I look at a lot of wedding images. I mean A LOT!! And it’s also no secret that I am a Pinterest obsessive. Whilst continually looking on places like Pinterest and on numerous blogs and Facebook pages I fell in love with all the chalk boards that have been so popular within weddings. I particularly liked the ones that used swirls and swooshes (technical term!) and clever typography. For something that you would think would look traditionally vintage these ones managed to look modern and cool instead.

Check out this one. I love how it’s on such a large scale and is used as a backdrop for photographs.

When it came to designing my 2013 collection I knew I wanted to create a design that had that chalkboard feel about it without actually looking like a chalk board. After playing about with different fonts and swirls etc Betsy was born!

I reversed out the text to create the light against the dark background as you would see on a chalkboard and carried the swirls through to the inside of the invitation. I have given you some examples of how Betsy can be used in other colours ways and to hopefully give you some inspiration if you are thinking of choosing Betsy as your chosen design.

I think Betsy looks fab in all combinations of colours and through use of colour can be as bold or subtle as you like!

Amber originated as a take on one of my original designs that I created when I very first started out in late 2009/early 2010. The original was laid out the same with the names on top of the initials but I had used a sans-serif typeface that very upright and slim compared to the script typeface that has now replaced it.

After trying it out with the script typeface instead and hearing the feedback from my customers the old typeface was quickly forgotten and the new style Amber was born!

Amber is one of my most popular designs and has been adapted and altered many times for couples to give their own unique take on it. I believe it’s so popular because it’s simple and elegant. I hear time and time again from couples that they want simple, elegant wedding stationery and Amber truly provides that.

I have recently started printing onto a pearlescent card and this works beautifully with Amber giving the design a really classy feel.

I have included some examples of how Amber has been personalised by couples to give you an idea of what is possible and how to inject your own style into your wedding stationery.

Dawn & Robert chose a French theme as Robert had proposed at the top of the Eiffel Tower (I know, so romantic), so this became their ‘logo’ as such for all of their stationery. I added a small diamante onto the top of the Eiffel Tower to add a bit of pretty and also to represent the light at the top.

Holly & Mark were having a vintage, garden, tea party feel to their wedding day and so we combined the main elements of Amber with a pretty bespoke floral background. Small diamantes were added to the points of the border giving a bit of sparkle.

Nicole and Daniel’s wedding day was all about love – which is exactly what it should be about! So what better than to have the Italian for ‘love’ running throughout their stationery? I added small green diamantes to the dots in the ‘i’s of their names too.

Fiona & Geoff decided they wanted their stationery kept simple. No fuss, no embellishments, just let the design speak for itself.

I added delicate love hearts to the wedding stationery for Nicola & Daniel (not to be confused with Nicole and Daniel!) to create a pretty, romantic feel. Small lilac diamantes were added to the ‘i’s of Nicola and Daniel’s names too as well as in the centre of the middle hearts.

I hope seeing how other couples have personalised their wedding invitations has given you some inspiration. If you would like to bring in certain elements for your stationery then just let me know!

I am delighted to tell you that I will be exhibiting at the Tuddenham Mill Open Day on Sunday 24^th March.

I went to have a look around the venue and meet the wedding coordinator, Hannah, on Saturday and I was beyond impressed with Tuddenham Mill. It is a gorgeous boutique style hotel and restaurant that offers you exclusive use for your wedding day. Set between Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket it is within easy reach of the A14 and A11 and took me just 40 minutes to get there from Ipswich.

I was blown away with the huge rooms (15 in total I believe) that you and your guests can stay in, with their freestanding bathtubs and views across the countryside.  Booking Tuddenham Mill for the weekend for your wedding day will provide you and your guests with not only a memorable wedding but a great getaway too.

Image courtesy of Tuddenham Mill

But why take my word for it, come to the Open Day and see for yourself!

Tuddenham Mill Spring Wedding Open Day – Sunday 24^th March 2013 from 11am to 5pm

As you can imagine I see lots of the same colours used on wedding stationery, with each year having a more popular colour than others. The last few years have been inundated with lots of aubergine and Cadbury’s purple along with every shade of pink imaginable but this year it’s lovely to see a change as teal is proving to be very popular. Everyone’s interpretation of teal is different. I’ve had some very greeny teals, darker heavy teals as well as more turquoise based teals. I don’t mind what you call your colour as long as I can get it as close to what you have in your head as possible!

What I really love though is when a couple comes to me with a unique colour combination. Something that should clash or you would never picture as ‘wedding’ colours but somehow just work so perfectly.

Take Charlotte and James’ stationery for example. When I first met with them and asked what their colour choice was Charlotte hesitated slightly before replying with “I know it sounds a bit weird but…” then went on to tell me they had chosen Cadbury’s purple and burnt orange! It. Looked. Lush. The image here is showing the day invitation open so unfortunately you can’t see the strong cover. It was Cadbury’s purple as the background with the text and ribbon in the burnt orange. Hopefully the Evening Invitation and Thank You card give you an idea of what a great colour combo this was!

Thanks to Sarah at Tree Frog Photography for this image

It has to be one of my favourite colour combinations still. I think it works particularly well in this case because we kept the orange to a minimum, just using as a highlight.

Another favourite of mine is Lisa and Daryl’s but for the completely opposite reason to Charlotte and James’.  Lisa and Daryl chose soft baby pink and black. Black may sound harsh for a wedding but it created such an elegant and stylish look, as shown off perfectly in these images of their table plan taken by Ross Dean Photography.

The key to combining two clashing or unusual colours is choose one to be the main colour and use the others to complement and highlight certain aspects of your stationery and the rest of your wedding items. I would suggest using no more than three colours at a time as it can become too busy and look too full on. For great inspiration and ideas on fab colour combinations you have got to take a look at The Perfect Palette – it is a colour lovers dream!

Don’t be afraid to choose colours your guests wouldn’t expect because as long as those colours are right for you then they are right for your wedding day!

There have been a few changes to the website at the start of 2013, but most noticeably a slight name change and a shiny, new Personalised Designs collection!! As much as I loved my old designs I felt that some new ones were long overdue to get my collection bang up to date to match my branding. And the name change? Well put it this way it got a little tiring when people assumed I made cakes upon hearing my name!

An alteration on the company name is something I had been thinking about for quite some time. As I said people got a bit confused sometimes over what is was I actually designed (not great for a business trying to grow!) and also I just wanted to strip back the website to make everything clearer and easier for you the customers. I will still be known as Lemon Pie Design for any non-wedding designs I produce in the future but for everything wedding it is now Lemon Pie Wedding Stationery.

 A new name meant a swish new logo

A new collection of Personalised designs had been on the cards for some time too. I felt as my brand had evolved my designs needed to as well . I started with sketches and a Pinterest board to gather my thoughts and bring together my ideas so I could narrow down designs I felt my customers would love. I thought a lot about what past customers had requested and ideas they had liked as well as current trends such as ombre effects.

Karis

I have always had a bit of a pattern obsession so with trends such as polka dots, graphic lines, chevron stripes and pattern on pattern I was in heaven and just had to incorporate some of these into the new collection.

I was also keen to include designs that incorporated butterflies and a floral print as butterflies and flowers are always popular with couples and obviously I want to keep you lot happy! Lexie and Amber were always going to stay put as they are just far too popular – I would feel guilty even thinking about taking them away!! Of course if there are any of the other designs from the old collection that you would still like to use on your stationery this isn’t a problem – just ask!

Sophia

I hope you enjoy choosing your stationery from the new collection as much as I enjoyed designing it!!

Natalie x