GOOOD DAY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!
Welcome back to Sugar Rush by Portia, your source for wedding planning tips, tricks and everything in-between!
This is our second vendor spotlight! This time, the Spotlight’s on Oluwadamilola Okuboyejo, founder and creative director of By Dami Studios. Before I jump into specifics on the company and the founder, please allow me to provide you with a little info on why this spotlight is important to me. I started following @bydamistudios about 5 years ago when the primary business was Parchment by Dami. I honestly can’t remember how I came across her page, but I remember being immediately enamored by her beautiful creations and attention to detail. The cherry on top was the fact that she is a West African woman making a splash in the wedding industry. I have been hooked on ByDamiStudios creations ever since! I also admire Damilola’s drive and determination in her business! When I reached out to her about this feature and she responded YES, I literally danced around my house until I went to sleep that night. Motto of the story is don’t be afraid to reach out to the people that inspire you!
Now, a little about Damilola and the By Dami Studios empire.
By Dami Studios is an intentional design studio based out of Harlem that was founded in 2012. It is a one stop shop for handmade personalized goods made excellently with intention. Under the By Dami Studios umbrella are Parchment by Dami, Boxed by Dami, and Clutched by Dami.
Parchment by Dami specializes in creating luxury custom invitations and fine stationery. Their high quality and timeless designs are suited for the discerning clientele. They are passionate about clean designs, flawless craftsmanship, attention to detail, originality, and excellent customer service.
Boxed by Dami’s main focus is creating truly personalized luxury gifting. Our handcrafted boxes and gift items plus our partnership with the finest artisans from all over the world truly sets apart our gifting experience.
With over 3,500 hand placed crystals, we are proud of our newest addition; Clutched by Dami. This new venture brags in creating anything your mind can dream up, our handmade custom clutches serves as one of a kind keepsakes that will last for many generations to come.
By Dami Studios is sought out all over the world and is privileged to serve clients from all works of life to help bring their stationery, gifting, and custom clutch dreams to reality.
Dami is a self-taught designer who stumbled upon this crazy amazing world when she was planning her own wedding. Dami resides in Harlem, New York, loves cake, reading, living in the moment and creating memories with her husband and twin boys.
Vendor Spotlight Questions and Answers with Damilola of By Dami Studios:
1. What inspired you to start your business?
I created my wedding invitations and I got a lot of positive feedback, everyone kept asking where I had them made, and that was how Parchment by Dami was created. To be honest, it simply fell on my lap. It was not really my intention to make my own invitations. But a failed promise brought me this blessing.
2. What is your favorite thing about designing wedding stationery or stationery in general?
I love the idea of keepsakes, the idea of creating intentional pieces, whether invitations or a clutch, I’m obsessed with timeless pieces. I also love the challenge of representing my couples or rather creating something that is representative of them and helps set the tone for what is to come.
3. If you could give two pieces of advice to a future bride/groom, what would they be?
– Have a budget and stick with it.
– Create a wedding that speaks to you, be authentic plan something that feels really good to you. We currently live in a world where people are so consumed about how things look and are trying to portray a certain type of image or wedding or lifestyle regardless of if it is true or false. I encourage couples to let go of this false pressure. Spend what you can and create a genuine experience for you and your loved ones.
4. If you could give two pieces of advice to someone looking to establish their own design studio, what would you tell them?
Just start, you might have to experiment for a bit to find where you fit.
Practice and keep working on your craft and you’ll figure out your tribe and people.
5. To close us out, can you share with us a favorite client story?
The jobs that stand out to me are the challenging ones, and those clients that when things go wrong they’re still kind and thoughtful. I’m just grateful for all my clients. (this is my politically correct answer lol)
And that’s the gist! See below for some samples of items from By Dami Studios:
To see more samples or to place an order for your special day (or any day for that matter), head over to @bydamistudiosnyc @clutchedbydami and @boxedbydami. Also did I mention that Damilola stayssss slaying!! The long and short of the story is follow her! You won’t regret it.
That’s it for today! As always, share, like, and drop your comments.
Toodles for now, SugarBees! <3
