Our Invitations and Calligraphy!

[Haven]

My mother spent her spring break doing the calligraphy for our wedding invitations, and I wanted to show off her talents!

First up, here''s a scan of our invitation. For some reason the text turns blurry when I save it as a gif, but you get the picture. I blacked out our last names:

 

[Haven]

Here''s some of the gorgeous calligraphy:

 

[Haven]

And one last group. She not only did the outer envelopes, but all of the inners, as well. She''s so amazing, I love my mom.

 

[Haven]

I posted this in its own thread already, but here''s the adorable little map she drew up for us:

 

[doodle]

wow, i love your mom, too--those look GREAT!!

 

[Haven]

One more:

 

[ladyciel]

So jealous!!

 

[Sabine]

Gorgeous!

 

[alli_esq]

Absolutely STUNNING!

My mom used to be able to do calligraphy, but she''s too shaky to be able to anymore

Yours are absolutely gorgeous--you couldn''t pay someone to do such a loving and beautiful job!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Your Mom, ROCKS! Absolutely beautiful.

 

[zoebartlett]

Haven, your mom is SOOOOO talented!! She did a beautiful job!

 

[surfgirl]

Haven, your mom is awesomely talented! I can do basic calligraphy but I had similar calligraphy as yours done for my wedding announcements because there is no way I could ever do that styling...it''s amazing. Did she already know how to do that or did she teach herself? Just curious...They look fantastic, and the map is adorable.

ETA: I have to say that splurging on calligraphy, whether done my a relative or paid for, is such a nice touch. People are so inundated with crap mail that to get something with such lovely writing just says "open me! I''m special! I''m not a bill!" I''m sure your guests will love it...

 

[basil]

They look fabulous, Haven! My mom is planning to do our calligraphy too, but she''s not nearly as good as your mom!

 

[Haven]

Thanks, ladies!

Surfgirl--My mother has been doing calligraphy since she was young, but she hasn''t really done much for the past several years. We found some different fonts that we loved and she played around with them for a while until she found one she liked. I love the contrast between the thick and thin lines in this particular style, I think it looks so elegant.

Thanks again for your wonderful responses! I sent a link to this topic to my mom so she could see what everyone said!

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/27/2008 9:37:56 PM
Author: surfgirl
ETA: I have to say that splurging on calligraphy, whether done my a relative or paid for, is such a nice touch. People are so inundated with crap mail that to get something with such lovely writing just says ''open me! I''m special! I''m not a bill!'' I''m sure your guests will love it...

I couldn''t agree more, Surfgirl. Well said.

 

[Future Mrs Polka Dot]

Haven, everything looks absolutely wonderful! Your mom is so talented!

 

[Gypsy]

OMG! Bow down before Haven''s mother! Those ROCK. Seriously. Better than ones I''ve seen people pay for. Your invites are THE BOMB (lol) Haven!

 

[emilina22]

i think that anyone who can do calligraphy is freakin awesome!!! no matter how hard i try i just cant every do it!!

everything looks so great!! and i love your invitations we were actually looking at something similar to those

and by the way i didnt know you lived in Illinois!! when i saw that map i was like HEY I KNOW THAT AREA!!

 

[surfgirl]

Haven, is the font she used called Spencerian? That''s what we used, but with a flourish from some other fancy font...I think you''ve got the same font. It''s divine!

 

[ringster]

haven, they look A-MAZING. your mom is da BOMB. and the map! - can''t believe how talented she is!

 

[bee*]

Wow they look fab! My uncle is a calligrapher so he''s kindly offered to do our invites and place settings for us. I love calligraphy!

 

[Krissie]

Haven, those are SO gorgeous! I absolutely love them -- your mom is such an artist!!

 

[ellaila]

Haven, those are absolutely gorgeous!!

I can''t stop looking at them ...

Can I be invited to your wedding just so I can receive an envelope with my name written so goshdarn pretty??

 

[lliang_chi]

Wow! Lucky you for having such a talented mom!! They look AMAZING.

 

[surfgirl]

Hon, does your mom work? Because there''s a mint to be had in calligraphy and customized wedding maps...

Hey, I''m just say''in...

 

[sunnygirl]

The calligraphy is beautiful! You are so lucky to have such an awesomely talented mom!

 

[iheartscience]

Wow, those invites are GORGEOUS! Your mom is so talented-the envelopes look amazing and I LOVE your map! What an artist! I agree with surf-she could totally do calligraphy and hand drawn maps as a side business.

P.S. I just got a beautiful wedding invitation to my cousin''s wedding in the mail today and it also has calligraphy on the envelope (not as intricate as your mom''s, though) and I loved seeing it in my mail pile! So I completely agree with surf about that, too!

 

[newbie124]

Wow, those are gorgeous! I''d also really love to have calligraphy envelopes. Let me know if your mom would be willing to take on some paid commissions (I also live in Chicago!)

 

[Haven]

Thanks again, ladies! I keep calling my mom to tell her about all of your wonderful responses!

I brought the invites in to the post office today and I was pretty put off by something that happened. I had to buy special postage for one invite which is going to Brazil, and the gentleman helping me weighed the invite and then SLAPPED two stamps onto the envelope all wonky and sloppy looking. I was so taken aback--they looked so bad on that beautifully callgraphied envelope!

I didn''t say anything because there wasn''t really anything I could do, anyway, but I was a bit disappointed. Those crooked stamps really ruined the envelope, I think.

Anyway . . .

Gypsy--You''re so funny!

Emilina--Yup, Illini here! There are quite a few of us on PS, aren''t there?

Surfgirl--I think she used Copperplate and a mix of something else that she found. Your invites sounds gorgeous with that flourish! And I''ve told my mom that she could do very well in the wedding industry but she loves her job (technology teacher) so she''s not leaving. She used to do wedding envelopes when I was younger and she didn''t work, though.
She DID say she loved making the map, so I think she''s considering doing them, we''ll see.

Surfgirl and Ringster--I''ve always wanted to see your avatars together because they remind me of each other, I''m so glad you posted one after the other! (GORGEOUS RINGS!)

ellalia--You''re too cute! One of my students asked me the same thing--she said "Can I just have an envelope with my name on it, please?"

newbie--I wish she would do envelopes, I think she could make a business of it, for sure!

 

[Stephanie]

Wow!! They are just stunning. Your mom, as mentioned, is very talented!