1007 Nautical Weddings this year, how and what we're learning

It's only October, and Jill said we shipped our 1,000th wedding order on Monday the 8th.  As I edit this on Thursday,  7 more shipped.  How did this happen? How did a 61 year old knot shop suddenly capture the niche of nautical weddings, or more accurately, how did the nautical wedding world find Mystic Knotwork?

We never thought of nautical weddings, we just tie stuff

Mystic Knotwork and my family has always been about knots.  Knots for the purity of the art, not for decoration.  It's you, our friends and fans, that show us what to use them for.  I am humbled that almost 10,000 couples have used our work to add details for their wedding.

Because we are all about the knots, the designers and couples are using us as a resource.  We aren't chasing the trends, we are the dependable anchor to your overall theme.

We've learned that people want the authentic and our knots fit within themes I've never considered.  Steampunk weddings?  Sure, in a Jules Verne theme, a little brass paint and they had nautical 'metal' bits for the table.  It was insane what I've seen and the creativity of the modern couple is jaw dropping.  We are so proud to take part.

Nautical Weddings were an accident to us

We never even though about weddings when we went online.  We thought of our bracelets, we thought of our fancy work, and we thought about toys and door mats.  The Wedding arena was 'given to us' by two big events.

The Newport Harbor Yacht Club in California bought 40 dog toys from us on Etsy one year.  It was the biggest toy order we had ever filled, and we could not understand why.  It wasn't until 3 months later that I got my first call for 'one of those wedding knots.'  I still remember that conversation like it was yesterday.  I was so confused. 

We learned that our knots were part of the centerpiece of the Commandor Gordan's retirement party.  They sent us pictures after I called, and let us know that the local media picked up the story and pictures.  We were on the wedding map in California.

Martha Stewart

The second opportunity took months to play out, and we didn't know it at the time.  

We were actively making favors and centerpieces for weddings by 2011 when Liz called.  Her brother was getting married in Western Connecticut and she needed wedding favors.  We worked on some blue monkey fist keychains and other bits.  There was a last minute change to her order, and we made some rush moves to make sure our little bit of the wedding was in place, including hand delivering extra work.  Liz... was (and is) Elizabeth Graves, Director of Martha Stewart Weddings.  This was the start of Mystic Knotwork's overall growth.

We ended up with a picture from Elizabeth's brothers wedding in Martha Stewart Weddings. That opened up a whole world to us.  We've seen our work in almost any wedding and holiday theme you can think of from coastal, to inland, rustic, steampunk, and even western themed weddings.Unknown to us, Elizabeth talked about us in her offices, catching the attention of Hannah Milman, Martha's right hand person.  This was the beginning of the most valuable mentor-ship we've enjoyed.  There is a whole story on our ride with Martha Stewart's team support, but this is a wedding conversation.

Because the knot is an icon of weddings, we've been able to have our skills included in weddings of many religions, cultures, and regions.  We know know how to overnight ship a wedding to South Korea, though I don't recommend that postal rate ;)

I'm sharing some of the pictures our couples have sent, I'm excited to see more.  (we are bad at asking, if you have some, please share!)

We are working on new ideas for nautical wedding and really enjoy creating the knotted elements that complete the look.  Stop by the shop with your ideas or email us.  We are here to help you make your event complete.  If you know any planners, have them reach out to us as a resource.

Thanks
Matt