Historical Love Letter in Calligraphy

Commission a Love Letter in Calligraphy

 "If a picture speaks a thousand words, a love letter speaks a thousand more."

Valentine's day brings out the romantic in all of us. So instead of getting that $3 Hallmark card from CVS, why not get your partner something a bit more meaningful, that you can look at every day?

I received this commission a few months ago, where a woman wanted to replicate a historical love letter in calligraphy to her husband: a letter that meant something to the both of them. While you don't quite have to go to this length (this was an actual letter size, about 8 1/2" x11"), there are plenty of quotes you can use from love letters past. This commission was completed on a beautiful cream card stock with a crisp black ink, using calligraphy nib size C-5.

 

Pricing varies by length: $50 for full letter, $25 for 1/2 page

I'm so interested in future projects like this, that I've actually ordered a book featuring the greatest love letters of all time. Even in the age of email, tweets, texts and IMs, nothing has ever replaced the power of a love letter. This would make a fabulous Valentine's Day gift for those passionate readers and lovers of words. And if it's hard for you to write your own love letter {ahem, gentlemen} why not utilize words of great authors past to say what you really feel but can't express?

I can't wait for the book to arrive and to see what I can learn - it features love letters from all kinds of historical figures, from Mozart to Napoleon. I think even simple excerpts would look stunning on simple card stock - and though V-Day is close, this would still make a great gift for any romantic occasion: for your wedding, anniversary, birthday, etc.

Would you like to commission your own love letter in calligraphy, either from your own words or from writers past? Contact me to get started!

Wedding Calligraphy at My Best Friend's Wedding

Calligraphy for Sweetheart Table, $2 each. Photo Credit: Acromatico Photography

As a wedding calligrapher, it's not often that I get to see my work after it's completed and handed off to the bride...so you can imagine how great it is to be able to see what I've done become a part of the wedding it was designed and made for.

Calligraphy Signage, $2 ea. Photo Credit: Acromatico

Here are some great photos from Tiffany's wedding provided by her amazing photographers, Acromatico Photography. I pulled these images from their blog post on her wedding, and as photographers go I would highly recommend working with them if your wedding is in the Florida area. You can visit their website to read more about them and the work that they do.

In these images, you can see a sign I wrote that says "Brush the Beach Off Your Feet", which was placed inside a small basket of brushes tied with ribbon outside the reception. Tiffany did this because the wedding venue was right on the beach, and should guests decide to take a stroll on the beach, they could "brush off the beach" before putting their shoes back on or coming back into the party - love it!

The other images are calligraphy for table cards that I wrote out for the reception themselves. Using sepia calligraphy ink - which is a deep brown color - on ivory scalloped cards, I wrote out table numbers that graced each table next to an orange and green centerpiece. I used a quill and ink well, and the calligraphy nib was the thickest you could get at C-1: perfect for large writing on these cards!

My favorite card, however, was the "Mr. and Mrs. Horton" that I wrote out for the Sweetheart table, which was where Tiffany and Brendan had their first dinner as a married couple. This card (first image), as all the table cards with numbers, was held up by wire holders hand-wrapped around smooth river rocks by Tiffany herself.

Calligraphy for Table Numbers, $2 each. Photo Credit: Acromatico Photography

To see more images of this orange and green wedding, please visit the Acromatico Photography post, "Tiffany and Brendan Delray Beach Club Wedding".

And if you are in need of calligraphy for your big day, contact me to get started - we'll make your reception beautiful!

Calligraphy for Table Cards, and More!

My best friend got married on June 25, 2011 in Ft. Lauderdale, MA. The ceremony was beautiful, and the planning that she did right down to the last detail made all the more difference in her wedding.

During her "Shower Weekend" we spent some time prepping for the reception, including wedding calligraphy and some other great details. So get ready for a super long post with a TON of photos!

Here's some images of the wedding calligraphy I did for her table cards, sweetheart table, and other signage.

Wedding Calligraphy cards, $2

Wedding Calligraphy for Table Numbers, $2

Wedding Calligraphy for Sweetheart Table, $2

The cage below was for the gift table, where she chose to receive cards in an elegant antique bird cage that was braided with silk flowers. Most guests were coming from out of town, so this was a perfect display. I topped it with a floral bow, made with thick ribbon and loops on all sides so there was no "back" look for the cage.

Bird Cage for Wedding Gift Table Cards

The next awesome thing she did was rocks instead of place cards. Her *now husband* is a geologist, so this tied in perfectly with the theme of the wedding. She bought these river-worn rocks in bulk, and then wrote out in silver pen each guest's name on top, and their table number on the bottom when guests picked their stones up.

Stone place "cards" for reception guests

Lastly, to tie in the stones once again, she used the same rocks as table card holders by individually wire-wrapping each rock and creating a card holder out of it. Talk about patience and vision-dedication!

Rock and wire table card holders for wedding reception tables

I'll be sure to get the rest of the post-ceremony photos up as soon as I can - Maid of Honor duties kept me mentally from dutiful documentation, so I will post as I find...

Follow Up: Knowing When to Say “No” to Freelance Clients

The last post, "Knowing When to Say 'No' to Freelance",  was a commentary on the first instance where I had learned when to say no to a wedding calligraphy client: the hard way. This past week, I came across this again: only this time, I was able to recognize the client and say “no”.

This woman emailed me 3 times and left me a voicemail on the same day, while I was at work, to schedule a consultation. And while I don’t believe she was mean-spirited, it was indicative of her already neediness and disregard for my time. I returned her phone call that night when I came home, intending to have a quick consult. This conversation turned into over an hour, during which time she required my assistance creating labels in Microsoft Word to submit me the names for her wedding invitations. She also was repetitive, indecisive, and unsure of what she wanted.

After I (finally!) hung up – during which I’m pretty sure she was trying to ask another question – I was thinking, there’s no way I can work with this woman. Not only was this going to be a huge time-suck out of my life, but it was only for 30 envelopes, which would have been about $60. Not to say that this job wouldn’t have been as valuable as my larger clients, but weighing out the cost of back and forth correspondence and the work itself, it was just not worth the headache or emotion.

            
Add this to the fact that she was a bit older, which is not my target market – which is typically brides ages 20-35: so chances of referral business was also very low. So all those considerations and three follow up emails later that same night, I informed her that something came up, and I was unable to work with her, and even provided her with some well-respected calligraphers within the industry that she could go to. Which, I got a very large needy email response again.

Just another learning experience: some small business owners are well-equipped or enjoy working with clients such as this. With a full time job, a store to run, inventory to make and other clients to work for, you need to prioritize and recognize when things are not worth it. I usually take on the world, but my reality now is that I just can’t stretch myself to that limit anymore.

Have you ever cut off a client before working with them? Did you regret it?

Calligraphy for Place Cards

I've noticed trends when doing wedding calligraphy jobs. Last fall, the high-demand color was navy and black. Then it was black on iridescent silver envelopes and place cards for Christmas. This spring, the "in" wedding calligraphy color seems to be chocolate brown, as I've done several jobs using a great Sepia calligraphy ink that I purchased at Blick. Chocolate brown also happens to be one of my favorite colors, so I'm happy to oblige.

Here are some pictures of a recent bride's completed pieces. I actually looked up the vendor she used for her wedding invitations because I was so impressed with the quality - the place cards especially! Pictured here are the place cards from the Green Kangaroo. The cards themselves took the calligraphy ink very well: I used the Sepia calligraphy ink with a C-5 quill nib.

Pricing for wedding calligraphy is as follows:

Outer and Inner Envelope: $2.50 ea.
Outer Envelope Only: $2.00 ea.
Return Address Only: $1.00 ea.
Place cards: $0.75 ea.

Looking for some calligraphy for your wedding's place cards or envelopes for your invitations, save the dates, or wedding announcements? Contact me today to schedule a free consultation - I've worked with brides all over the country, and would be happy to work with you. 

You can also read my reviews on my Ash Tree Design Wedding Wire Shop. Wedding Wire is also a great resource for planning brides. I was nominated for the Wedding Wire Bride's Choice in wedding calligraphy for 2011.

Hope to speak with you soon!

Calligraphy for Quotes on Table Cards

After I finished her wedding invitations, this bride came to me with her place cards and table card calligraphy requests for her wedding. Her place cards were simple white cards on beautiful paper from the Paper Source - however, the paper used was really absorbent, so I had to use an acrylic ink with a dip quill pen so that the writing was crisp and wouldn't bleed into the card.

Then, the calligraphy for table cards were SO FUN to write out. She wanted romantic quotes from her favorite romantic movies underneath a prominent table number. THIS card took ink very well, so I was able to use my calligraphy pen with black ink cartridge for the fine font required for the quotes. I also used the acrylic again for the number, as I had to buy the biggest quill nib I could find to do the numbering, the "Thank you!" on the favor table, and "The Sweetheart Table". (The size was C-1, by the way. HUGE. I usually work with C-5's, C-4's max.

I was so pleased with how they came out - the black ink really popped on the pale pink of the cards, and it was beautiful. Enjoy!

Looking for affordable wedding calligraphy for your wedding's place cards or table cards? Contact me today!