How many times have you received an invitation to a friend's wedding and thought, "Oh that's a great invite, so original! I must keep it to show the others."? If the answer is never, it's really no surprise as most invitations are less than memorable. Stationery by the Mayo based company Big Leap Designs certainly are unforgettable though.

Not only are they are wacky and funky but according to its founder, Emma Eustace they are "designed with the modern couple in mind." If you've ever seen her greeting cards you know the look - stick characters, cartoon love hearts, cute smiling faces.

There are a number of different types of invitations in the Big Leap range to choose from and they're all designed in Emma Eustace's inimitable style.

WeddingsOnline.ie caught up with Emma to get an idea of her unique style and company. How did you get into the wedding invitation market? "I used to do a lot of one-off things for weddings when friends or family would refer me to people. As demand grew I thought it might be better to just design up a selection of cards and let people choose from a range of fonts and images to get the look that suited them. I must say it has worked out very well. The wedding invitation area of the business has actually been one of the quickest to grow."

What kind of couples do you design for? "We're really catering for the contemporary couple. We try to do something a little bit different at all times. For a wedding the invitation can be the one area where people can show a bit of originality and humour. I think the cards we design are that bit more memorable for that reason."

How did you first get into designing cards? "I studied design at college in London and from there got into the print industry. I always thought that Irish-designed greeting cards would go down well, but I didn't have a grand plan exactly. I put together some quirky designs and then brought them around to some shops. When I saw there was an interest, I decided to go for it.

And what has happened since then? "Since then the company has grown at a very healthy rate and we've actually had to move to a bigger premises. We started in Dublin but are now located in a green-field site in Ballinrobe in Mayo. I have to say love it! I think I've always been a country girl at heart.

When I had the option of moving either to here or to an industrial estate in Dublin, the choice was easily made: from my office window I can see cows and green fields and that helps the creative process. It was a good move all round."

How is the business organised and what are your plans for the future? "We have two full-time people and one part-timer and I'm the sole designer. There is one full-time person devoted solely to organising the wedding stationery. A certain amount of general stock is available on the web but there will be a more comprehensive range very soon. On the web we are already getting orders from as far away as Australia and Japan. But when we expand the website we expect that our customer will grow further.

Pretty soon we'll be adding a wider range of products, such as napkins and place mats." For more information about Big Leap Design wedding stationery, contact Brenda at Tel. 092-42122, Fax. 092-42123 or by internet at www.bigleapdesigns.com.