Sealed with Love

P. Press Papers, newly headquartered in Oxford, offers wholesale goods ranging from stationery to beverage napkins and party cups, as well as custom wedding invitations.

Written by Lanie Anderson

Photographed by Joe Worthem

With her background in fashion and interior design, Sheri Scruggs always had an eye for colors and patterns. When she had her first child in 2006 and was in need of a birth announcement, Scruggs discovered the personalized paper industry.

“After my daughter was born, I was enlightened to the world of paper,” Scruggs said. “I couldn’t figure out how I was going to do her birth announcements, so I just made them. From there, I dove into doing personalized paper.”

She is now the owner and creative director of P. Press Papers (the “P” stands for peridot, Scruggs’ August birthstone). The business is now headquartered in Oxford, but it started as a Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., storefront that sold other designers’ stationery. When Scruggs and her husband, both University of Mississippi graduates, moved their family from Florida to Atlanta in 2011, Scruggs decided to create her own line of personalized paper, and the company grew from there.

Armed with a degree in fashion merchandising and marketing, as well as her experience as a business owner, Scruggs reconnected with former clients and printers throughout the Southeast that she had met through her Florida storefront. She told them about her new business endeavor and, over a two-year period, developed a line of paper products from her favorite designs while she took individual orders.

By 2013, Scruggs’ personalized paper was in such high demand that P. Press Papers transitioned into a wholesale business. Scruggs started selling stationery and other paper products in bulk to different retailers.

After her family moved back to Oxford last summer, Scruggs wanted a creative space where brides could visit for consultations, so she made an addition: the P. Press Bridal Paper Studio, located on West Oxford Loop.

“The wedding invitation truly sets the tone for the wedding,” Scruggs said. “I need to know what inspires a bride, and that drives me. I ask a bride to tell me her hopes and dreams for her wedding invitation because it is the first thing her guests see, no matter what she has planned.” 

Scruggs asks about every detail of a bride’s wedding, from the flower choices to the colors of the bridesmaids’ dresses, so that she is able to design a wedding suite that coordinates with the event. She also asks that a bride do her research before the consultation so that Scruggs knows exactly what she has in mind. 

AliBeth Jenkins, an interior designer from Oxford whose wedding is in June, said that she appreciated how Scruggs worked to design all of her wedding correspondence and even collaborated with a friend of Jenkins’.

“I have an eye for color and knew what I wanted, and Sheri just made it happen,” Jenkins said. “She also worked with a sorority sister of mine to create a custom map for the invitation. Not everyone would work with another designer to put something in their own design.”

Although Scruggs customizes each wedding package, she has a couple of signature design elements, including a matching pattern on the back of each invitation. She also tries to incorporate fun, modern patterns and colors without compromising the layout and wording of traditional stationery.

“The stationery is sweet and traditional, but it doesn’t look like the stuff your grandmother used,” Scruggs said.

Southern hospitality and a love for entertaining not only motivate Scruggs when designing personalized paper but also excite her about moving back to Oxford.

“I love to entertain, and that is what drives me when designing paper,” Scruggs said. “I get such a high from having people over for dinner and setting out my platters and linen napkins. I love people around me, and this town is so social.”

Scruggs and her husband returned to Oxford for other reasons, including the food scene and family-friendly community that it provides for them and their two children. Scruggs also appreciates the emphasis on small businesses. As P. Press Papers grows, she hopes to support other local business owners as well.

“That’s something that is very important to me,” Scruggs said. “As my business grows, my greatest desire is that I will find ways to give back to the community. I shop locally as much as possible, and whenever I see a grand opening, I am there because I know how that feels.”

Visit ppresspapers.com for more information.