Cards worth their weight in gold

Pictures of cards by The Card Company for a Business Big Ticket by Jessica Hill. Courtesy The Card Company

If you want your wedding to be truly memorable, start as you mean to go on – with a wedding invite to be treasured forever. The Card Co provides more than just a card. For a recent Hindu wedding, five-gram Dh1,000 24-carat gold nuggets were encased in each gold-foiled card.

For tech-savvy couples, video cards can display memories or messages on a high-definition screen. The card’s lithium-ion battery can be recharged, and the sound controlled on twin stereo speakers.

The company also offers invitations from Vera Wang and Crane & Co at their store in DIFC.

The Card Co’s own custom-made cards are printed by their sister company, Spectrum.

“A client will make an appointment, sit down with us and describe their theme, favourite colours, and what they do and don’t like”, explains the company’s manager and partner Daniel Rodgers. “Three members of our creative team work with the clients to come up with a concept. If it’s a husband and wife, there are disagreements but then the bride usually wins. We’ll then send the couple about five samples of the finished product.

“Gift boxes are very popular. People love that you’re actually presenting something, rather than just handing a card in an envelope. But the crazy thing here is people want everything done within a week. We work to very tight deadlines.”

The company also offers personalised stationery that can include a wax seal, calligraphy, letterheads, envelopes, business cards, comment cards and even luggage tags. Dh10,000 gets you 100 sets of gold-foiled, embossed paper and envelope sets.

“Many of our clients are CEOs who want their own individual, rather than company, stationery”, says Mr Rodgers.

When it comes to special occasions, it’s not just the invites that are custom-made. Personalised hangers have been designed for hotel room doors, and invitations have come with room keys.

A lawyer in Ghana recently asked the Card Co to provide 400 sets of video cards, boxes, menus, guest books, invitations, bags and chocolate boxes for her 40th birthday party.

“It kept getting more and more elaborate, and everything had to be shipped to Ghana,” says Mr Rogers.

“We do have a lot of international clients, particularly from Africa. They come across us when they’re here on business, and say they can’t find the same services locally.”

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