Calligrapher for Team USA - 2016 Rio Olympics
Houston calligrapher and wine bottle engraver
This Florida bride decided to have me calligraph 220 place cards and leave adequate space at the top for a wax seal. What a great idea! I wish that I had thought of that....maybe I'll start offering something like that. Anyhow, my portion is complete and now to send them to her to complete the magic.
Here & there I am asked if "I can just write something simple". My answer to that is one of my newer styles for this year which is "Nothing Serious". It's laid back and unpretentious and is what has become my "handwriting" over the last few years. This was executed with a Micron pen in black...no inkwell, oblique pen or nib this time. Just a thin tipped marker. Granted, this is not most of what I do by a long shot but it has it's place. This bride wanted it for her laid-back wedding. I can dig it!
When I am asked by Neiman Marcus to assist them with their events, I am always elated to do so. They are extremely easy to work with and are just a great team all around. However, for this luncheon they had a few very special guests so I was honored even more so to assist. Anna Wintour, Vogue Magazine's Editor-in-Chief, along with Ken Downing, Fashion Director and Sr. VP of Neiman Marcus......Need I say more.
I take my stationery VERY seriously. I guess that's obvious. Well, I have been using wax seals on all of my correspondence for years and always receive compliments and questions. I started offering these to my clients this year and they have become one of the most popular requests...outside of calligraphy of course :)
I am proud to say that Bella Grafia has received the WeddingWire Couple's Choice Award for 2015.
The WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards® recognizes the top 5 percent of local Wedding Professionals from the WeddingWire Network throughout the United States, Canada and abroad that demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the organization, the WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards® are awarded solely based on the reviews from over 200,000 newlyweds. Awards are determined by a combination of excellence in four factors: overall rating (quality), total number of reviews (quantity), review performance from 2014 (recency), and consistency of reviews from year to year (consistency). THANK YOU!
This style came about because sometimes you just want something that's simple, unpretentious and "nothing serious". This monoline hand would be great for a relaxed event.
If you follow my work at all, you know that my studio is very 1800's for the majority of my work. Meaning, that I take the vintage approach to most of the work that I execute. I have found that hanging my envelope jobs to dry on what is similar to a clothesline allows for 1. easy comparison from one envelope to the other, 2. places them high above my 3 year old, Lola and obviously 3. by the time I complete the line, the earlier ones placed are dry.
This bride opted for Ornate Roundhand in black ink. It's funny because I don't use black extensively for wedding projects except for pieces that are going for reproduction (menus, invitation/save the date designs etc). However as I was working on this job, I was reminded of how simply classic black ink is. Simplicity is absolutely beautiful and should not be overlooked. Peace & Love!
This client is clearly a lover of Downton Abbey....but who doesn't just love the Dowager. These will make for great place cards for the event and keepsakes for the guests. Brilliant!
