Calligraphy not only adds personality and life to paper (and other) items, it also takes some of the stress out of those jobs that could take up hours of your free time that you really need to decide on whether you have space for your great aunt Ida or what your first dance song will be.
Here are some of my favourite ways to incorporate calligraphy into your wedding.
1. Envelope Addressing
Beautifully addressed envelopes set the tone of your wedding style and make your invitation or save the date something your guests will be genuinely excited to see land on their doormat. Having your envelopes professionally addressed means they will be perfectly laid out, centred and neat.
2. Guest’s names on invitations
So now you’ve got your beautifully-designed invitations, but scribbling your guests names on with a biro won’t quite cut it, will it? Like many calligraphers, I offer a variety of lettering styles, so the names on your invitations can tie in perfectly with the style of your stationery.
3. Spot Calligraphy
Spot calligraphy refers to individual pieces of hand-lettering, digitised and incorporated into graphic design. Unique lettering with flourishes and personality simply can’t be achieved with a font.
I can work with your stationery designer to create a beautiful combination of graphic design and hand-lettering.
Plus, once you have these pieces, these can be used across multiple elements of your stationery, such as your invitation, signage, websites or even cakes.
4. Monogram
It might sound grand, but a monogram is the perfect way to celebrate you and your partner, combining your initials to create a unique ‘brand’ for your wedding. Like spot calligraphy, this can be used across loads of different elements of your wedding stationery and helps pull everything together into a coherent style.
5. Ceremony Backdrop
With non-church weddings becoming more and more popular, many couples are looking for ways to make their ceremony look and feel spectacular - flower walls, fabric drapes, streamer curtains or balloon arches, you name it. Why not make it something personal to you both by having your favourite lyrics or poem hand-lettered onto a fabric backdrop? Your chosen words can be written directly onto the fabric - perfect for where there is not much text, or printed if the text is longer.
6. Gifts
You may be planning to thank your bridal party, or people who helped you pull together the biggest day of your life. I know my family and friends needed a big deserved it for blowing up giant balloons, setting up beer kegs and generally calming my nerves. However you’re planning to say ‘thank you’, adding a custom calligraphy gift tag, personalised bag or even an engraved bottle of their favourite tipple, will turn a gift into a treasured keepsake.
7. Signage
Whether functional (which way are the toilets again?) or completely decorative (your favourite quote, for example), signs at your wedding are a beautiful way to add character and personality to your day. Depending on budget, you can add a small table-top sign for your guest book, or a big wooden sign to lean against a wall. Either way, they make for a great photo opportunity.
8. Table Plan
One of my personal favourites to create for my clients. There are so many different options here depending on your theme or personal style - you can have each table on a different piece of paper and hung together, or a larger piece such as a rustic chalkboard, a vintage mirror or cool perspex. Hand-lettered table plans create a beautiful focal point for your guests while they’re enjoying a glass of bubbly and thinking about who they’re sitting at a table with.
9. Favours
Wedding favours may be falling out of ‘favour’ (sorry) in recent years, but I love the trend for handmade or custom items that are personal to you and something guests can keep - homemade hot sauce, your nan’s raspberry jam. Favours that double as place names mean you keep your guests occupied while everyone gets settled. Add a calligraphy gift tag or permanent engraving to your jam jars to make it feel even more special.
10. Place Names
Finally, probably my most common request from clients, calligraphy place names are a simple way to elevate your table setting. You can tie your place names into the style of your day and I’m seeing couples getting more and more creative with what they choose. In the last few years, I’ve been commissioned to write on oyster shells, marble coasters, pieces of sea glass and leather luggage tags.
However you choose to add calligraphy to your day, there's something for every budget, every setting and every couple. It's your day, so express your personality and have fun!
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