Calligraphy on envelopes

thale0924

I'm trying to plan the most beautiful wedding that my budget allows I really want pretty invitations.  My FI is a fantastic drawer and I recently learned can do calligraphy very nicely.  However, because he can does not mean he wants to address 120 envelopes!  Would it look tacky to print the envelopes in a calligraphy font off our printer?  Or should I beg him to address the invites for me? 

I would love to do them myself, but my handwriting/hand eye coordination in general is just not up to par. 

LeiselEB

It's becoming more and more acceptable to print directly onto envelopes. But it would be preferable for your FI to address them, especially since he can do nice calligraphy. 

He wouldn't have to do them all at once. 10 a day would go by more quickly than you'd think.

ilooklikegoo

One way you can get calligraphy like writing without actually having good writing is by cheating. This is what I'm doing.

Find a font that you like online, put all your addresses in it, Print it off as bold and dark as you can, cut the paper to fit inside your envelope, stick it inside, trace over it. That way works if you have light colored envelopes.

If they're dark you can do the same thing but instead of putting the paper inside trace the letters on the back side with pencil and then press it on to the envelope. You'll be able to draw back over it with a nice pen

Those two ways are quite a bit of work but you'll have great looking writing and it won't cost you a ton of money.

Anysunrise

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_calligraphy-on-envelopes?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:d22cca4a-9911-490b-afa5-aab31b795a6bPost:fa8930c0-659a-4adb-a65f-681f149604f3">Re: Calligraphy on envelopes</a>:
[QUOTE]One way you can get calligraphy like writing without actually having good writing is by cheating. This is what I'm doing. Find a font that you like online, put all your addresses in it, Print it off as bold and dark as you can, cut the paper to fit inside your envelope, stick it inside, trace over it. That way works if you have light colored envelopes. If they're dark you can do the same thing but instead of putting the paper inside trace the letters on the back side with pencil and then press it on to the envelope. You'll be able to draw back over it with a nice pen Those two ways are quite a bit of work but you'll have great looking writing and it won't cost you a ton of money.
Posted by ilooklikegoo[/QUOTE]

<div>This is what I did, only I did it with a flashlight and a glass table as well, just to make it easier.</div>

Bonzo2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_calligraphy-on-envelopes?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:d22cca4a-9911-490b-afa5-aab31b795a6bPost:ec672376-a535-4b22-93b9-371cab3dfd0e">Re: Calligraphy on envelopes</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Calligraphy on envelopes : This is what I did, only I did it with a flashlight and a glass table as well, just to make it easier.
Posted by Anysunrise[/QUOTE]



Me too! I have pretty good writing, but I did it this way for the consistency. Plus, with tracing, I knew I wouldn't go too fast and skip letters in the middle of words, which happens to me frequently when I'm just trying to get something done.

MyUserName1

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_calligraphy-on-envelopes?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:d22cca4a-9911-490b-afa5-aab31b795a6bPost:3d9fe754-5913-4349-9778-483b4d36c3f4">Calligraphy on envelopes</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm trying to plan the most beautiful wedding that my budget allows I really want pretty invitations.  My FI is a fantastic drawer and I recently learned can do calligraphy very nicely.  However, because he can does not mean he wants to address 120 envelopes!  Would it look tacky to print the envelopes in a calligraphy font off our printer?  <strong>Or should I beg him to address the invites for me?</strong>  I would love to do them myself, but my handwriting/hand eye coordination in general is just not up to par. 
Posted by thale0924[/QUOTE]

<div>You shouldn't have <em>beg</em> him to address invitations.  It's his wedding too.  Has he pitched in and helped 50/50 so far?  </div><div>
</div><div>...I'm really glad that I don't have to beg my fiance to do anything for our wedding.</div>

bonge

I did ALL my invitations by hand myself. Is it a pain in the rear end? Sure of course it is, but i did 20 or 30 at a time, 4 or 5 times & i was done, i did it while watching tv so i kinda used it as a distraction & it was easier than i thought. I tried tracing at first but that took way too long so i just gave up. Get him to do them, he can contribute too for his own wedding.

Summer2011Bride

I think FI should jump on board and offer to do the calligraphy. LIke someone else said, he doesn't have to do them all at one sitting. Luckily, one of my mom's co-workers does calligraphy and said she'd do it for us at a much-reduced rate.

Had she not, I probably would have just used my best handwriting on them. Having said that, I don't really side-eye people who print onto envelopes with a calligraphy font, and I don't really mind those wrap around bands with the addresses printed on them--sometimes those look very pretty. Just whatever you do, don't use white labels on them!

And having said all this, since you have your own calligrapher at home who can do it for free, I really think that's the way to go.

hoffse

I'm cheating also, but using a different method - I'm printing directly onto the envelopes in the lightest grey font my computer will do and then tracing over that with a calligraphy pen.  Or rather, my mother is doing that because her hand is steadier than mine.  It's completely idiot-proof, as long as you can get the envelopes to go through the printer.  I am also OCD about things being centered, etc. and the computer centers for me, without me having to figure it out by measuring a dark card underneath to trace over.

Oh and I agree with PP.  Begging shouldn't have to happen.  It's his wedding too.  And even if he doesn't care about invitations, tell him it's something you care a lot of about (I get it - invitations are probably the thing I'm pickiest about, and I care about those a lot more than even my dress).  You might tell him that there are 3 things you really feel strongly about and everything else can be a compromise to you.  He should be willing to address the envelopes in calligraphy - sure it takes a little longer, but they have to be addressed in SOME way, so why not a pretty way?

thale0924

Thanks every one!  His argument was, "people are going to look at these once and then throw them away anyway so what's the point?"  But I'm going to stick to my guns.   The planning process def hasn't been 50/50 so far...but I do have to say if I give him a specific task/ask for a specific opinion then he's great! Just no initiative haha

Thanks for all the suggestions!  I will give him some of them as options so it doesn't seem like I'm forcing him into something. 

futuremrsbruno

After attempting to learn calligraphy and attempting to take my time and write very nicely, I just couldn't do it. I ended up printing my addresses on the computer. They came out beautifully and my friends and family who have already received them thought that was a very good idea, as a lot of them either spent a lot of money on a calligrapher or spent hours hand writing not so nice invitations.

If you fiance isn't going to help you, and you feel like you won't have the time, or won't do the job you want, print them. No one will remember that they weren't handwritten anyway.

Also, I get it's his wedding too, but I don't think fiance's HAVE to help with wedding planning. Mine told me from the beginning what areas he wants to have a hand in, then told me the rest is all me. I'm not saying he hasn't gone with me to the craft store, or been helpful, but some guys just do not get into the things we do. When I was agonizing over the invitations, he was the voice of reason who said just print them. It doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Even if your fiance is good at calligraphy.

mahefner

Does anyone know of a good printer to print the return address onto  envelopes and print the addresson the RSVP envelopes?  I have someone handwriting the addresses just trying to find the best way to get the envelopes printed.  I can pay to get it done but I figure if the printer is "cheap" enough it might be better to just buy a printer and do it myself...