Calligraphy

By addressing our save-the-dates, I have learned just how much it sucks to address 150 envelopes. And that my handwriting just doesn't look that great after the first 20. It was kind of funny how the process went... the first five were like warm-ups, allowing me to get the spacing figured out and get in the right handwriting "mood," giving the right amount of pressure and getting just the right amount of slant. Then I was in this groove for a few envelopes, and those were going really well, and I liked how they turned out. But then I realized just how many we had left to go, and I started thinking more about just cranking them out rather than making them look nice. So, for those that are not so good at math, that means that I was happy with about 15 out of the 150 save-the-date envelopes. And, unfortunately, I had not thought to order extra envelopes, so we had to send them all out, even the really crappy ones.

When we started to address the international ones to Steve's family, I was like screw it, I don't even know how these addresses are supposed to look--Steve, you're doing these. So, sorry Euro-fam--I hope Steve's handwriting was good enough to get them over the Atlantic to you!

Anyway, the whole experience has me thinking about hiring a calligrapher to address our invitations. We had not budgeted for this, so we may not be able to work it out. But I think it would be a really nice touch, and it would save us a lot of annoying work.

So I went to Etsy.com to look for some inspiration.

It is really interesting to see the kinds of calligraphy that I am naturally drawn to... since our invitations are more in the minimalist/modern vein, it is strange that I most love whimsical styles, like this one called "Flourish" by Etsy seller lilflower:


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I like that the "swirls" of the names form the lines for the rest of the address, that is kind of a neat touch.

I basically love anything by Etsy seller e.Danae, like these ones in "Spencerian" by e.Danae, with a watercolored flower:


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LOVE IT!

And "Lucie," again by e.Danae (although mostly what I like about this one is the fact that the writing extends off the page):


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And gorgeous "Loopy Luxe" by e.Danae:


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Don't they look so pretty?

But like I said, these swirly styles don't really "go" with the style of our invitations, so I tried to find something a little sleeker and more contemporary, like this style by Etsy seller Primele:


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And this calligraphy by Etsy seller 2inspire would be a good fit, since it is a little "swoopy" in the S's and also has a good amount of "slant" in the rest. These are highly technical terms of art, by the way.


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I think a really complementary style for ours might be "Olivia" by Etsy seller BarbaraKua--it's simple, slanty and chic. And doesn't it look just slightly vintage?


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What do you think? Are these pretty, or over-the-top? As a recipient, do you appreciate a well-addressed envelope?