Planning a wedding and hiring vendors can be overwhelming, and you may never have worked with a calligrapher in your life. Are you considering hiring a calligrapher for your wedding? Here’s a few things that we want you to know!

It’s never too early to get in touch

You probably wouldn’t wait until the 11th hour to book your venue or your photographer. Don’t wait to get in touch with your calligrapher, either! You don’t have to have all your details finalized (in fact, seating charts or place cards almost certainly won’t be finalized until a month prior to the wedding), but if you love a certain calligrapher’s style, if you want to have a lot of hand lettered details at your wedding, or if you want to spend some time discussing different ideas, the sooner you connect with your calligrapher, the better!

That being said...we will do our best to accommodate you!

We get it - wedding planning can be stressful and it is tough to keep track of it all! Details for the day like table numbers or signs can fall by the wayside, and suddenly it’s a week before the wedding and oh shoot you really wanted fun personalized signs at the reception!

Most calligraphers will do their best to accommodate rush orders, if we have the bandwidth. Just note that a rush fee (which can be anything up to 50+% of the price of the service, depending on the scope of the project) might apply. Your calligrapher may have to work some late nights to knock out your envelope addressing in 3 days, or do some gymnastics to fit your project in with other orders, especially during peak wedding season, which is usually September / October.

We want to work within your budget

Weddings are expensive. A quick Google search will give you thousands of tips on how to cut corners and save a few bucks on your wedding, but at the end of the day, if you are having a traditional wedding with a ceremony, dinner and reception, it’s going to cost a chunk of change. It can be overwhelming - when else in your life are you hosting dinner and drinks for 50 or 100+ people?! - and that’s okay! Custom calligraphy may seem totally out of reach, or you might get sticker shock upon hearing how much calligraphy can cost.

Here’s the good news - we WANT to work within your budget. I guarantee you that if you have a big idea but don’t have the budget to pay for it, we can work with you to adjust materials, size, wording, etc. to propose different options that will better fit your budget. All we need from you is a willingness to be flexible!

Maybe you’re dreaming of a bespoke 200-person seating chart, but you’re working with a $100 budget. Maybe we can calligraph the header on a seating chart that you get printed at Staples instead of doing the whole thing by hand! Maybe you really want to collect vintage mirrors for us to write on for your signs, but can’t afford to buy the mirrors and pay for the calligraphy. We might have mirrors available for rent! Et cetera. You may need to consider adjusting your budget if you truly have your heart set on something specific and / or grand, but we absolutely want to work with you where we can.

A lot goes on behind the scenes

We understand that clients sometimes get sticker shock when they hear how much things can cost. There can be a misconception that we can “just write some calligraphy real quick,” but there’s a lot more to it than that. Hand lettering and calligraphy is time consuming and requires skill & lots of practice! You aren’t just paying for someone to write on something; you’re paying for someone with experience and expertise to make a custom piece for you. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes of a project that you might not see:

Brainstorming ideas based on the client’s vision
Testing inks / paints on different mediums to see what will work / what will look best
Giving recommendations to clients based on your research / past experiences
Creating mock-ups
Taking feedback and editing mock-ups
Purchasing project-specific supplies
Measuring (more than once)
Drawing guidelines
Actually putting pen to paper (or paint to acrylic, etc…)
Touching up as needed
Packing up items for shipping & going to the post office
Coordinating with and meeting clients for in-person deliveries

On top of doing these things for our client projects, we are also always practicing to improve and expand our skills, doing things like trying out new inks / mediums, practicing with different worksheets, taking classes, staying informed of industry trends, and more. We love to do it, but it’s not quite as simple as just picking up a pen and writing!

We can help you think of creative ideas

Some couples have a very specific vision for how they want their signage, place cards, and other day-of details to look. That’s great! Others may have a general idea, but want some recommendations or ideas. That’s also great! If you want help brainstorming and are open to recommendations, ideas and inspiration, let us know! We love to get creative, and can likely suggest ideas based on other work we’ve done!

Don’t be afraid to ask questions

I sometimes get inquiries from brides who ask a few questions and then immediately apologize for asking too many questions. Please don’t apologize! We totally get it; your wedding might be the first or only time you’ve ever worked with a calligrapher and you just don’t know what to expect, or maybe you have some ideas but don’t really know how to execute them, or maybe you are just curious and want to find out more about general process and pricing. Ask us ANY and ALL of your questions, even if it’s questioning the pricing of something. We really are happy to explain it - we want you to have a great customer experience and feel happy with what you choose.

We feel honored to play a part in your wedding day

Your wedding day is a really important, happy, special day. We are truly honored to play a small part in such a significant life event. Thanks for trusting us; it means the world to get to create something that gets used on such a big occasion!