunity for me to gauge what works and what doesn’t,” she says.

Once she and the client determine a few ideas, Graham then selects an appropriate domain name for the event and builds a website with a signature home page that is largely visual—something to draw the recipients in, exciting them about what’s to follow. The corresponding web pages can contain travel and maps, accommodation information, and even a link to an e-mail address for the RSVP.


Take this recent digital design she did for one client who was planning a reception at the top of a Maine mountain. Graham designed the invitation to visually “pop” upon opening with a downloadable poster of a chairlift, splashing it with a summery Sub Pop look and feel, as well as a campy, printable “ticket” for entry into the event.

Using similar interactive tools that other “design your own” e-invitation sites offer, she can arrange that maps, directions and/or artwork open in a separate pop-up windows for printing. For an additional fee, she can include a blog feature to a website so the hosts can update invitees on any changes.

For now all of her work is custom designed. However, her business plan is expanding to offer ‘in-house’ letterpress capabilities as well as design templates for press and web, where all the customer needs is to add is his or her personal information.

You can be sure that whatever way you wish to communicate one of the most important messages you’ll ever impart to your friends and family, Graham is ready to get down there with you, roll up her sleeves and come up with something that will knock their socks off.

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Click here to visit GigiGuinott.com >>