Mandy Bateman of Todaisys and Vellum Paper

Mandy runs Todaisy’s in Worcester – here’s Mandy’s story and how she loves the vellum paper trend;

wowvow: Tell us a little about the journey you made to launching your business.

Mandy: I’ve always loved being creative – it all started with making invitations and cards for my children’s birthday parties. I’ve found it a great way to unwind and de-stress – it’s always wonderful to give people something that you have put thought and love into. Then I found myself at a devastating and extremely stressful time in my life. My eleven-year-old son Joshua died from a brain tumour. The time in between his death and his funeral left me literally wanting to create something just for him – a final present I guess. So I spent a week, all hours, creating and producing an Order of Service especially for him – it kept me going. I made 200 which everyone has kept as a memento of Josh.

A year later, my sister sadly died, also from cancer. Again, I just went into overdrive to create something beautiful for her. After the funeral, my aunt said to me ‘you’ve got something here!’ you should go into business. It was too early for me emotionally at that time, but I still kept creating. Then in 2014, I took the plunge! Todaisy’s Wedding Stationery was born! I saw that my creations not only gave me immense pleasure in the making; my customers loved them too! My first orders were for Christening Invitations for a friend and Wedding Stationery for my niece – since then, Todaisy’s has gone from strength to strength.

wowvow: What advice would you give to any stationery designers setting up?

Mandy: One of the biggest challenges I faced in setting up is confidence, will it work? Will people love what I do? I’ve always had total belief in myself and my products – looking back at myself now, I have grown in confidence, and I believe that shines through into my customer service. My advice to others going into business is to have that self-efficacy, believe in yourself and your product, do it because you love what you do and not because of finance – that really does help your authenticity shine.

wowvow: How do you differentiate yourself from other wedding suppliers?

Mandy: Todaisy’s stationery is bespoke; therefore together with couples, we can create something that is unique for them. I offer an end to end service which takes the stress out of the stationery element for the couples wedding plans.