As most who have tied the knot know, making sure everything is right on the "big day" - down to the finest details - is no mean feat.
From the venues to wedding cars, flowers to cake, colour-themes to banners and menus, the list of elements to bear in mind is daunting. Among them are the "little things" such as personalised invitations, reception signage and customised table decor that can make the difference between a truly wonderful day and a slap-dash, scatter-gun affair.
That's where the Dubai-based start-up Love X Design (pronounced "Love By Design") comes in.
Launched about 18 months ago by Rebecca Teece, who had been a freelance graphic designer in Dubai for some time, Love X Design aimed to take advantage of what Ms Teece saw as an opportunity in the local wedding industry, which includes other players such as Elegant Moment and Wedding Champs.
"I like to think that [Love X Design's] relatively inexpensive items - in the grand scheme of a total wedding cost - go a long way towards creating the 'magic' feel of a wedding – and that's because I know exactly what can be achieved with print when it's designed well and used properly," she tells The National.
"There weren’t that many providers [of such wedding items] and the ones that did exist at the time were, for the most part, prohibitively expensive."
And this region is a hot spot in terms of the marriage business. The Middle East accounts for 5 per cent of the global destination wedding industry, which is valued at Dh330 billion, with the UAE ranking among the top destinations for couples in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, a survey by Dubai-based event organiser QnA International showed last year.
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Having secured a trade licence to operate as a graphic designer beforehand, Ms Teece was able to make her move into the market.
In addition to her graphic design career, she had previously created wedding stationery for friends, family and for her own wedding in Dubai, from the invitations through to the on-the-day details. These included items such as engraved, miniature cheese boards, which Ms Teece says became a talking point at her own wedding, and individual scented candles offering a couple’s signature scent.
"After the great response to these projects, I saw an opportunity to offer high-quality, well-designed event stationery at a reasonable price," she says.
And it didn't stop there. "We’ve also branched out to other events – our range of baby shower items, for example, has become extremely popular. But at the core of the company there’s still this perfect blend of stand-out design, high-quality print and fair pricing."
Ms Teece says her background in design was a major benefit in starting the company. "My husband will tell you that I’m print-obsessed, and I think that probably goes some way to explain why I set up Love X Design," she says.
The launch of the company was entirely self-funded, Ms Teece says, as she had saved enough for a new trading licence and to cover opening costs. After that the company was soon able to start taking on what she describes as "more exciting projects for bigger weddings and events".
"About a year in, looking to expand the concept, I raised just under Dh100,000 in capital from family and savings," she says.
That investment was for the development of shuufti.com, an e-commerce platform for Love X Design.
When it launches in the next few months, Shuufti.com will digitise the quote and design process; so rather than the company coming up with something bespoke for the client, there will be hundreds of options to choose from online. The user can then find the designs or items that best fit the themes of their event, customise them online and click to order and have everything delivered.
With a large collection of pre-made invitations and on-the-day item designs to choose from – for a range of events including regional holidays – shuufti "brings high-quality stationery to UAE consumers that will work for a range of budgets", Ms Teece says.
She hopes that the site will eventually host exclusive designs from regional artists - acting as a hub for the region’s design community.
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Ms Teece says the way Love X Design works is intentionally simple, designed to make it as stress-free as possible for clients who are probably already fairly stressed.
"After being briefed on the event and determining budget, we come up with a set of designs and items that we think will best fit the event," she says. "It’s a completely bespoke, boutique service – every client and every project is different, and we pride ourselves on having a good sense of what will work for each project. After the designs are approved, we’ll go ahead with production, and the finished items are hand-delivered to the customer."
Regarding the cost of the service, Ms Teece says it all depends on the materials clients want to work with, and "what little flourishes you want to add to the printing".
This could be embossed monograms or printed vellum wraps. Invitations don’t necessarily need to be made out of paper, Ms Teece says, and the firm works with suppliers who create designs out of acrylic and wood - "the possibilities are endless".
Love X Design and shuufti are still in their infancy relatively speaking and capital expenditures have already been incurred. Ms Teece says these have been as self-funded as possible, "so we’re not even in the early seed round yet".
Once shuufti.com is up and running, she says the firm will decide whether it should be taken to the investment community to secure funding for growth.
However, the original Love X Design will continue as it is - now a strong brand with reasonable rates and recurring business, Ms Teece says.
"That bespoke side of the company will still carry on, but the next big stage is to launch shuufti online so that we can expand our addressable market. We’ll be launching that in the UAE within the next few months, and by the end of the year, we hope to be able to serve the rest of the GCC."
She says that given her operation is extremely lean, and most costs are marginal, she hopes to be able to achieve this expansion "through our own revenues, rather than having to take outside investment. That said, if an investor likes what we’re doing, we’d always be happy to talk".
One of the biggest challenges in the beginning was pricing, Ms Teece says.
"The company’s raison d'être has always been to provide beautiful stationery at a reasonable price. But the work we produce is still very much premium-quality. Finding that balance so that we were attractive to those looking for affordable luxury was quite difficult, but after our first few projects, we worked out what we think is the sweet spot."
Ms Teece says her next opportunities will come from expanding to the wider Middle East region.
It could well prove a lucrative move.
"If you look at most of the wedding jobs we do, we estimate that the average couple spends up to 5 per cent of their wedding budget on stationery. If you extrapolate that out to our total addressable market – in the UAE alone – that’s a $50 million per year opportunity," Ms Teece says.
So when does she feel she'll be will able to say she has achieved all she set out to achieve with the business?
"I’ll let you know when I find out" is her succinct answer.
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
INFO
Everton 0
Arsenal 0
Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier
Results
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs
Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets
Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets
Bahrain beat Qatar by six wickets
Semi-finals
UAE v Qatar
Bahrain v Kuwait
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
New Zealand 57-0 South Africa
Tries: Rieko Ioane, Nehe Milner-Skudder (2), Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Ofa Tu'ungfasi, Lima Sopoaga, Codie Taylor. Conversions: Beauden Barrett (7). Penalty: Beauden Barrett
Results
6pm: Dubai Trophy – Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner: Silent Speech, William Buick (jockey), Charlie Appleby
(trainer)
6.35pm: Jumeirah Derby Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (T)
1,800m
Winner: Island Falcon, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
7.10pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Dirt)
1,400m
Winner: Rawy, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
7.45pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Desert Fire, Hector Crouch, Saeed bin Suroor
8.20pm: Al Fahidi Fort – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Naval Crown, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.55pm: Dubawi Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Al Tariq, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watsons
9.30pm: Aliyah – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Dubai Icon, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Company%20profile%20
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Credit Score explained
What is a credit score?
In the UAE your credit score is a number generated by the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which represents your credit worthiness – in other words, your risk of defaulting on any debt repayments. In this country, the number is between 300 and 900. A low score indicates a higher risk of default, while a high score indicates you are a lower risk.
Why is it important?
Financial institutions will use it to decide whether or not you are a credit risk. Those with better scores may also receive preferential interest rates or terms on products such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.
How is it calculated?
The AECB collects information on your payment behaviour from banks as well as utilitiy and telecoms providers.
How can I improve my score?
By paying your bills on time and not missing any repayments, particularly your loan, credit card and mortgage payments. It is also wise to limit the number of credit card and loan applications you make and to reduce your outstanding balances.
How do I know if my score is low or high?
By checking it. Visit one of AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres with an original and valid Emirates ID, passport copy and valid email address. Liv. customers can also access the score directly from the banking app.
How much does it cost?
A credit report costs Dh100 while a report with the score included costs Dh150. Those only wanting the credit score pay Dh60. VAT is payable on top.
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
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