envelopes - MUST be handwritten?!

I am not sure what I am doing at this point but I know I am not doing labels and I will not use my own printer or work printer to do the envelopes. Ladies...I am not in favor of labels but it is MUCH easier than doing the envelopes via the printer. Have you ever tried before? It is VERY time consuming and you pretty much have to do them one at a time. If you them in bulk you risk the chance of the printer heating up and smearing the ink...plus you can get black spots on the envelopes.

Trust me...I know! I have a good laser printer at work and ran into some problems when printing 30 Bridal Shower invites. Not fun.

So that being said I do not want to hire a caligrapher because I think its a waste. I never noticed envelopes until I got engaged. I think those who r married probably do notice but whatever. We are paying for our own wedding and $300 on a calligrapher is not feasible. Those who do notice it probably say 'oh this looks nice. They had the money to spend on a calligrapher' and then they toss it! Ridiculous! Well I might hand write in my own script or pay somone to digitally print them. Not sure!!!

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Posted by Jenn04

I am not sure what I am doing at this point but I know I am not doing labels and I will not use my own printer or work printer to do the envelopes. Ladies...I am not in favor of labels but it is MUCH easier than doing the envelopes via the printer. Have you ever tried before? It is VERY time consuming and you pretty much have to do them one at a time. If you them in bulk you risk the chance of the printer heating up and smearing the ink...plus you can get black spots on the envelopes.

Trust me...I know! I have a good laser printer at work and ran into some problems when printing 30 Bridal Shower invites. Not fun.

So that being said I do not want to hire a caligrapher because I think its a waste. I never noticed envelopes until I got engaged. I think those who r married probably do notice but whatever. We are paying for our own wedding and $300 on a calligrapher is not feasible. Those who do notice it probably say 'oh this looks nice. They had the money to spend on a calligrapher' and then they toss it! Ridiculous! Well I might hand write in my own script or pay somone to digitally print them. Not sure!!!

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WHAT is a waste to one person is not a waste to others. But everybody is going to have their own opinion on this. You just said that doing it at home on your printer is not great or at work, so then how? not asking to be a B*TCH but confused.

i think until we know the reasons behind a persons action we cant judge. Like i said, if i did it myself whether it would be labels or on the envelope then id have to buy a new printer, ink cartridge, that would cost me more money than a calligrapher would cost me. I have 300 guests and even with that the calligraphy cost will be LESS than $200 depending on which one will be available that i want it will either be $125 or $156...most people have even less guests...those with lets say less guests such as 150 will need around 75 invites so that would be less than $100, around $93 and change. And when doing your own invites you typically have to buy an ink cartridge, and other supplies. Some on here even have to buy programs for their addresses and that way can actually end up costing you more or the same amount

And paying someone to print digital calligraphy on your invites is the same thing as paying someone to write it. I saw someone on LIW post the quote they were given for digital calligraphy which was the same as hand-written.

Espo22 - what is your quote for calligraphy...per invitation? Or is it per envelope? That seems like a reasonable cost. I heard it is around $2 per envelope and I wasnt sure if that was for each one...inner and outer....that could get pricey. But please let me know who your quotes are from because it seems reasonable!

Also I definitely see your point about buying the printer, ink, etc. Plus it is a hassle. Like I said I tried this before and had to individually hand feed every single invitation and still ended up with black smearing, etc. I only had to do 30 and it took a very long time and I still was not happy with the end product. Ladies..if you are doing this yourself...please give yourself ample time. Also if anyone has already done it yourself...please post how it went and how long it took! It could be helpful advice!

Also I read above that someone is pay .19 for digital calligraphy....I havent gotten any quotes on this yet so I am not sure how much it runs.

I am sorry if I offended anyone in my post. Just giving my input!

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Posted by Jenn04

Espo22 - what is your quote for calligraphy...per invitation? Or is it per envelope? That seems like a reasonable cost. I heard it is around $2 per envelope and I wasnt sure if that was for each one...inner and outer....that could get pricey. But please let me know who your quotes are from because it seems reasonable!

Also I definitely see your point about buying the printer, ink, etc. Plus it is a hassle. Like I said I tried this before and had to individually hand feed every single invitation and still ended up with black smearing, etc. I only had to do 30 and it took a very long time and I still was not happy with the end product. Ladies..if you are doing this yourself...please give yourself ample time. Also if anyone has already done it yourself...please post how it went and how long it took! It could be helpful advice!

Also I read above that someone is pay .19 for digital calligraphy....I havent gotten any quotes on this yet so I am not sure how much it runs.

I am sorry if I offended anyone in my post. Just giving my input!

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.19 is not bad, one girl posted that they quoted her $1.00 per envelope

i will fm you prices

I love when all these etiquette sites say you MUST do something. Like the wedding police are going to come after me if I don't.

I printed mine in a nice script on clear labels, and I must say, they look nice. I just couldn't justify spending $2 an envelope to have someone write on them for me. If my family and friends really care then there's an issue

I don't think that they need to be ahndwritten at all. It actually leaves more room for error if they are handwritten. I received an invitation that was handwritten by a calligrapher and my fiance's name was all messed up.

We are going to print ours. There are some beautiful fonts that can be used. Also, when planning a wedding, who has time to write out 150 addresses?

Print it if you want....no one really cares that much! I have never really noticed much of a difference!

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Posted by PreshusSmurf

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Posted by sparkle

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Posted by PreshusSmurf

Digital Calligraphy has become acceptable, though Handwritten Calligraphy is preferable.

Either one is fine ... but whatever you do, Skip The Labels!!!!!!!!!

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What do you mean by 'labels'? Like printing them and actually sticking them on the envelopes? (Don't worry, I wasn't planning on doing that....I've never seen anyone do that I don't think.....?)

Thanks girls.

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Yes, that's what I meant. There are Brides out there who think that labels are acceptable, but they really aren't. And some are convinced that just because the label is clear, that it magically disappears. It doesn't.

I've never received an invitation to a formal affair that had labels used for addressing.

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i agree. my cousin used labels on her wedding invites and it looks not so nice. I normally don't notice or care, but I noticed that. Definitely no labels!

The reasoning behind the handwritten/ calligraphy recommendation is the reason WHY it is still the gold standard by most etiquette experts. It says, 'my guests are very important to me, and I want to personally invite them to the biggest one-day event in my life.' Back in the day, I think many more ladies practiced the art of calligraphy. If she personally didn't know how to perform it, most likely one of her close friends or relatives did, so it was a natural extension of the bride and/or host. Hiring a stranger wasn't the 'norm', so it wasn't for the suggested reason that calligraphers were just out for the $$ and the etiquette folks were in on the deal.

Computer calligraphy can look just as nice (or lets be honest, nicer), but it's the reasoning behind that option as to why the etiquette folks are slow to fall in line with the digital world. They look beyond the Excel spreadsheet line 145 and see a real person hoping to have the honor of receiving your invitation.

On a personal note: I beg anyone that plans on using labels (clear ones especially) to wash your hands prior to applying them to envelopes. I have received 2 invites in which there were finger print smears all over them. Talk about gross!

I really think if you have the money sure go ahead pay someone to do it but not everyone has the extra money (myself included) to spent on someone to write out my invitations.

I hate to spend money on something that goes in the garbage when its opened. I have gotten many invitations and I cannot remember if they were hand written by the caligrapher, printed or labels and really I dont care. I would never think less of an invite if it was a label. I would just be honored to be invited.

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Posted by o17range

The reasoning behind the handwritten/ calligraphy recommendation is the reason WHY it is still the gold standard by most etiquette experts. It says, 'my guests are very important to me, and I want to personally invite them to the biggest one-day event in my life.' Back in the day, I think many more ladies practiced the art of calligraphy. If she personally didn't know how to perform it, most likely one of her close friends or relatives did, so it was a natural extension of the bride and/or host. Hiring a stranger wasn't the 'norm', so it wasn't for the suggested reason that calligraphers were just out for the $$ and the etiquette folks were in on the deal.

Computer calligraphy can look just as nice (or lets be honest, nicer), but it's the reasoning behind that option as to why the etiquette folks are slow to fall in line with the digital world. They look beyond the Excel spreadsheet line 145 and see a real person hoping to have the honor of receiving your invitation.

On a personal note: I beg anyone that plans on using labels (clear ones especially) to wash your hands prior to applying them to envelopes. I have received 2 invites in which there were finger print smears all over them. Talk about gross!

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yes exactly. This was the reason why i heard people tell you to hand write envelopes. Its more personal and you are personally inviting them, regardless you are inviting them but you get the point lol. Same concept as hand writing your thank you cards instead of getting the typed up thank you cards. Just to make it more personal.

Times are changing so rules do bend and changes with the times.

This is a funny thread.

All I can say is, the decisions are personal.

Not even about money or effort...it's a judgement...

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Posted by FullersBride

I hand wrote all of mine. I got a really nice pen and took my time. THey came out fantastic and I actually had quite a few number of peole comment on how nice it was to receive a hand adressed envelope and how it showed that I took the time out to do it. If you have the time and pretty handwriting I think it is a really sweet and personal touch to hand address your invitations!

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My grandma addressed all of my Bat Mitzvah invitations. I've also seen a number of horrible looking envelopes that were hand done -- crooked, uneven letters, etc. I'm really anal about stuff like that and while I love well-done calligraphy I think it stands out a lot when they are crappily done.

We are getting Encore invitations (with script and print) and I saw a sample envelope printed in the same script and it looked really beautiful so we decided to go with that. Then we don't have to worry about it: we KNOW what it will look like when it's done, if an envelope is screwed up it will be replaced without us even having to know, and it will look nice and formal -- no smudges, crooked writing, fingerprints, etc.

The only hassle is we need to get our addresses in early since we're taking advantage of a promotion that makes it much cheaper than usual. I think a calligrapher can do things closer to the day

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Posted by znycgirl


This is a funny thread.

All I can say is, the decisions are personal.

Not even about money or effort...it's a judgement...

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so true.

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Posted by znycgirl


This is a funny thread.

All I can say is, the decisions are personal.

Not even about money or effort...it's a judgement...

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its true. I feel the way i feel but i dont expect others to feel the same way or do what i do the same way i dont want others to tell me how i should do it either.

I have my own reasons for doing what i will do and what works out best for me. If you are happy about your decision no need to worry about what others think.

some people are so caught up in their own world is crazy!! i wonder if they follow every single wedding related etiquette out there.. also bear in mind.. not everyone follows YOUR etiquette.. there are people of different nationalities and religions on this board.. so what is acceptable to you may be totally unacceptable to others!!!

sorry.. this is my first 'annoyed' post..

eta: typos