Wedding Wednesday with Artline - Invitation calligraphy

Have you selected your wedding invitations yet?  Are you planning on writing them all yourself?  If you answered yes then you are in the right place!  Last week I shared some ideas about wedding planning and I thought for today's post we could talk about using calligraphy to write and address your invitations.

Wedding invitation and calligraphy pens

It doesn't matter if you haven't tried any kind of calligraphy or hand lettering before, all you need is a pencil, a calligraphy pen, a notebook and some spare time to practice your letters.

If you look online there are hundreds of calligraphy lettering styles to choose from, find one you like that shows the complete alphabet and use this image to copy each letter.  You will also need to find a style of numbers you like for when you address the invitations.  If you aren't confident with a calligraphy pen to begin with then practice with a pencil until you are used to writing the letters in your chosen font and then move onto the pen.  

Practicing and trying out different pens

When you are using the calligraphy pen remember you want to press slightly harder on the down stroke of each letter and lighter on the up stroke.  This gives you the basic calligraphy look for your lettering and then you can work on the flourishes and embellishments.  

If you find yourself struggling with a calligraphy pen then you could cheat and use a pen or marker instead.  You just need to make each down stroke line a little thicker.  In the image above I have used a silver metallic marker then a calligraphy pen and a bronze metallic marker in the large notebook.  When I was using the markers I just went back over the down strokes once I had finished writing each set of letters to make them look wider and like they were done with a calligraphy nib.  

Muscle memory will make you want to write each letter in your normal handwriting to begin with so the more you practice writing in the new style the easier it will get.  It might be worth carrying a calligraphy pen and pocket size notebook around with you so if you find yourself with a spare five minutes during the day you could get them out and fill that time with lettering.  Little practice sessions soon add up and you will find yourself becoming more confident and start to write the letters naturally when you pick up your pen! 

Retraining muscle memory

If you decide to go with a calligraphy pen then Artline have lots of different colours to choose from so you can match them to your colour theme or you can go with a traditional black calligraphy pen on your invitations.  If you are looking for something a bit different then I love the metallic and rustic sepia shades but there are also pastel colour calligraphy pens available if they are more your style.

Addressing envelopes

Once you are happy with your lettering then it is time to get started on the invitations!  It is a good idea to do them in small batches so your hand does not get tired and you are less likely to make mistakes if you only do a few at a time and then take a break. 

Here are my top tips

• Practice as often as you can

• Go slowly and take your time

• Write the invites in small batches 

• Try writing any complicated words in pencil first on a scrap piece of paper before you move onto pen on the invitation or envelope

If you want a few more hints and tips check out my previous lettering post here and if you do have a go at using calligraphy on your invitations please let me know how you get on!