Hello!
I’m Claire, and I’m a calligrapher.
My business is called By Moon & Tide. It’s the UK’s longest-established, professional and affordable calligraphy service.
My style of calligraphy is elegant, playful and always as perfect as can be.
- flourished
- modern
- playful
- beautiful
- elegant
I’ve been a calligrapher since 2005, and I’ve learned and improved with every word, every single day as I write!
I work with colour, with softly shining gold, silver and copper inks, and with beautiful images and illustrations. These are often collaborations with other artists, and sometimes my own.
My calligraphy services for weddings and occasions
I work with couples all over the UK on wedding calligraphy items, which can include:
- Wedding announcements and Save the Date cards in calligraphy
- Calligraphy invitations, envelope addressing for weddings, and all of the little extras you can imagine for your wedding invites
- On-the-day paper goods
- Vow booklets
- Order of the day / order of service booklets
- Escort cards
- Calligraphy table plans / table plan cards
- Wedding menus
- Place cards and name tags
- Table names and numbers
- Little paper wedding signs
- On-the-day signage in calligraphy for:
- table plan mirrors
- directional signs on wood
- calligraphy on slate
- hand calligraphy on glass (framed)
- Wedding readings and poems in calligraphy
My calligraphy story
I am a self-taught calligrapher, with 18 years experience working on weddings and calligraphy commissions.
I have always loved words, but that love of language and letters took me down a different path.
I studied French and German with economics, then Italian and marketing. I began my working life in a marketing department of a large corporate firm, but the environment didn’t suit me. I jumped at the chance of taking voluntary redundancy in my early twenties, and used the small payout to establish my calligraphy business.
I started out as – don’t laugh – The Wedding Calligrapher – in 2005. A decade later, my business became By Moon & Tide when I moved back to my home county of Cumbria and started a new life by the beach in a small village on the Furness peninsula.
My first calligraphy bookings were for work colleagues’ weddings. I wrote place names and addressed envelopes for Janet and Jill. I learned to build websites and took on poem commissions in calligraphy, and then wedding invitation and envelope calligraphy orders.
I worked with Louis Vuitton, wrote Steven Gerrard’s wedding place names, and addressed invitations to all of Manchester United on behalf of a luxury jeweller’s in Cheshire. I designed family trees for the BBC, had my calligraphy work published in Kirstie Allsopp’s books and began to teach calligraphy workshops – my first, with 100 people, was at Hampton Court. It was fun, but unrepeatable!
I now focus my time around home, writing in my little calligraphy studio and working with lovely couples and families to create wedding stationery, calligraphy gifts and family trees.
Reviews for my calligraphy
Claire created the most beautiful on-the-day stationery for our wedding – her calligraphy is simply stunning and she is an absolute pleasure to communicate with. Thank you so much x – Emily
The BEST calligrapher out there. Truly exquisite script it really does make even a simple note card look whimsical and precious. – Leandro
I just wanted to publicly say a massive thank you to her for creating the stationery for our elopement. It is a bit of a lonely process to elope and it truly makes a difference to have someone who offer such a personalised service. Claire was always willing to give her input / advice when asked on top of being incredibly generous with her time and ideas, incredibly patient (so many back and forth) and so SO kind. Thank you Claire for designing our gorgeous wedding announcement, vows cards, readings, place cards, menus, programme and our monogramme. I cannot wait to work with her and would recommend her 1000% THANK YOU Claire, for putting so much care and effort in every art piece (because to me, they really are) that you send to your client. – Ines
Stunningly beautiful! Every invitation and envelope handwritten. Carefully packaged and prompt completion of the project. I am thrilled with the results of Claire’s work. She is wonderfully talented. – Laurie
I am so beyond blessed to have run across Claire’s work in a post on Pinterest that she was featured in. I usually never follow the links to see who’s work was featured, but it was so breathtaking that i had to know who did the beautiful calligraphy and if she was even possible to get a hold of.
Well…to my luck, she was so easy to locate and get a hold of. Which I was nervous considering I’m from the U.S. Not only was she easy to get in contact with, but she was quick to respond! Within days of locating her and talking via e-mail, we had worked everything out that I was looking for to be placed on our wedding invitations. Claire is by far the most polite and easiest person I have worked with thus far in planning my wedding. She made the shipping and receiving easy for me and the invitations that were completed and sent back to me were absolutely beyond what I thought perfect would be… they are so beautifully done. No one in the states would have even come close to her talent. Thank you Claire for offering your beautiful work. You are greatly appreciated. – Matt & Em
Claire’s work is exquisite! The calligraphy and paper she chose are lovely. She was very responsive and it arrived packed beautifully. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the invitations, reply cards, envelopes for both and place cards. Thank you so much!!! – Barb
– I found this review again on my Etsy shop, a couple of years after it was written. I’m pleased, because since watching Stranger Things I’ve been worried about Barb…
… if you know, you know.
“Claire has recently designed my calligraphy Save the Dates for my wedding (in collaboration with wonderful artist, Amy Swann) and they were utterly beautiful and totally exceeded my expectations They were printed on such high quality card and a lovely keepsake for me and my fiance. Claire’s calligraphy is amazing and Amy designed a watercolour illustration for the centre of the card which was lovely; I was so happy with the finished product. Communication from Claire and Amy was great throughout. I cant wait to get started on designing my wedding invites with both soon! Thank you ladies”
“Hi Claire, What can I say? Your work is beautiful, my mother was totally overwhelmed with her surprise 80th Birthday celebration lunch. However your items in particular were exceptional, her card and the scroll moved her to tears…
Thank you again, with the timescale what you provided was absolutely beautiful…
With best wishes
Françoise”
“Wow! I’m so chuffed with how clean and elegant the simple style on white with a black frame looks! I’m really really impressed and can’t thank you enough! It’s exactly as I’d hoped it would look. I can’t wait to give it to my wife next week! Many thanks for all your help and effort in getting this absolutely spot on!” Dean, 22/8/2022
We would definitely recommend By Moon and Tide Calligraphy. Claire wrote and illustrated our beautiful Quaker wedding certificate. Claire was really friendly and lovely to work with- she answered all of our questions promptly and designed a certificate that was meaningful for us as well as being beautiful/artistic. She also gave us very helpful recommendations for the pens, etc we needed for our guests to sign the certificate. – Thomas
I recently asked Moon&Tide to create a four level family tree for a special family occasion and I have to say that, with a minimum of fuss, Claire produced a beautiful piece which is visually stunning and which will be treasured by the family for years to come. I highly recommend Moon&Tide. – Terry
I have never bought a personalised item before so Claire’s excellent customer service and professionalism was very welcome. I am thrilled with the family tree she has produced, a gift for my Mum which I am sure she will adore. It is a work of art. Delivery also excellent, the frame had been packaged with great care. – Rachel
Received this beautiful calligraphy poem yesterday and gave it to the friend I had ordered it for. He was so thrilled. The piece was simple, elegant, and just perfect. I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase more calligraphy from here. Thank you!! – Paula
We were so delighted with the beautiful cards that we ordered for our wedding, the service offered was also wonderful. Hand written cards arrived as promised and we were so thrilled with the result. Thank you so much, our wedding table settings looked beautiful! – Becca
Claire did such a fantastic job with our wedding escort cards and menus. It was requested at quite short notice, and she was very patient with me having to change a few names and tables last minute. The calligraphy was stunning, and everyone has held onto their cards as a keep-sake. They fit in beautifully with my theme, and lifted the decorations to the next level! Thank you so much Claire. I would highly recommend her to anyone who needs a touch of elegance and romance to their wedding! – Bianca
Claire was so helpful and accommodating, she took a bespoke order from me and communicated with me back and forth, very quickly, until I was happy with the piece. The turnaround time was very quick and I received the order within days of placing it. It is absolutely beautiful – her talent, skills, craftsmanship and attention to detail are second to one. Really really impressed and happy! – Ciara
I commissioned Claire to design a framed print and some cards, using the words that my husband had found helpful during the current pandemic so that I could give him the print to hang up by the desk we’ve been using while we work at home and we could send the cards to friends and family who might need a bit of a boost at the moment. Claire’s artwork arrived beautifully packaged on quality paper stock and was just perfect. The look on my husband’s face when he saw the words translated from his handwritten scribble on a piece of paper to Claire’s stunning calligraphy was a joy to see! We’ve had lots of lovely comments on the cards from those we’ve sent them to and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Claire – the print makes me smile every time I see it! – Abi
Calligraphy services throughout the UK
Calligraphers know snail mail… that’s our thing. So shipping your beautiful calligraphy items safely and quickly is all part of the service – and I do it well!
You can order calligraphy from anywhere!
Whatever you order – a box of wedding invitations, a framed family tree or last-minute wedding place names – I’ll communicate clearly so you know when to expect delivery, and I’ll package everything carefully.
Little known fact: I used to work for a mail order catalogue, and occasionally we sent out fragile ornaments as free gifts. The warehouse team would check the packaging was safe by kicking the boxes around the warehouse for a bit. (No joke) Why? Because there was a slight chance that’s what would actually happen in the postal depots…
… and that’s my approach to packaging. Lots of safe layers on the outside, and beautiful to unwrap on the inside. So you can order calligraphy wherever you are in the UK, from Shetland to Eniskillen, Cardigan Bay to Canterbury! I will write your beautiful lettering in my home studio on the edge of the Lake District, wrap it like a special gift for you to open, nestle it into a box with eco-friendly corn starch chips or recyclable paper, and post it using a tracked service.
I ship overseas as well. I’ve sent hundreds of calligraphy packages to the United States, to Europe, a few to Australia and New Zealand, Korea and the Philippines!
By Moon & Tide began with a love of letters. Writing – as we do it less in our daily lives – is special now. It’s art.
Words bring us all pleasure in wonderful little ways. We hunt Instagram for pick-me-up quotes. We listen to songs and fall in love to inspiring lyrics. We escape in the pages of our favourite books. And we adorn our weddings and celebrations with notes, names, signs and more.
The personal touch is back, and we love it!
I have had the privilege of working alongside some of the best wedding photographers, stylists and creatives both in the UK and overseas.
Their incredible images featuring my little calligraphy pieces have been featured on world-leading wedding publications.
Here are just a few.
