Calligraphy & Engraving Tidbits 

Food (& Wine) for Thought

The handmade nature of calligraphy makes every letterform different.  Handwritten wording will not be as uniform as computer type.  Variations are inevitable & the final product will be affected by addresses, wording, color choices, paper, etc.  

Envelope Addressing

Do I use waterproof ink?

 I use waterproof/water-resistant ink on all of my envelope projects.

Do you offer computer-generated printing?

All of my work is created by hand using fine inks and dip pens.  Computer-generated printing is not offered.

What paper should I use?

Quality materials will produce quality calligraphy and vice versa.  Quality cotton and/or wood pulp based paper will always yield the best result.  Brand names such as William Arthur, Crane & Co., Vera Wang, Bella Figura, Smock are names that provide cotton based paper of quality suitable to pointed pen calligraphy.  Non-metallic, minimally textured paper will always yield the most beautiful results with pointed pen calligraphy.  

Interesting fact: Paper used for US currency & passports has been trusted to Crane & Co. for over 2 centuries. 

How should I send my address list?

The Crane & Co. Blue book for address protocol is used.  Crane & Co has been the stationery leader since 1801.  

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:  PLEASE VERIFY THE ACCURACY OF YOUR LIST PRIOR TO SENDING IT TO YOUR CALLIGRAPHER.  INACCURACIES/DUPLICATES WILL DELAY THE RETURN OF THE PROJECT & CAN ALSO RESULT IN UNNECESSARY CHARGES.

Addresses should be sent electronically in a Word, excel, numbers or Pages document in the format below ---- either justified to the left or centered.  These should be typed EXACTLY the way that you would like for them to be written out.

  If blaring corrections are needed (ex. Las Angeles, missing zip code for a US address etc), I usually catch them pretty easily and am happy to correct those as I work.

 However, situations that would require something such as searching through the list to determine which couple has children in order to know if 'and Family' should be written is time-consuming and not a service that I offer.

Inner envelopes: please include a separate line indicating how you desire that person/family to be addressed.

Outer Envelope

(Formal Etiquette Tradition)

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith

12 Open Drive

Saint Louis, Missouri 66666

 or 

(Contemporary)

Mr. John Smith

and Mrs. Jane Smith

12 Open Drive

Saint Louis, Missouri 66666

Depending on the envelope size and lettering style, there may be instances where abbreviations or style adjustments will be made.  For instance, a name such as

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan William Chandranathan

may need to have the "and" abbreviated to an "&" and possibly have the "Mr. and Mrs." placed on the line above the name.  I reserve the right to make these adjustments as necessary :)

Inner Envelope

John and Jane (Contemporary Style)

or

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Formal Style)

Extra Materials

Please provide 20% extra envelopes for late additions and 'just in case' (everything is written by hand).  A few extra materials may be retained as additions may be needed after the return of a project.

Additions and Corrections

Once I have received your list, you can add, remove or make minor corrections if they arise. Please just email these edits and I will update your original list provided.  Please do NOT send a new list as this may create confusion with multiple lists.  Please note that if I have already completed an address that later needs a revision prompted by a client's oversight, the client will be charged twice for that address.

I will immediately correct any mistakes made on my behalf and return them via USPS (first class mail) within 2 business days at no additional cost.  Just send me a picture via email of the items that were incorrect such that I may verify the accuracy against the list provided.

However, in the event that additional envelopes/place cards are requested after the return of a project due to an oversight by the client, there will be a $15 set up fee for each additional set of envelopes/place cards to be calligraphed regardless of size. 

Turnaround Time

This will completely depend on the number of projects that I have scheduled at the time and the size of your project.  Upon initiation of a project, I can generally complete an average order of 100 outer envelopes within 1 week.  However, please schedule via deposit as soon as possible as my calligraphy calendar is often booked weeks/months in advance.  

Wine Bottle Engraving

Do I engrave unopened bottles? 

Where is the fun in receiving an empty bottle?  Of course, I engrave unopened wine & spirit bottles.   

*Wine & Spirit bottle message position may vary depending on position of label, size of bottle, replacement cost, placement of message etc.