Before I started Ruby Honey Bee, I’d often attend weddings and milestone celebrations of family and friends that didn’t have any personal touches. To be honest, they all felt the same. If I wasn’t already aware of who the celebration was for it really could’ve been for anyone.

When I myself became engaged and being a person who does not enjoy being the centre of attention, we had planned a Clayton’s celebration – AKA a celebration without having a celebration – a gathering of family and friends. We planned no speeches or formalities, just a fun evening to mark the occasion. The night didn’t proceed as scheduled – the self-appointed best man deciding to start the speeches early, set my anxiety in motion and the rest of the evening went into a blur. The following day I felt so disheartened. I hadn’t greeted and spent time with all of our guests, I felt foggy about who had attended and who didn’t.

In the end I realised the problem was we hadn’t attempted to ‘make it ours’ and that it was just like everyone else’s celebrations – overwhelmingly impersonal. Feeling like I had lost that moment I made a promise to myself to make our next celebration the best celebration it could be, and to make it as unique, just as we are, as individuals.

Whilst diving head first into ‘wedding planning mode’ and creating various Pinterest boards – “our dream wedding” – I realised that just about everything I had fallen in love with to make our wedding ours, wasn’t available within Australia.

Knowing that I was keeping up with current wedding trends and that I loved working with timber, a friend asked me to craft a personalised guest book out of some gorgeous Tasmanian timber they had acquired. That was the moment the Ruby Honey Bee dream came alive.

Now, because of the beauty of Tasmanian Timber and the concept of the beautiful books I wanted to create, I was concerned that the price point of our guest books may be more than people would pay..

But my fears were put to rest. The sales started happening, bride after bride providing me quality feedback about how much they loved the quality and feel of the book and how their personalised guest book enhanced their wedding. Pretty soon I realised that I was on the right path after all.

My concept was formalised. I would create a beautiful, high-end, quality based collection of personalised stationary and home wares for couples, so they could truly own their moment.

However as my journey progresses, It turns out the road was more difficult than I first anticipated.

Suppliers of quality, high end Tasmanian timber were difficult to find and were reluctant to negotiate on a price, which presented me a pricing issue. I wanted a product brides could afford and would feel represented value for money.

Some customers had questioned the quality of the materials, even though the suppliers are highly regarded as world leaders in specialty timbers and I hand picked the materials myself.

Because I hadn’t anticipated these road humps, I developed a stepping-stone brand, The Wedding Guest Book Co, where I put all of my focus into what was to be a signature product in the final collection of RHB. I offered this range at a reduced rate to invite feedback from my customers – the people that would be actually using our books. This approach set the wheels in motion, with more and more orders. It seemed word had spread about the quality craftsmanship of our personalised guest books.

Unexpectedly, I had some health issues arise and I was subsequently advised to make health my priority. I took a step back from the business and our wedding plans were placed on hold. For two years, I have focused any and all remaining energy into redesigning our guest book to be even better, in quality and functionality. My approach of continuous improvement and development of my products, see’s ever changing collections, which provide for the most amazing personalised celebrations any bride could dream of. I knew that I had to keep designing for those brides who were still emailing requesting more items from the same bespoke materials that can’t be found anywhere else.

I am pleased to say I have come out the other side. My health is literally the best it has ever been, wedding plans are back on track, and we have released our first products as Ruby Honey Bee which have received an overwhelming response. The dream has come to fruition.

We are now Australia’s leading maker of personalised guest books working solely with beautiful Tasmanian timbers.

Enjoy,

Cara and Juan x
Meticulously crafted in Hobart, Tasmania