Meet Ashley Presley
Owner of Ellywise Studios
My first experience working in the wedding industry started in 2010 assisting my parents in their videography company shooting weddings. The details, the dresses, the gravity of the moment where two people choose each other forever - obviously, I was hooked.
What an extraordinary honor to be able to be a part of someone’s big day and get to witness this beautiful exchange of hearts, and for a job! What??
When I came back after graduating from school, I continued to help film weddings becoming more immersed in the industry here in Memphis. I loved working alongside such talented photographers, florists, musical talent. I wondered if I could find a place in this small niche in an even smaller city. My animation degree didn’t really scream “wedding,” but, hey, there’s no animation studios in Memphis either so.. yea.
I got married to my high school sweetheart in 2014 and hand picked all my favorite local vendors for my wedding. When I designed my own stationery and coordinating decor, I didn’t really think much of it until after having my first baby in 2017. I had taken some time away from the creative world and desperately needed to find a way to fit it into my new mom-life.
Beautiful, hand painted wedding invitations allow me to have the best of all worlds. I get to explore creativity and paint (almost) every day, I get to stay involved in one of my favorite local industries and see the pretty weddings, and I get to stay home with my two littles.
Why illustration?
Although a large percentage of my current workflow is wedding and I’ve worked in the wedding industry since college, I started down the stationery path for birthday parties! My first little, Jack, was having a birthday soon and I absolutely loved getting to illustrate a little invitation for him.
Birthday invitations give me the opportunity to work in the colorful world of illustration that I came to love at SCAD. As an elective, I took a single course in children’s book illustration and loved every minute of it!! It’s driven a lot of my freelance work and goals for Ellywise Studios since I started - I just hadn’t even considered stationery until August of 2018.