Horrible handwriting

sarahgoldfarb · February 2011

What did you all do -- or what do you plan on doing -- for addressing your outer invitation envelopes?

For my save-the-dates, I ran them through my printer. My penmanship looks like chicken scratch, so I felt like this what the only option. However, it took me way too long and provided tons of frustration with all the trial and error.

Did anyone bring them to a calligrapher around here? I have no idea what that would cost, but it might be worth it for me. I'm sure many of you were able to do them yourselves, but this lefty is hopeless -- and I can't think of any relatives that have pretty handwriting that I'd be willing to bug.

wicked+faery · February 2011

i printed labels.

Santorini2011 · February 2011

Post this on the Philly board. Someone there had a great calligrapher and I thought it was less than $1 per envelope. It was a woman who does it in her house in NJ, I think.

I like the idea of doing clear labels if not a calligrapher.

paprika28 · February 2011

I'm printing directly on the envelopes- I have terrible handwriting as well, but I wanted something pretty that I could do.

Ms.BriarRose · February 2011

Q. Is it improper to have the outside envelope addresses printed in a fancy font on the printer, or should they be handwritten?
A. Some will say a font that looks amazingly like cursive writing is acceptable, but we don't necessarily agree. Etiquette does say that you should never print addresses with a computer, but always handwrite them. Remember, a wedding is an extremely intimate and personal event, and your invitations should reflect that. If it's a matter of time -- or you've got 500 invitations to address -- enlist the help of your mom, your sisters, your bridesmaids, and anyone else who's got nice handwriting to plow through them. It's just one of those polite, personal, I'm-a-great-hostess touches that isn't totally obvious -- unless such touches are absent, in which case they're glaringly obvious.

(above taken from http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-invitations/articles/wedding-invitations-etiquette.aspx)

Calligraphers are expensive, and charge quite a bit. The lady in NJ that several girls on the Philly board has used is decent, but terrible when it comes to communication (she doesn't respond to emails, takes forever to get back to you, sometimes runs late on orders, etc). She is also the only person I have seen who charges that price- most pricing I have seen is $2+ per piece (so an inner envelope and outer envelope count as 2 pieces). If you want your return address placed on the outer envelope, as well as the RSVP envelope addressed, those will add on as well. So per invite, you could end up spending $8+...and that's a LOT of money.

Ettiquette says that you should handwrite addresses for wedding invitations. It's considered polite- it shows that you took the time and effort to make that person, that guest, feel important.

We hand addressed all of ours. That included the inner envelope as well as the address on the outer envelope. Since we had our invites printed by a professional printer, the return address on the invite as well as the address on the RSVP card were professionally printed on there.

My mom did half, and I did half. I understand how you feel, since my print writing is not that great, let alone my cursive handwriting- especially when I get tired. Is there someone else in your family- mother, sister, FMIL- that has decent handwriting and could help?

My suggestions for this:
ask some friends or family members for help. Then, start on them ahead of the usual timeline. That way, it gives you time to slow down and make sure that you are taking your time.
It doesn't matter if you have different people helping to address, as long as the inner envelope and outer envelope handwriting match. Also, remember that you won't send out as many invites as guests, since there are usually two guests or more per invite.
If you are like me and your handwriting gets worse the more you write, take lots of breaks- another reason to start early on these.
Order extra invitations, as well as envelopes, since mistakes are bound to happen. The number I have heard consistently is an extra 10% of the invites you were planning on ordering (110 invites instead of the planned 100), plus a 25 pack of envelopes. If you are ordering the invites from a printing company and have your return address printed on the back, it's cheaper to order both the extra invites as well as extra envelopes with the initial order, instead of going back and ordering more later.
Enlist your FI to help, even if he has chicken scratch (like mine, his handwriting is illegible!)- have him and others put together and assemble the invites for you. For example, DH put together the inside pieces while I addressed the inner envelope. I gave him the inner envelope and he stuffed it while I addressed the outer envelope. He placed the inner envelope in the outer envelope, sealed it, and stamped it while I addressed the next inner envelope.

I hope this helps. If you do decide to not hand address them yourself, then I would suggest having them hand addressed by someone else.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask; I will try to help as best I can!

paprika28 · February 2011

While I understand what MBR is saying is proper ettiquete, times are changing. If someone sent me a wedding invitation that had the address printed on the envelope, or even on a label, (provided it's not put on slaphazardly) I wouldn't be offended a bit. I'd probably comment on how nice it looks. (And having printed the addresses on the envelopes, I know the trouble it takes to get everything just right- centered, in the right spots, not halfway off, and heaven forbid, the multiple printer jams I went through. But it was worth it.)

That being said- if I got one that had been hand printed, even with slightly messy handwriting, that would be the first thing I noticed- and even though you shouldn't read a book by it's cover, first impressions are very important.

Many E. rules are beginning to disappear, mainly because of technology, the changing of society, etc. How many people would have sent out magnets as STD's 50 years ago? None. And now it's the norm. IMO, TK & most other wedding sites continue to provide these antiquated E. guidelines (and they are only guidelines) because it's their business to do so. They claim envelopes should have calligraphy? They can promote calligraphers and get money. If they said it was okay to print on an envelope, how many calligraphers would they get money from? None. KWIM?

dibsontop · February 2011

Ditto Paprika. I printed them directly on the envelope. I prefer that to labels. If you've got nice handwriting and want to write them all out...go for it. For me, it wasn't worth it. No one on my guest list was going to be offended and the printer ink looked so much nicer than I could have ever done myself.

JayElleJayCee · February 2011

I totally agree with Paprika on this. While I had one of my BM's help me (she knew calligraphy), if I didn't have her then I would have done either clear labels or printed on the envelope. I think that is one thing that could slip the "E. Guidlines". I do however think if you are going to use labels then they should be clear. I think it looks a million times better if you print on the envelope. But I would notice horrible handwriting before anything else. People are just going to throw the envelope away anyway so who cares!! If you really really want to write them... then I suggest getting a calligraphy marker... even if you don't know calligraphy, they can make aweful handwriting look much better!!

Mattsbride10 · February 2011

I totally agree with the girls who don't buy into etiquette. No one in my family is judging me for not using a calligrapher.

I printed on large clear labels and used Edwardian Script font. Try doing that and spelling out the avenue, street, or road etc. part and the state names. It will look very nice.

Horrible handwriting

Re: Horrible handwriting

Choose Another Board

Search Boards