Sophie Kent, Designer and Director of Peony & Rose, an online luxury wedding stationery company based in Hampshire, has been making headlines in the wedding industry and shares with us the secret behind her success.

I?ve led quite a varied career; following University I worked for a small advertising agency as their Junior Creative. I worked on initial ideas for briefs, roughly drawing up my ideas and presenting them to the Creative Director. It gave me a better insight into the world of advertising and I gradually began to realise it wasn?t the path I wanted to follow. After taking a year out to travel around Australia, I came back home uncertain how I was going to use my degree. I spent the next few years working in various contract roles, from Marketing and Administration to Customer Services to fund more travel. I had the travel bug and couldn?t settle. I was hoping at some point I would ?find myself? and suddenly know what to do career wise, but it didn?t happen. Eventually, I made the decision to come home with the intentions of staying put this time! All my friends were beginning to settle down and I was still skipping from one country to the next. In 2004 I landed a job as an Administrative Assistant at a pharmaceutical company in Berkshire where I ended up spending the next 7 years and eventually working as a Drug Safety Associate. I sat alongside pharmacists and physicians writing up reports of patients who had experienced adverse reactions to any of the company?s products. While I enjoyed this role, and made some lifelong friends, I still missed the creativity that the world of advertising had brought me.

Peony & Rose, named after the two flowers in my own wedding bouquet, was the initial inspiration behind my designs. All of my current wedding stationery collections are available to order from www.peonyandrose.co.uk and can be completely personalised for each client. While I don?t offer a bespoke service, I?m very flexible with my stationery collections. I?m happy to incorporate elements from one of my designs and mix it up with another to create something totally unique. With a huge range of colours, envelopes and cards to choose from and each client adding their own personal touch, no two designs are ever the same.

I design all aspects of wedding stationery from save the date cards and invitations, to all of the ?on the day? stationery, such as table plans, orders of service and place cards. My designs are a blend of vintage and classic styling.

I?m always keeping in touch with the wider world of weddings via magazines and pinterest. I like to see what?s popular and trending with regards to fashion, in particular wedding dresses, flowers and colour schemes. This ensures my designs are relevant to what people are looking for, whilst always staying true to my style. I occasionally take myself off to London to see what?s new. I love looking around Liberty at the fabrics and stationery section. I also enjoy the Victoria & Albert museum. It could be something as simple as looking at an old manuscript that triggers an idea.