I have a business related question for you all: if you were asked to do something that you knew wasn't considered to be within the guidelines for proper etiquette but certainly wouldn't kill anyone, would you do it at the request of your customer?
This is something I've been thinking about as I get more requests to have custom wedding invitations made. I was very concerned with etiquette when I was planning my own wedding, because I've always believed that concern for etiquette is really concern for making sure your guests are as comfortable as possible with all things surrounding your event. I even gravitated toward the Etiquette message board when I was planning my wedding (Hi, {P&} E ladies!)
So, when it comes to my customers, should I blatently ignore what etiquette says if my customer requests it? Well...I hope not. I hope that would be an opportunity for me to educate them on what is traditionally done, and why etiquette says it should be one of another. And then, in an ideal world, they'd listen to my brilliance and we'd find another way to go with things :)
However, if they're set in what they want, would I still accept the work? (Or, for that matter, would they even want me to do the work for them?) I can say that I have created some things that violate etiquette - using a married initial within a monogram, for example. {Since things like invitations and aisle runners are used prior to the marriage, the last initial shouldn't be used in monograms, unless the monogram will be exclusively used for something after the couple is wed...for example, a cocktail napkin.} One of my favorite aisle runner monograms ever involved using the couple's last name...which, as you'll see above, is not proper. It was still pretty though.
On the flip side, there are some things I would never do because I find them so tacky I wouldn't want my name associated with them.
I guess what I'm asking is, where should one draw the line? At what point is a payment more important than doing what you know is proper? Now as I said at the beginning of this post, these aren't life and death situations here...but, they are important, especially when it comes to creating things for weddings. {And, come to think of it, my "real" job, which involves a lot of event planning.}
Does etiquette still have a place in today's event planning world? I, obviously, think it does. What do you think? Have we moved beyond etiquette? Have the rules evolved over time? Are matters of etiquette classic and timeless?
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your feedback...even if you think I'm an old-fashioned nut!
Have a great day, all!
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