Personalize Your Bridal Accessories: An Interview with Monde Design

This week's interview features Shelli Moon of MondeDesign. Shelli is located in the Kansas City, MO area.

Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a wife and mother to a wonderful family. I have a boy and a girl, 9 and 5, who are just amazing (but of course every mother thinks that). I grew up in small towns, and now love living by a larger city. I was a florist for a number of years before getting married and becoming a stay at home mom. I occasionally get to still do high-end weddings and social events with the business of a good friend of mine, which gives me just enough of an outlet for my floral creativity. When I'm not working, I spend my time taking care of my family, and researching new ideas.>


What special things do you create for weddings?
I create custom wedding accessories with machine embroidery including garters, dress labels, ring pillows, hankies, and bouquet sashes among other things.
My most popular item is the dress labels…I do hundreds of those.

Who or what sparked your interest in making wedding-related items?
Actually, wedding work came to me. When I first started, I was making more women and children's everyday accessories. I put up the dress labels just because I thought they were so interesting, and wanted to see what happened with them. They completely took off, and I got into other wedding accessories as well. Partly due to natural progression, and partly due to customers wanting things that matched their labels and other wedding items. It has turned into a wonderful opportunity for me, especially since taking over a second website www.thegartermaker.net.

What is a little known fact, or something unique about your work that is interesting?
Each item is completely made per order. From the design, to the sewing, to the finishing. I have tens of thousands of designs that can be used to add personality to the items, and in most cases I can create an embroidery design to match a couple's wedding design/monogram exactly.

If you are married, what's the one thing you wish you had for your wedding that you didn't?
I loved our wedding. It was simple, and everyone had a wonderful time. But I wish that I had had the little details. Surprisingly, I didn't have a garter, or dress label, or any of that. If I did it over, I would add more details to the day.
The invitations that are out there today are amazing; I would love to have done something like that.

What is your favorite wedding song?
At Last. I attended a wedding where the bride surprised the groom by singing that to him at the reception, and it was so touching. She was not a professional singer, and worked so hard to be able to do that for him that day. It was very touching.

What is your favorite part of the wedding journey?
As a non-business aspect, I actually love seeing the end of the wedding journey. When everyone relaxes, and all the stress is done, and they can just enjoy the day. As far as business goes, I love having brides email me when they receive their item and say that it is just what they were looking for. It's not something that they need to do, and it means a lot that they take the time to do that, since the items can be so personal.

What advice can you share for all the brides getting married this year?
To make it personal—make it about you, and enjoy the moments.
And let go when you get to that day. As a florist, I've seen weddings from the very small budget; to the very large high six figure budgets. Sometimes, it's the small weddings that make the bigger impact. The ones where you can see the love in the eyes of the couple. Where the wedding is more about them, rather than the guests, and its about the marriage, rather than just the wedding itself.

What is your perfect honeymoon spot?
Europe. My husband spent much of his life growing up in Europe, so I love for him to show me all the places he has been.

If you could pick anyone famous that would purchase your items for their wedding, who would they be?
That is a really hard question! As a business owner, I'd love to have anyone purchase something that will get a picture out there! But personally, I don't know...that's much harder.

If you could choose 1 item from your shop that you wish every bride could have, what would it be?
Definitely the Dress label. It is such a personal item, and even though not many people will see it, it's my favorite item. Even though the dress is not always passed down anymore, if it is kept, the label is a wonderful reminder of the person that wore it. And if the dress is sold, the label can be removed, and it's like still having a piece of the dress as a memento.

Links where we can find out more about your work:
Monde Design's Website
Monde Design's Etsy Shop
The Garter Maker Website