Hello lovelies! It’s been a while. As well as working with some fabulous clients, some of which I’ll be sharing with you over the coming months, I’ve been working hard on lots of lovely new Charlie Loves Lucy pretty.

Now live on the site and available to order are all new wedding stationery collections. It’s been such a joy illustrating, doodling and designing these new ranges. I’m so pleased to finally be able to share them with you. To take a look go to the ‘weddings’ section of the site, where you’ll find links to lots of lovely images from each collection – photographed by the wonderful Holly Booth (who is an absolute star).

With these new collections the aim is to push things design wise and ensure everything is packed with personality and style. As with previous ranges inspiration has come from a vast array of fashion, wildlife, interiors, and generally anything popping into my head which I couldn’t resist turning into new stationery designs.

As well as pushing things from a design point of view I’ve been working on streamlining the client experience and making the ordering process a whole lot simpler. This will be enhanced further with the launch of Charlie Loves Lucy’s online shop this Summer, but for the moment there have been a few changes to make your life easier.

Firstly with regards to the collections themselves. There is now consistency in formats throughout, with images of all elements on their respective galleries. On top of that I’ve developed a colour palette to compliment each stationery suite so you have a range of colours to choose from. Or you could mix and match – whichever suits your style, there are now more options available.

Consistency in formatting has meant I’ve been able to simplify the pricing structure, no longer needing to vary prices across collections. The price list has been updated so items are now listed individually rather than in groups – making it easier for you to choose selected elements for your own stationery suite.

Coming soon!

You may have noticed the great big buttons for ‘Littles’ and ‘Prints’. This Summer will see the launch of Charlie Loves Lucy’s chilrden’s selection – for little ones with big style. It’s so much fun designing for children and can’t wait to share this with you.

As you’ve likely figured out the ‘Prints’ section is where I’ll be launching Charlie Loves Lucy’s very own range of posters and prints. Some of these will overlap with the children’s section and there’ll be a mixture of digital and limited edition hand pulled screen prints. These will also be launching in the Summer, along with the online shop where you’ll be able to purchase all the brand new paper pretty!

If you’d like to be emailed with launches and developments pop your email in the box at the footer of the page. Don’t worry, none of your information will be shared and you’ll only receive emails if I have something really exciting to tell you about.

Have a fabulous day!

Claire x

Over the coming months exciting things are happening at Charlie Loves Lucy! Additions and developments – all in aid of making your stationery ordering process that bit nicer and bringing you even more prettyness. I’ll keep you updated when I’m able to give a little more away, but for now here’s a bit of a teaser.

As a little part of said developments you’ll have an optimum colour palette to choose from, designed to bring out the best in each of our stationery suites. The first of which are these delicious variations on the ‘Tea at Elaine’s’ suite.

Tea at Elaine's – Blush

Tea at Elaine's – Sage

Tea at Elaine's – Bluebell

Tea at Elaine's – Lemon

Tea at Elaine's – Mocha, all images © 2012 Claire Hawkes / Charlie Loves Lucy

To order in any of the colours from the new palette right away just mention the name (referenced above) of your chosen colour in any enquiry or order you send through.

You are, of course, still able to have colours tailored to you or matched to your swatches.

If you’d like to be emailed with new ranges and developments pop your email in the box at the footer of the page. Don’t worry, none of your information will be shared and you’ll only receive emails if I have something really exciting to tell you about.

Claire x

Last week Charlie Loves Lucy exhibited at the first ever wedding fair held in Bluewater’s new events venue – Glow. A four day long event beginning with Thursday’s gala evening and running through to Sunday.

I have to admit, I have wondered how I’d feel about these sorts of events if me and the Mr were to be approaching them from the point of view of a couple planning a wedding. With so much inspiration available at the click of a button I wonder if meeting suppliers face to face would be enough to drive us away from the comfort of an iPad on the sofa into the, sometimes terrifying, world of the wedding fair.

Well. What a fabulous time we had. A wonderful mix of independent suppliers and hugely excitable couples made the whole experience a joy. I do find the idea of facing instant, honest reactions to work I’ve poured my heart and soul into more than a little petrifying, but as with the Wedding Experience show last October, these fears were proven unfounded. The whole thing just served as a reminder of how lucky we are, us wedding folk, to work with such bloody brilliant couples. It’s so very easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all when you’re chatting styling, setting, sound track and the dress with a soon-to-be Mr & Mrs. I may be a teeny bit biased, but I’m quite sure Charlie Loves Lucy couples are among the most stylish, creative and delightful there are.

The view of the catwalk show from our stand proved very distracting (images courtesy of Rock It Up Photography)

As well as couples I met some pretty inspiring suppliers too. In the run up to the fair I was contacted by event stylists and creative florists Hattie & Flora. Responsible for creating inspiration stations and general prettiness throughout the event, they got in touch about using some of Charlie Loves Lucy’s creations in their displays. After looking through their beautifully creative illustrations and plans for the fair I was left in no doubt that I’d love to work with them.

After meeting Harriet and Jodie (the pair behind Hattie & Flora) to discuss ideas and what they had planned I created a greenery/garden themed version of our ‘Tea at Elaine’s’ suite for one of their inspiration table settings. They also displayed our brand new ‘Mr & Mrs Parkin’ suite in their Honeymoon Hideout. These ladies are a pleasure to work with, and their creativity and passion for what they do is incredibly infectious. I’m positive any couples hiring them to help create their perfect day will enjoy working with them as much as I did.

Hattie & Flora's beautiful stand and their garden inspiration table (images courtesy of Hattie & Flora and Rock It Up Photography)

During the fair itself there were more wonderful suppliers than I could mention. Clarion, the force behind the whole event, did something a little different with this show in that they positioned all suppliers of the same elements together. After a tiny bit of initial trepidation at the idea it was a huge relief to meet my fellow stationers and find them to be so very lovely and such fun (we’ve already discussed meeting for drinks and a catch up – any excuse). We were lucky enough (or quite possibly Clarion planned it that way) to be all of a very different style and so seemed to provide a nice mix for couples visiting the fair on the hunt for their stationer. There were rumours of suppliers in other areas possibly not getting along so well, but we didn’t witness any of that.

Not too far from Charlie Loves Lucy’s stand was Portsmouth based dress designer David Western. As well as the wonderful sight of his stunning creations displayed on Just Wedding Magazine’s stand, he was generally brilliant and hilarious to be around. Within a few hours of meeting David we knew more about him than I do some of my dearest friends. He has one of those personalities that you just know would put any bride completely and utterly at ease.

Lastly, but far from least, I must mention Battersea based photographer Elly Mac. We only had a brief chance to chat, but her work is divine, and so full of character. Elly’s style of photography has a wonderfully relaxed feel – tailored so personally to her individual couples that you really feel you’re seeing into their personalities, as well as little insights into their relationships, at just a glance of their photographs. We hope to be working on a little project with Elly Mac Photos in the not-too-distant future so do watch this space.

The fabulous Elly Mac Photos' dark room inspired stand (images courtesy of Elly Mac Photos)

So that’s it. A brief (or slightly long winded) report on a little of Charlie Loves Lucy’s experience of Bluewater’s wedding fair, and some of our favourite suppliers in attendance. I guess what I’m really attempting to put across in my bumbling write up is that it has confirmed to me how worth while wedding fairs can still be for couples and for suppliers. There are so many around at this time of year. I’d recommend looking up some of your favourite suppliers, those you’d be interested to meet, and seeing if they’ll be attending any shows you’d consider visiting. Wedding fairs can be somewhat daunting places, so going with a few people in mind will help to give you a little initial direction and to stop you being overwhelmed.

That feeling of ‘clicking’ with those who will play a part in such a huge day in your lives is one which can really put you at ease in knowing you’ve made the right decisions. If you do a little homework beforehand a wedding fair can be the ideal way to make initial face-to-face contact, without any of the pressure of a one-to-one consultation.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on wedding fairs you’ve attended and how helpful you’ve found them. It would also be interesting to hear from anyone who attended the Bluewater Wedding Fair on how you found having each supplier of the same category grouped together. Although not all exhibitors may be convinced, I can only imagine it being a good thing for couples hunting down suppliers for a particular area of their day.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped out at the Charlie Loves Lucy stand, and to each and every couple, along with their mothers, fathers and friends with whom I was lucky enough to chat last weekend. I can’t wait to create beautiful stationery for some of you very soon. Good luck to all of you currently caught up in the madness of wedding planning. I do hope you’re all enjoying the process and that your big days are as fabulous as you imagine.

Claire x

After the success of our first wedding show at The Wedding Experience, Detling I’m very happy to announce that we’ll be exhibiting in February at Bluewater’s Wedding Week. Their new events venue opens this month and we’ll be at their first ever Wedding Week from 9th-12th February 2012.

There’s a little more information and a link in the shows section of our site. Come along to have a look at our samples, or for a chat about what you’d like for your wedding.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Claire  x

A huge hello, and welcome to the Charlie Loves Lucy site!

I’m so pleased you’ve come for a look around. Charlie Loves Lucy will bring you creative wedding and event stationery that’s packed with personality and style. Have a browse through our current ranges, which I’ll be adding to on a regular basis so please do check back.

As well as the wedding stationery ranges we’re brimming with ideas and other design ranges, which will be launched over the coming months. If you’d like to be kept in the loop there’s a box to the footer of the page, and others dotted around the site where you can pop your email to be added to our mailing list. Don’t worry, your details will never be passed on and I’ll make sure we don’t bother you unless we have something really exciting to tell you about.

If you can’t find what you’re after, but you like our style, we offer a fully bespoke service to help you create something beautiful.

Along with email updates I’ll be posting little blogs with the latest on what we’re up to, our thoughts, and any helpful tips I stumble upon for planning your day.

Thank you for visiting, do come back soon.

Claire  x