After years of working out of their Minneapolis home, Julie and Ben Chaet of Champagne Press have opened a storefront in Stillwater to offer clients a more full-service experience. Christening the new space with a celebratory open house styled shoot, Julie worked with several local vendors to fill the showroom with bursting blooms and sweet treats to complement the lovely displays of CP stationery. In addition to bridal clients, Champagne Press will also offer retail stationery sets and potted plants, so drop-ins are welcome!
From Julie Chaet:
It’s been a whirlwind adventure for the last six years as the owners of Champagne Press. After moving here from Arizona, where we grew our stationery start-up company, Champagne Press now has a new home in a little brick and mortar just off main street in historic Stillwater, Minnesota. Having a storefront where we can meet with our bridal clients, print and produce their invitation suites, and even retail stationery sets (and potted plants!), has given our clients a place to come visit and design the invitations of their dreams. What used to be a print + design start-up out of our South Minneapolis home with sample invites spilling out of my Prius, is now a cozy space where our handmade work is on display. All are invited to come pop some bubbly with us as we create your wedding invitations together.
What most people don’t realize is that we are a true family business. It wasn’t long after starting CP that my husband Ben left his day job in Arizona to focus fulltime on creating a family business with me. After investing in print equipment, we launched a website together and continue to be a husband and wife team whose strengths support each other. Even though our invitations have made it to all 50 states and 26 countries, nothing leaves our shop without both of our eyes on it and hours of dedicated work. When we moved back to my home state of Minnesota, our Aunt and retired teacher, Peg, without hesitation, came on to help with production and assembly. Our cousin Sara followed and now creates beautiful illustrations and watercolor artworks for our custom design clients. Are you wondering about the potted plants? Ben has quite the green thumb and is pretty much obsessed with growing plants-- the benefit of having a family shop is that we can share our passions with our clients. So grab a card and some ready-to-plant rosemary or fresh basil, all of which makes for a thoughtful and delicious gift.
There’s surely more to this story but for now it’s important to make mention of these incredible vendors that we are in kahoots with for this shoot. Krista Esterling who is a dear friend and a wonderful wedding photographer came to our shop to take photos of our new space, Sadie’s Couture Floral provided these lush garden florals, Farina Baking Company the delicious sweet treats and Makup by Mindie did my makeup. The glassware was handpicked from the incredible vintage shops in Stillwater and the stationery is, of course, from yours truly. A shout out to our extended family, everyone in the event industry in Minnesota, who are so welcoming and talented. We feel honored to be a part of the wedding and event teams that make Minnesota weddings so remarkable and memorable for couples in this state.
