Clare Designs

09/07/2024

It’s finally time 🥹⁣
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I’ve made a promise to properly switch off from work - so I won’t be going NEAR my emails until we’re back ✨⁣
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My website will be accepting orders as usual, so the link’s in my bio if you want to get your poems/stationery ordered 💌⁣
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If you need/want any poems while I’m away, i.e. ‘Will you be my something blue?’, you can order the digital version from the website and print it off yourself ♥️⁣
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For any and all other Qs, I’ve set up a detailed ‘out of office’, so email [email protected], and the auto-reply should hopefully help answer your Qs 🙌🏼 ⁣
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💫 Thank you so much for your patience and understanding - we’re so lucky to be able to take this time off together, so I want to make sure I’m properly present and able to enjoy it 🥰⁣
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Lots of love as always,⁣
Clare xx

20/06/2024

💫 Jen & Andrew had their gorge day in April, and SORRY but how amazing does the eucalyptus design work in with their decor?! 🥹⁣
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They ordered invitations, a seating plan, order of the day board, table numbers, place names and ALSO the *cutest* little cards with QR codes on them for guests to upload their pics from the day 🤩⁣
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Honestly, if I’ve EVER worked on anything for your wedding, I’d absolutely LOVE to see the professional pics of your stationery doing its thing on your day 🥹🤩⁣
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Thank you so much to Jenn & Andrew for being yet another fab couple to work with 🥹♥️♥️⁣
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📸:

22/05/2024

Incase you missed my news yesterday 💌⁣
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If you have any Qs at all, message me on here, or email me - [email protected] ✨⁣
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Lots of love,⁣
Clare ♥️ xx

17/05/2024

👀✨

18/04/2024

Hiya! ♥️ I’m not posting enough, so here’s some absolutely useless info that nobody asked for (but I always love these ones when other people do them 😅)⁣
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1. We went to Iceland last year and I can’t recommend going enough (we went in Jan ❄️)⁣
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2. We used to live near a farm with 3 alpacas, so we’d go visit them every weekend on our ‘alpaca walks’ 🦙⁣
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3. This was us in the car 4 days after our own wedding, with my wilting bouquet strapped in the back seat, on our way to our pals’ wedding down south 🚗💨⁣
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4. I never eat them, but I always pack the biscuits they give you in hotels - Colin eats them or they get put in the biscuit basket for when people come over 😅⁣
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5. My mum taught me how to make sausage rolls over Christmas so I obvs had to document the pride I felt at the time 👩🏻‍🍳⁣
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6. I do like to build belly band towers when I’m putting your invitation bundles together 💁🏻‍♀️⁣
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7. You do not want to be sat next to me watching Scotland play rugby 😬 (especially after a few proseccos 🫣😅)⁣
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8. We’ve moved house 5 times in the past 5 years - this room was my office when we lived in Leicester (it usually had more than just my chair in it 🤣)⁣
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9. Iceland again 🥹⁣
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10. We lovingly vandalised our pals’ car on the morning of their wedding 👨🏼‍🎨

12/04/2024

Hiya! ♥️ *insert chat about how I’ve been so busy that I’ve not been posting but that I’m eternally grateful for how busy you’re all keeping me so thank you so much*⁣
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💫 I’m gonna be spending another wee Sunday afternoon at the gorgeous this weekend, so if you’re free and fancy a chat over some food and drinks then I’d absolutely love to see you there 🥰⁣
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🤩 It’s a fab venue if you’re after a really cool Glasgow city centre wedding - but I also know from first hand experience that it’s a fabulous hen do shout too 🤩🥳⁣
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♥️ Sunday’s an ideal opportunity to pop in for a browse - the showcase is on from 1-4, and if you need any more convincing there’ll be free canapés and fizz 🥂💁🏻‍♀️✨⁣
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Lots of love, Clare xx

08/03/2024

3 Etsy Bestsellers 🥹 this definitely needed documenting 🙏🏼✨⁣
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Thank you so much as always for keeping me so busy - I’m almost at 5K Etsy sales as well which is absolutely mental 🤯♥️⁣
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💫 It’s my bday this weekend so I’ll be slower at replying than usual, which is definitely good for both our sakes - you don’t want a reply from me after a few proseccos 🙃😂🥂⁣
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Have a fab weekend whatever you’re up to 🥰😘✨

06/03/2024

Hello! ♥️

Hope you’re all having a lovely week!

Last call for any Mother’s Day poem orders 💌

You can upgrade to 1st class at checkout to give yours the best chance of getting to you on time for the weekend ✨

Any orders placed tonight/tomorrow before 2pm will be posted in time to be collected tomorrow, and orders placed by 4pm on Friday will be dropped off in time to be collected on Friday ♥️

Love Clare xx

www.claredesigns.co.uk/products/poem-for-mum 💐

Whether it's her birthday, Mother's Day, your wedding day or just because, this poem makes the perfect gift for Mum ♥️ It's printed on textured ivory card, and there's space on the back for you to write your own little message if you like 🥰

01/03/2024

Hiya! Happy Friday 🥰

Just wanted to let you know I’ll be at Huntingtower Hotel in Perth this Sunday 3rd from 12-3 ✨

Pop over for a coffee if you fancy a chat about working on anything wedding-y for your day 🤩

If you need any more details please just let me know ♥️

Love Clare xx

24/02/2024

Hiya! Happy Saturday ♥️

If you're looking to get ahead for Mother's Day (two weeks tomorrow), my poem is packed and ready to get on its way to you 💌

Pop it in a frame and voilà - something she can enjoy well after those flowers have wilted 💐

Lots of love,
Clare xx

www.claredesigns.co.uk/products/poem-for-mum ✨

16/02/2024

You’re being so lovely about our wedding pics so here’s another one (with actual humans in it this time 😅)🥹⁣
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We had my best friend Lorna as our Maid of Honour, and my sister Katie and Colin’s sister Catriona as Bridesmaids ♥️⁣
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We wanted them to pick their own dresses so they were comfortable, with the idea being that they would hopefully get another wear out of them in the future 🥰⁣
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They were a mix of dresses from and ✨ ⁣
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📸: 💫 and 💐: .blooms 💫

14/02/2024

I know I said this last week but I literally can’t pack these poems fast enough at the moment 🥹⁣
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It sounds like lots of you who have blue as your colour scheme are actually using them to propose to your bridesmaids as well, which I looooove 🥺🥺💙💙⁣
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I wrote this after getting lots of requests for it, so please always feel free to get in touch with your ideas 🤩🥰😘

12/02/2024

Next on my list of ‘wedding posts to inflict on you all’ is our Order of the Day Board ✨⁣
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I absolutely love these at weddings, so we had to have one on our day 😅⁣
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We decided to keep all the stationery relatively simple - we had a lot of it and didn’t want to make the space look too ‘busy’ if that makes sense? ✨⁣
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We had it propped up next to our guestbook on the way in, in the hope that everyone would be able to see when they were getting fed 🤣⁣
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(I also love knowing when we’re gonna be sitting down, so I can make sure I don’t need a p*e during the sp*eches/meal 🤣💁🏻‍♀️)⁣
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Pic by the fab , venue was and I did all the stationery 🥰

10/02/2024

I know packing orders isn’t everyone’s fave thing to do, but I absolutely love it 🤣🤩⁣
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After all the time we’ve spent together getting everything finalised, I find it so satisfying to finally see it all in ‘real life’, and get it on its way to you 🥹🎁⁣
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Michelle and Paul had a subtle cocktail theme to their day, so each person’s place name was personalised with the cocktail of the table they were on 🍹🤩

08/02/2024

My postbox drop bundle from the other day 🥹💌 Might try to do a different coat/hat combo every time I take one of these 😅♥️✨

06/02/2024

Cannot say *enough* about how valuable your reviews are 🥹⁣
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Honestly, word of mouth and referrals have both been so, so powerful for me and this business ♥️⁣
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I’m so ridiculously grateful to anyone who has ever taken the time to mention my name, send my page on to someone, written a review, shared my posts, etc. I know I say it so often but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to articulate just how much it all means 🥹⁣
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If you’ve been meaning to leave a review for any small business, please pop it on your to-dos for this week - I promise the 2 minutes you take will have such an impact on the person/people behind it 💘⁣
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Not only will it definitely give them a wee boost for the day, but it could contribute to those people securing more work, which is so important 👏🏼

05/02/2024

OK so I’ve had lots of lovely messages asking to see more pics from our wedding 🥹 loveee how interested you are! 🥹🥹⁣
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So here’s a wee snap took of our welcome sign, that we just leaned against the door at 💫⁣
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We decided to go for a ‘Hiya!’ as opposed to a ‘Welcome to the wedding of’ - just because we felt that was a bit more ‘us’ ✨⁣
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One of the main goals of the whole weekend was to try to keep things quite informal, so this hopefully set that sort of tone for everyone on their way in 🥰⁣
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I’ll definitely share more over the next wee while so apologies in advance for the actual incoming wedding spam 🤣😝🤍 but thought I’d start with one that showed how stationery can really help to welcome your guests while you’re both off getting ready 🤩⁣
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I designed all the stationery so as always if you have any Qs about anything please just get in touch 💌

01/02/2024

I’ve had loooots of Qs this week about my personalised poems, which has been sooo lovely 🥹⁣
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Thought I’d post some of the answers incase they’re helpful at all 🙌🏼⁣
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SO, you can order either a digital or a printed version of your poem 🖨⁣
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Poems vary in length, depending on the info you give me - but they’ll be at least 3 verses long, with 4 lines per verse 📝⁣
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The poem can be about/used for anything you like - a birthday gift for your best friend, an anniversary present for your wife/husband, a thoughtful gift for someone who’s going through a hard time, etc. ♥️⁣
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They’re most commonly used as readings at wedding ceremonies 🥹⁣
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I need at least 20 working days (a month) to work on a first draft for you - so definitely something you need to book in with me in advance! 📆⁣
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If you don’t need your poem for a while, then I may book in your draft time to later in the year - I’ll keep you fully posted on this so you’ll know exactly what to expect! 🥰⁣
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Once you’ve ordered your poem, I’ll send you over a list of Qs, and your answers to those will help me write your poem for you (so please bear that in mind when you’re ordering, as the time you take to get back to me with those answers will impact the delivery of your first draft) ✨⁣
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I can only offer a limited number of these every year, so if you’re interested you do need to get in touch and book your slot in advance! If you’re ready to get one booked in, get in touch and I’ll send you all the info on next steps! 💌⁣
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I hope that’s all helpful, and as always if you have any more Qs please just message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can! 🥰😘⁣
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Love Clare xx

25/01/2024

Hiya! ♥️

As some of you might know, with every sale a business makes on Etsy, they charge the business various fees (including processing, listing, transaction and shipping fees) 💸

If you shop through this link, Etsy will refund 4% of each order total off those fees we’re charged ✨

It’s not much, but if you’ve been considering ordering through Etsy then all those wee percentages would add up to a lovely saving 🥰

✨ https://claredesignsweddings.etsy.com ✨

Thank you so much!

Love as always,
Clare xx

19/01/2024

✨ I love how popular these have been since I added them to my website and Etsy a couple of years ago 🥹⁣
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I honestly think they’re such a fab way of keeping your guests informed about what the plan is - and who doesn’t like knowing when you’ll be getting fed?! 🤣🤩⁣
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They also help to get your guests chatting to each other - you could pop them onto your ceremony seats, so that gives them something to chat about while they’re waiting for your ceremony to start 💁🏻‍♀️⁣
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I’ve also heard of guests popping them into their bags as a wee memento of the day, which I absolutely love 🥹⁣
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I can do them in any colour you like, so they’ll work in with whatever theme you’ve got going on 😍⁣
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If you’re fancying some for your day, get in touch and I can get them booked in for you 🥳

15/01/2024

✨ To think that I’ve made over 4.6k sales on Etsy is beyond me 🥹 Thank you so much as always to all of you who have ordered through Etsy, I’m so grateful it’s brought you here so I can bother you on an almost daily basis now 🤣♥️

13/01/2024

✨ One for all you Bridesmaids out there 👯‍♀️ ⁣
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My ‘Poem for Bride’ is printed onto textured card, comes with a textured white envelope and is the perfect size to pop into a frame 🤩⁣
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It’s perfect on its own as a personal gift to your bride on the morning of the wedding, or you can pop it into a wee box with some other bits and bobs for her 🥹⁣
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You can order it now in the Poems > Poems for Bride section of the website 🎀

11/01/2024

💌 One of today’s orders included a lovely big bundle of Bridesmaid proposal poems 🥰⁣
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That poem was the first one I wrote for the business, so there’s always something a wee bit special about seeing you ordering it 🥹⁣
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If you’re looking for a way to propose to your Bridesmaids, my poems come with a textured envelope, and are the perfect size to pop in a frame too ✨

10/01/2024

Popped a wee Q box up on my stories yesterday and this seems to be what most of you are wondering ✨⁣
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As with any supplier, if you want to work with me on ANYTHING for your wedding, please get in touch sooner rather than later! 🙌🏼⁣
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I can’t always promise I’ll have time to work on every request, so get in touch as soon as you can and we can get time booked in together - so that means you’re all organised and there’s no stressing closer to your day! 🥳✨⁣
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You can get in touch by messaging me on here or emailing [email protected] 💌

09/01/2024

One of today’s tasks has been to pack poems and envelopes into their protective covers, so they’re ready to get on their way to you 💌⁣
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I check every print before packing it, and with every sesh there’s always a wee bundle that don’t quite make the cut 👎🏼⁣
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It could just be a wee bashed corner or a small ink dot, but I can’t in good conscience sell them for full price ✨⁣
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But I don’t quite have the heart to throw them in the recycling, so I pop them up onto the ‘Seconds’ section of the website, where you can buy them at a discounted price 🙌🏼⁣
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So if you’re after a bargain, and don’t mind the odd imperfection, pop there for a browse - I’m always updating it but if you’re after a specific poem let me know and I’ll see what I can find! 👀♥️

08/01/2024

First full day back and I couldn’t hold all my orders in one hand to take a pic 🥹📮⁣
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One of my ‘resolutions’ for this year is to show up more ‘imperfectly’ on here, so strap in and apologies in advance 🤣🙃♥️⁣
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Thank you so much for making my arm shake while I took this one 😅🥹♥️

06/12/2023

Hello! I hope you’re having a lovely day ♥️

So something has been happening behind the scenes that I think is important to start talking about.

I’ve been finding several accounts, on Etsy and Facebook, who have been selling my poems as their own work.

I remember being so nervous to introduce poems into the business - I wasn’t sure if they were any good, and I didn’t know if they’d ‘fit’ alongside the stationery.

But I finally plucked up the courage, thinking ‘if I don’t show anyone, I’ll never know’

To my surprise, they’ve become the most popular part of the business, and I’ve now written over 15 different poems that are available to order as prints from my website.

Around 2 years ago, I found my first ‘copycat’ - someone was selling one of my poems on their Etsy account. Their shop had thousands of sales, and the listing with my poem had customer comments thanking the seller for the print, saying how beautifully written they thought the poem was.

I remember my heart sinking to my stomach. The words I’d written had been stolen, re-packaged and sold as someone else’s work - and they were willingly taking the credit for it.

Since then, I’ve found several other sellers doing the exact same thing. And for every one I find, I have to then spend so much of my own time getting in touch with them, asking them to take it down. Time that I shouldn’t have to be spending, and absolutely despise every second of.

Yesterday, I found another business on Facebook, selling my bridesmaid proposal poem on their page, and advertising it on a wedding planning group.

I’m finding myself not wanting to share my work, for fear of it being stolen. I’m feeling completely vulnerable, unable to stop people from taking advantage.

I’ve found a couple of sellers because some of you have been in touch, saying ‘I think this is your work?’ - and for that I can’t tell you how grateful I am.

Because I know that there are people out there making money, growing their business and gaining followers partly off the back of words that they haven’t written - work that does not belong to them.

I know this is the reality for several other small businesses - I’ve had so many conversations, especially with wedding stationery suppliers, where they’ve talked at length about how their work has been replicated by someone else.

Selling someone else’s work isn’t only morally wrong - it’s against the law.

Finding the seller yesterday felt as awful as that first time - I’m sure that anyone else who’s experienced this will agree that it’s not something you ‘get used to’. It’s a punch to the guts every single time.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know I don’t post anything like this - I love to keep things positive wherever possible, but I think it’s so important to make people aware of what’s going on.

Thank you so much to all of you for your continued support, messages, interest and orders - I know I say it all the time but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything ♥️

24/11/2023

I honestly flip-flopped about whether to do any Black Friday offers ✨

I’ve never done it before, and I honestly find the financial side of running the business one of the most difficult things 🙈

BUT, I really wanted to do something to thank you all for being here 🥹

✨ SO, please enjoy 20% off everything this weekend ✨

Consider this a small token of my appreciation for all the likes, comments, mentions, reviews, orders and support overall, which allows me to run this business all on my todd 🥹🥰♥️

Your discount will be applied at checkout, so no need for a code - and as always pop me a message if you have any Qs about anything at all 🥰

The offer will run until the end of the day on Monday, so I’ll be on messages this weekend if you need/want anything clarified at all ♥️♥️

Love as always,
Clare xo

www.claredesigns.co.uk ✨

(Excl. personalised poems and bespoke work - discount will be applied to anything else ordered through the website 💌)

21/11/2023

Hiya! How are ya?! ♥️

For some reason the shipping on my website has decided to go haywire 🤣🙈

If I don’t walk away from my laptop immediately I may punch a hole through it, so until I can get it sorted please use the code FREESHIPPING at checkout and enjoy delivery on me 💌

I’m off for a wine, have a lovely night 🤣😘

www.claredesigns.co.uk ✨

17/11/2023

✨ I wrote ‘Will you walk me down the aisle?’ after noticing that so many proposals were always aimed at ‘dad’.⁣
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💌 For so many reasons, you might not be asking ‘dad’ to walk you down the aisle.⁣
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💞 So I made sure to write my poem in a way that meant you could give it to anyone - a friend, a parent, stepparent, uncle, cousin, grandparent, aunt, godparent, in-law, or whoever you’d like to ask you to walk you down the aisle on your wedding day.⁣
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🥹 So feedback like this makes me so happy 🥹 it’s so good, I’ve even forgiven Aliza for spelling my name with an i 🙃🤣🥹♥️⁣
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🙌🏼 It’s available in ivory, blue and blush, so if you fancy snapping one up as an extra emosh Christmas present you can order it via this very link ✨⁣

⁣www.claredesigns.co.uk/products/limited-edition-will-you-walk-me-down-the-aisle-poem-print-in-ivory ✨