Calligraphy Woes
How are you handling the whole-- addressing the invitations project?
I'm completely torn about it. I have several friends who have spent upwards of $2.50 per envelope on professional calligraphy.
I can't even imagine shelling out 250 dollars on handwriting!?!?!
Personally, when I get the mail I quickly glance and the envelope and then throw it straight into the trashcan. However, I don't want to appear cheap for going the DIY route!
I've got a Calligraphy for Dummies book out from the library as we speak-- is it worth trying myself (it won't be perfect- but as a school employee I do have nice handwriting) or should I shell out the dough?
I'm completely torn about it. I have several friends who have spent upwards of $2.50 per envelope on professional calligraphy.
I can't even imagine shelling out 250 dollars on handwriting!?!?!
Personally, when I get the mail I quickly glance and the envelope and then throw it straight into the trashcan. However, I don't want to appear cheap for going the DIY route!
I've got a Calligraphy for Dummies book out from the library as we speak-- is it worth trying myself (it won't be perfect- but as a school employee I do have nice handwriting) or should I shell out the dough?
posted by Miss Woodley Park at 9:08 PM
15 Comments:
I bought a calligraphy font and printed them on my computer. Nelly Script Flourish is very pretty without being over the top... and it was only $39.
I saved by getting DIY invites at Michaels and decided to go with calligraphy on just the outer envelope for $1 each through this Etsy vendor...she did a great job..http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5101014. Also, I saw a great tutorial online about sending your envelopes through your printer and put your font in the exact color of the envelope or nearly the same color and then trace over with a paint pen. I tried this with my envelopes at first but the ink would just not settle into or dry on my envelopes.
I also meant to add that envelopes with a matte finish (or having a laserjet printer) will probably work best for the 'faux' DIY calligraphy.
i have neat enough handwriting - i didn't do any special script font but wrote them out neatly in an all lowercase print. I saved time and money and still felt they came out wonderfully.
Good luck!
depending on the formality of your wedding, i think your own handwriting is personal and plenty good for wedding envelopes.
heck, we printed ours in Edwardian from our home printer (we've really only used two fonts for everything we've done and this is one of them so it ties in too)
but the biggest thing to remember is the point you already made, people take your invite out and throw the envelope in the garbage... no matter how pretty it may be
How much time do you have until the invites have to go out? I ordered a calligraphy book from Amazon ($4 including shipping!) and plan to try teach myself and see how it goes, since I don't have to send out invites for 6 months ... and if that doesn't go well, I'll either try the "faux" calligraphy that Becky suggested (check out http://withthisringwedding.blogspot.com/2008/11/calligraphy-101.html) or just print the addresses in a calligraphy font as Abbie suggested. I agree that it's not worth shelling out for an envelope that many people won't even look at. The other option is to see if any of your guests have calligraphy skills and would be willing to do the calligraphy as a wedding present
I swear you were reading my mind. I have been thinking about this very topic for the past couple of weeks. I finally completed my invitations this weekend (YEAH!!)and now I need to address those bad boys and get them in the mail. I ultimately decided not to stress about it and have decided to give my sister the task of addressing my outer envelopes. I'm buying her some calligraphy pens and letting her do it. She has really nice handwriting so I figure the calligraphy pens will just kick it up a notch. :-)
Miss Woodley Park,
You will love me after reading this :) I was totally in your shoes last week, until I posted a Craigslist ad, seeking a calligrapher. What did I find? A fabulous man who is a teacher throughout the year, and does what he loves... calligraphy during the summer! He charges 50 cents per outer envelope (I kid you not!), he drove an HOUR to my office in Tenlytown to pick up all the envelopes, and charged $60 for all 125. He is also doing all of our place cards for $40. And the best part...he's amazing! I told him I'd spread his name... so if you want his info, email me at agenevish at gmail dot com. I dont have his info in front of me, or else I'd give it to you now...
I handed off my invitations and I cant tell you how GREAT it felt!
I also found a great calligrapher on CraigsList. She emailed me samples of her work and she charged me under $1 per envelope. Do a search....you might find someone in your area (like I did) and just meet in person...or you can there are lots of people that will have you send your supplies to them and then ship them back to you when they are done. Good luck.
Here's a tip - I worked with Cami of www.camispaperie.com to print the address on my invitations. BONUS: get the look of calligraphy, but without the expensive price tag - not to mention the relief of not having to do the calligraphy yourself. She has a ba-zillion fanastic fonts and is super easy to work with. Save yourself the time and money - she's a life saver!
Try www.fohta.com
Thanks for the tips/tricks ladies! I appreciate all of your thoughts.
I ordered a calligraphy pen (the Schaeffer beginner mini-kit or some such) and some colored ink and addressed those bad boys myself, sitting at my kitchen table over a couple weekend afternoons. I practiced a WHOLE lot with the pen beforehand, just getting a feel for which nib size i liked best (medium) and whether i wanted lots of bells and whistles on my letters (no). In the end, i just printed the addresses in my normal handwriting, going slowly and deliberately but not trying to make the letters look anything different from what they normally would. I was INCREDIBLY pleased with the result and have already gotten a couple compliments on them! (Oh, i did the nifty "space out the zip code on the bottom line" thing you see calligraphers doing all the time. Super neat!)
Bottom line: You can totally DIY, if your handwriting's half-decent, and everybody will 1) appreciate the effort and 2) totally not care that you didn't hire a professional to write their names.
I got lucky - FMIL does calligraphy. But, if she didn't, we'd totally be printing labels. No way I'm spending that kind of money for someone to write out addresses. (Which would have horrified my mother, so really, it all worked out for the best.)
I do calligraphy for a way cheaper rate! It might not be as fancy as some calligraphers who charge an arm and a leg...but I'll do it for $1 an envelope if anyone is still interested. I'm in the DC area. Crude samples at http://www.avivapressman.net/visual-arts.html If anyone is interested email me at avivadiva14@yahoo.com
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