When printing my wedding invitations I went back and forth on how I wanted to write the envelopes.  I thought about printing them with our laser printer, but I eventually decided that hand-lettering the envelopes would give a more personal touch.  Fortunately, I have always been blessed with artistic ability and relatively good handwriting so I decided to give it a shot.

My inspiration came from one of the fonts used on the actual invitation: Janda Stylish Script. I also found this article on how to fake calligraphy, which shares some very helpful techniques.  Eventually, with some practice, I settled on a combination of the Janda Stylish Script and the calligraphy shared in the article.  This way the envelopes would be unique and my own “style”.  I like how they can either look more formal or more casual depending on how many flourishes and loops the letters have.  Since our wedding is more rustic, I also decided to combine the calligraphy font with some all caps for the address line, titles, etc.  Doing so helped with spacing too, since the calligraphy is harder to do when written smaller.

I used several pens to do the calligraphy, but I have to admit that the Micron pen from Michael’s that was suggested in the fake calligraphy article above, really is the best for writing on kraft paper envelopes.  The kraft paper seems to absorb a lot of ink and the micron pen doesn’t bleed into the paper like the Sharpie extra fine pens.  Plus the Micron pen is archival ink and photo safe.  The photo below shows how much “fatter” the Sharpie pen looks in comparison to the Micron.

After completing several envelopes I texted a photo to my fiance, to which he replied, “Looks nice.  What font did you use?”   I had to laugh because later he explained that he actually thought I printed them with the printer.  So, I guess I did an okay job.  I also used the same techniques to write our Welcome Message on a chalkboard for our wedding.  I can’t show the whole thing because I want it to be a surprise for our guests, but here’s a sneak peak along with the pen I used.

What do you think?  Are you brave enough to try hand-lettering and address your own invitations?  If not, head on over to my Etsy shop and fill out a custom request- I’d be happy to do it for you!
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