The Wedding Calligrapher

Wedding place cards review

2011-09-29T11:19:00.001+01:00

wedding-place-cards-rustic-UK, originally uploaded by Wedding-Calligrapher.

Hi Claire,

Thanks so much for the place names. They look wonderful, beautifully written, perfect for the setting, dispached speedily ... I'd recommend you to anyone. A pleasure to deal with too.

Chris, 29th September 2011

Wedding place card calligraphy

2011-08-16T20:54:00.001+01:00

wedding calligrapher copyright august 2011 233, originally uploaded by Wedding-Calligrapher.

I have just written this set of wedding place cards in Spencerian script, in silver ink on black cards. Before sending them to Sally I took a quick snap or two with my camera so I could share them on the blog. I hope you like them!

Claire xx

Wedding table names in calligraphy from the UK

2011-07-08T18:20:00.001+01:00

Wedding table names in calligraphy from the UK, originally uploaded by Wedding-Calligrapher.

Another new update, calligraphy table names for a wedding.
Tables are named after whisky.
The ribbon was added to tie all the table name cards together for presentation for my client.

Wedding table plan and accessories with calligraphy

2011-07-05T10:55:00.001+01:00

Wedding table plan and accessories with calligraphy, originally uploaded by Wedding-Calligrapher.

Latest wedding calligraphy commission uploaded to flickr

Pure gold wedding calligraphy

2011-02-11T20:27:00.001Z

Pure gold wedding calligraphy_4468, originally uploaded by Wedding-Calligrapher.

Prince William, Kate if you're reading: have you got your wedding place cards yet? ... You never know!

Ivy-Ellen-calligraphy-invitations

2011-02-05T17:22:00.001Z

Ivy-Ellen-calligraphy-invitations, originally uploaded by Wedding-Calligrapher.

recent calligraphy work on invitations from Ivy Ellen

Flickr

2011-02-05T17:20:00.002Z

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

... tested because I've just uploaded a batch of images to my flickr account of recent calligraphy commissions. The new site at www.calligraphy-uk.com is still live and will be our regular blog. But I figured it can't hurt to update this one from time to time with calligraphy pictures too!

Claire

New Wedding Calligrapher blog

2010-07-11T14:57:00.001+01:00

I'm moving to a new blog so please update your feeds and come and say hi over at Calligraphy-UK.com

All my latest calligraphy commissions will be published over there, with this one for starters...

I hope to see you on the new site. Thanks for visiting this one.

Claire xx

Wedding reception stationery

2010-06-14T21:45:00.002+01:00

I recently blogged about Stacey's lovely wedding table plan design featuring an ink and watercolour illustration of Ripley Castle. To go with the table plan, which was handwritten in dusky pink ink, I made wedding menus, which were reprinted from a master copy and handwritten on the front covers, and these complemented Stacey's lovely little ivory tags, which I wrote in calligraphy for each wedding guest.

Ripley Castle wedding table plan

2010-06-08T21:41:00.001+01:00

It was lovely to meet Stacey when she came to collect her wedding stationery. I don't meet many of my customers, and I had a really nice chat with Stacey and her fiance's best man - who was a great girl... it's a long story!

Stacey and Andrew got married at Ripley Castle in April, and the theme for the day was dusky pink, with an illustration of Ripley Castle on the table plan.

Gold wedding scroll invitations

2010-06-03T21:38:00.002+01:00

My first calligraphy order in Polish! Sabina ordered these wedding scroll invitations for her closest family in April, and I was only too happy to make them for her. Three of the invitations were printed in English, and one in Polish. Sabina supplied the text for that one!
The lovely long Polish names made the rolled scrolls look gorgeous, with the calligraphy in metallic gold shining in the sunshine when I took the photograph for my portfolio. I hope you like them!

Wedding venue illustration

2010-05-28T21:32:00.001+01:00

This wedding table plan was a bespoke design created for clients in April.
The design features classic italic calligraphy, blue and white agapanthus flowers in a contemporary design, and an illustration of the wedding venue in ink and watercolour.

The venue for the wedding was a school, where the bride is a teacher - an exclusive use wedding venue and a beautiful building.

Tables at the wedding were named after branches of the bride and groom's families, and to complement the theme I was asked to create a family tree in a similar design to show all the names.

Wedding table plan with calligraphy

2010-05-20T21:29:00.002+01:00

This wedding table plan is becoming one of my favourite designs. With a black background, white or ivory tables, swarovski crystal and gorgeous paper roses, it's an unusual design and very popular. It also photographs pretty well!

The calligraphy is handwritten in my 'Cinderella' style.

Calligraphy quote

2010-05-15T21:25:00.001+01:00

I enjoyed writing this short quote for a customer in April: her grandfather used to tell this little quote to her and she never did find out where it was from. To prevent the lovely advice from fading into obscurity, she commissioned this little calligraphy piece so she could share his wise words with future generations!

The words are:

The luck that I believe in
Is that which comes with work
And no-one ever finds it
Who's content to wish and shirk

Oh, how very true!

Wedding calligraphy samples

2010-05-08T21:22:00.003+01:00

At this time of year I get a lot of requests for different samples, of place cards, different colour inks, different lettering styles for envelopes and more. Helen requested my new purple ink, and copperplate calligraphy for a place card and table number.

Wedding invitation calligraphy

2010-05-05T21:18:00.002+01:00

One of my top 5 UK wedding stationers is Cardlab. They are simply amazing, their invitations are wonderful quality and an absolute dream to write on in calligraphy.

These invitations were written a couple of weeks ago, in my 'Freestyle' lettering in black ink. I was really pleased with how they'd turned out. I would recommend Cardlab to anyone.

By the way - these are my two favourite invitations from the set. It's the guest names...

Christening gift: calligraphy poem

2010-04-30T21:12:00.002+01:00

I have written a few calligraphy commissions for christenings recently, and I've discovered I love writing them! This one, for a little girl called Emily Rose, was a new design I came up with through email discussions with my customer. It's a new favourite, and I've just been asked to recreate the border design for a love poem - so it suits all kinds of themes!

Wedding scroll invitation

2010-04-25T21:08:00.002+01:00

I made up some new wedding scroll invitation samples this month, and this is one of my favourites. I love the bright red ribbon and luxury paper!

Guest names can be written on the reverse of the scroll invitation in calligraphy - here in metallic silver which you'll see shines a lot in the sunshine! - in any colour. Red or black looks lovely with this design.

The little card alongside is our RSVP card. The envelope and card fold neatly into the scroll box beneath the rolled scroll.

Art deco style wedding place cards

2010-04-21T21:08:00.003+01:00

These lovely wedding place cards were written in my 'Cinderella' calligraphy style for a wedding a few weeks ago. I love the cut out flowers in the corners! They seem very art deco in style, and really unusual. I'm not sure if they still stock them, but I think they were from Marks and Spencer.

It's always worth shopping around for pretty wedding place cards on the high street. M&S particularly has some lovely designs, and if you can get to a Confetti store they also have a great range of high quality wedding place card designs.

Swirly calligraphy poem

2010-03-26T18:42:00.001Z

I love the colours used in this recent calligraphy commission. The design had to be quite masculine, and the brief for the commission was to use gold and black, with just a hint of emerald green. The green worked so well as a highlight colour in the scrolls of the border design.

The poem is The Road Not Taken, a classic by Robert Frost. It was a pleasure to write, a very thoughtful poem and a new favourite for me! The calligraphy is in classic italics, in black ink.

Shakespeares Sonnet CXVI

2010-03-19T18:36:00.001Z

I was really pleased with this calligraphy commission. It's a classic quote from Shakespeare and a very popular wedding reading, in this case with a message from my customer to his friends for whom the piece was commissioned.

The border design is a little different from the usual swirly borders on either of the calligraphy websites, but I like it very much and it's a design I'm sure will be popular. The swirly border is made more striking with the addition of a straight border leading down from the illuminated letter (which is in 22 carat gold leaf).

Calligraphy birthday present

2010-03-18T18:31:00.001Z

This calligraphy commission was created back in January for a birthday gift. The poem, This Remarkable Man, was written especially for my customer's dad. The theme was celtic and natural, so I used classic italic calligraphy and the border was comprised of original celtic knotwork with trailing ivy vines.

Bespoke Calligraphy Commission

2010-03-15T10:10:00.002Z

Bespoke calligraphy commission for Jennifer Allan, March 2010. The pictures show how the final piece was created, step by step!

A blank sheet of A2 paper, black calligraphy gouache and my pens... first the title and the beginning of the poem.

The calligraphy is written out in full, and the border design sketched in pencil.

Close up of the preliminary sketch for the poem's border. The design brief is 'enchantment' with swirling ivy vines, fairies, butterflies and shades of green.

The border starts to come alive with the addition of a mint green line, swirly emerald vines for the ivy, green leaves in watercolour and three fairies.

The tiny flowers are filled temporarily with masking fluid, and a few little dots of masking fluid will help liven up the design later. I noted what colour each butterfly should be.

The initial letter S is made from silver leaf, and the swirls of the border filled with a watercolour wash.

Before: the masking fluid can be easily painted over and then...

... it's gently peeled off to reveal the flowers and little dots which add life to the border illustration.

The little flowers are coloured in, and gilding adhesive added for some more silver leaf on the butterflies' wings and around the flowers and fairies in the border.

The panel behind the illuminated letter S is painted in rich emerald green (the flowers here were masked, then painted) and more dots of adhesive are added so I can brighten up the panel around the S with some more silver leaf.

The little dots bring together the finished design quite nicely, I think!

You can just about make out the shine on the illuminated letter S here. It looks blue as it's reflecting the sky!

The final commission came together so well - sometimes I wish I could keep a piece of calligraphy I've done for a client, and on this occasion I certainly would have done! However, I'm glad I sent it to Jennifer as I was really delighted to have her feedback when she received the finished piece:

"I wanted to express my thanks and gratitude for making my wish a reality. The scroll is simply beautiful and you've captured the essence of what I wanted to express and that makes it that more special. I know Deborah and Samson will be brought to tears and I promise to take pictures of the happy couple opening and viewing their gift."

One of my proudest moments so far! I hope you like this one. Claire x

The Owl and the Pussycat

2010-03-08T18:25:00.002Z

This is one of my favourite poems - I never did grow up - and happily it's a really popular calligraphy commission too! This was a wedding gift, my client was giving a reading at her sister's wedding and the poem was sent to the wedding venue just in time for the big day. They both loved it and Amy sent an email after the wedding to let me know.

Scroll wedding invitations

2010-03-03T18:01:00.000Z

Time to upload some of my latest calligraphy commissions again, and I've got a few varied bits & bobs to show off! First of all some scroll wedding invitations I made for Carla in February.

It's quite surprising how much work goes into fifty scroll invitations: these are all computer printed then handwritten on the reverse, then rolled and tied with a sheer ribbon, lilies and beads are twisted and tucked into the ribbon, and the box is decorated with matching ribbon.