Local Vendor Feature:: Please Reply:: Birmingham, AL

In my continuous quest for local vendors I discovered a hidden away stationery and invitations store in Crestline Village. Over on Vine Street, just by the elementary school sits a little yellow house full of personalized items, gifts, and papers. The owners, Betty McEwen and Katie Smith were generous enough to let me overrun the store with my camera and my questions. 

Click on any image to view it larger.

The front of the shop is full of tote bags and goodies to personalize! I really enjoyed the "mommy agenda" bookshelf and of course, the display of Alabama merchandise (left image)

These onesies are precious, the one on the left has an elephant with a blanket on its back that says "roll tide" and the right is an airplane, both can be customized. The hand towels on the right would be such a cute bridesmaid gift.

And now for the good stuff, the event invitations! I picked some of my favorites from the shop, which actually carries a lot of local lines. I was really excited to see products from local Jenny Barry of Press Charming, she did our wedding invitations and her letterpress goods are absolutely gorgeous. 

The middle one is a new address that says "a new nest" and it makes me want to move so that I can have an excuse to send these out. 

(all three by Press Charming)

I love the colored envelopes, and the invitation on the right is for a crawfish boil!

(both by Press Charming)

Many of the products at Please Reply can be printed on for showers, parties, and announcements. The invitation on the left is a bestseller by Devonshire, the center pink bridal shower invitation is by Mindy Weiss from Arkansas, And the blue with lace is by Cat Seto from San Francisco.

These metallic invitations with ribbon embellishments are by local designer  Fabulous Designs.

The green on the left really stood out to me, by Cat Seto. The Thank you card to the right is by Prentiss Douthit from Birmingham.

All three of these designs are by Prentiss Douthit, the simple and colorful squares on the left are really fresh and the the invitation on the right has a very playful elegance. 

The really fun thing about stores like Please Reply is that you can go through the entire wedding process with paper in their shop! From engagement party invitations to save the dates, wedding invitations, shower invitations, thank you cards, and baby announcements. They have so many options for bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts and really lovely hostess gifts. They carry many luxury stationeries such as Vera Wang, Crane, and Kate Spade. 


Betty and Katie were so personable and they make an excellent Mother-Daughter team. Betty got started in the business over ten years ago when Katie was engaged and about four years ago Katie joined her mother in the Crestline shop. 


I can imagine having a wonderful experience there as a bride. Please Reply has a wedding room just filled with wedding books full of invitations which would surely overwhelm anyone if left to them alone, but Betty and Katie are there to expertly bring out the designers that best fit your taste. They also work with local calligraphers for customized invitations and have samples for brides thinking of having their envelopes hand addressed by an expert (samples coming up in a future post, if any local calligraphers would like to be featured as well let me know!)


Thank you so much Betty and Katie for your time and patience!