About

The Eng­lish Wed­ding Blog was born in Novem­ber 2009 to show­case what makes wed­dings in this coun­try so great. The site is updated daily and is full of inspi­ra­tion and advice for brides in the UK and for anglophile brides over­seas. With a unique per­spec­tive from inside the UK wed­ding indus­try, Eng­lish Wed­ding also focuses on the bright­est and best new tal­ents in all aspects of wed­ding design, with a spe­cial focus on real wed­dings by the UK’s finest wed­ding photographers.

The alter­na­tive wed­ding professional

I’ve worked as a cal­lig­ra­pher spe­cial­is­ing in wed­dings for years. I love my work and I enjoy offer­ing a wed­ding ser­vice that’s still quite unusual for brides to have. There are around twenty pro­fes­sional cal­lig­ra­phers in the UK who focus on wed­ding commissions.

I do all my mar­ket­ing online, and I have var­i­ous web­sites and blogs for my busi­ness. This means my adver­tis­ing bud­get is tiny! I work hard online to get my busi­ness noticed. It works. There’s advice on the Eng­lish Wed­ding Blog for sup­pli­ers who want to improve their online mar­ket­ing too. I’m busy all year round, and every day in my diary is devoted to a sin­gle cus­tomer. I write invi­ta­tions and envelopes, table plans and poems. Every sin­gle day is unique.

My favourite cal­lig­ra­phy work is edgy and dif­fer­ent. I’ve writ­ten for hun­dreds of brides and grooms, for tele­vi­sion and pres­ti­gious cor­po­rate events, and for par­ties and wed­ding anniver­saries too.  I lis­ten to 6 Music, indie and alter­na­tive stuff every day while I work.

The indus­try blog with attitude

Eng­lish wed­ding isn’t just about romance and roses, it’s about the coolest cut­ting edge wed­ding design. In the UK we have an acute under­stand­ing of fash­ion, our own blaz­ing sense of style and rebellion.

When I think of Eng­lish Wed­ding I imag­ine a blog that shows the world what UK wed­dings have to offer. It’s about stately homes and Shake­speare, the queen and the Sex Pis­tols. We have our quaint tra­di­tions and eccen­tric­i­ties, from pretty cup­cakes and  tea in vin­tage china to the fes­ti­val sea­son and drink­ing until we all fall over.

As an ex-professional Mar­ke­teer (the cap­i­tal M is because I love the title, it puts me in mind of Big­gles gog­gles) I am con­stantly amazed by the brands which lead the wed­ding indus­try. And I’m not talk­ing about the old clas­sics who’ve been around for­ever. The wed­ding indus­try is a cre­ative force and the small­est busi­nesses have the biggest visions.

I admire the lead­ing design­ers in the Eng­lish wed­ding indus­try, those who are push­ing bound­aries, try­ing new things with every­thing from out-there tiara design to orig­i­nal, bespoke wed­ding sta­tionery. The pho­tog­ra­phers who mar­ket their ser­vices with real pas­sion and excellence.

I can’t stand the old face of the UK wed­ding indus­try though. The bak­ers who’ll hike the price of a cake by 300% for a wed­ding with­out offer­ing cus­tomer ser­vice to match, the high street print shops ped­dling dull wed­ding invi­ta­tions, and the pho­tog­ra­phers who don’t bother edit­ing their work.

There are prac­tices within the UK wed­ding indus­try which make my toes curl. Direc­to­ries who charge a for­tune for a teeny list­ing on a web­site. Venues who charge sup­pli­ers to be on a “rec­om­mended” list. Note to any of the above: don’t call me. I’ll put it on the blog!

The face behind Eng­lish Wedding

I’m Claire, I’m in my thir­ties, and I live with my boyfriend, his kids and my cat in Cheshire. I grew up in the Lake Dis­trict with my mum & dad, my sis­ter and two tor­toises. I’ve had a lucky life.

My lat­est adven­tures are on the roads in Cheshire with my trusty Vespa — if you see Carter parked out­side a wed­ding show, come and find me inside and say hello! I’ll be the one with helmet-shaped hair

I began cal­lig­ra­phy as a hobby at 14 and my fas­ci­na­tion for words, let­ters and writ­ing stuck with me through school and uni­ver­sity. I spe­cialised in for­eign lan­guages, got told off for writ­ing my home­work in my best friend’s hand­writ­ing (I just wanted to try it), and got my degree in French, Ital­ian and Mar­ket­ing. I lived in France and Italy for a lit­tle while. I worked as a Mar­ket­ing Spe­cial­ist for a blue chip com­pany and took vol­un­tary redun­dancy to start my own busi­ness. I’ve never looked back.

I love indie music and folk / punk / alter­na­tive stuff. I have four tat­toos. I’m as happy mak­ing things with a ham­mer and power drill as I am with pen and scis­sors. If I could wear fancy dress every day I would. I love sun­shine, heavy rain, light­ning and blizzards.

I read when­ever I can, and I enjoy adven­ture books with myths and magic. British folk­lore fas­ci­nates me and I’d like to believe in fairies. I love nature and walk for miles around town because I don’t think I’d get away with my rollerblades any more. The best UK fes­ti­val is Beau­ti­ful Days and the best films in the world are Star­dust and Ban­lieue 13.

But enough about me… I’d rather the Eng­lish Wed­ding blog was all about YOU!