Easy DIY Calligraphy for Your Wedding Invitations

Envelope calligraphy is one of life’s unnecessary evils. I mean, nobody REALLY needs it, nobody REALLY knows how to do it, yet somehow it gives an added touch that everybody WANTS.

When I got married last summer, I was determined to have calligraphed envelopes for my invitations. They would give that certain touch of elegance that would make everyone who received them know that what’s inside was extra special.

My heart was deflated, once again, when looking up the cost. I was seeing quotes of $3-5 per envelope. With about 75 invitations expected to be going out – with both outer and inner envelopes – I was looking at an added cost of $450-750!! Outrageous. Just like my floral escort cards, my dreamy stationary was unfortunately out of reach.

But then I thought… “Hey! I could calligraphy the envelopes myself! How hard could it really be?”. But where would I start? I have pretty good penmanship, but I wouldn’t consider myself a master calligrapher. Hec, not even a novice. I didn’t know the first thing about fancy writing. But I could definitely hack it! Hack is actually a harsh word. In the words of Sandra Lee from the Food Network, I like to refer to it as a “semi-homemade” project.

How to Begin Your Envelope Calligraphy 

If you’re familiar with the art or architecture world at all, you’ll know that most people working in this field have some sort of light table they’ll work on. This will illuminate an object from behind, and allow them to place a paper on top of this object to either trace it or add a complementing image on top. The lightbulb went off… instead of spending thousands of dollars on one of these tables, maybe I could find some tiny light source that could help me TRACE my calligraphy.

I searched online and found this LightTracer that could help me. $40 wasn’t a bad investment, considering that all my invitations already came with envelopes. $40 for all the calligraphed envelopes I wanted. That was a $400-700 savings- SCORE! There was just one problem, I had never done this before. Did I really want my first go at calligraphy to be my all-important wedding invitations? Probably not.

I am a pretty confident person, and I probably could have done a darn good job making the magical typeset envelopes I had imagined. But hindsight is 20-20. In the end, I decided to let my stationery company print all my envelopes (gratis, of course). Instead, I decided to practice my penmanship on the not so important “save the date” and “thank you” envelopes.

I started small, with some easy lettering that didn’t require much intricacy. As I became more self-assured in my abilities, I began to play with the more advanced lettering – and it wasn’t that much harder. It just took more time to finish each envelope. But if you’re like me, and crafting is cathartic for you, it’s a fun process! Or, if time is of the essence, set up shop in the living room and do it while watching your favorite episode of “Real Housewives”- kill two birds with one stone.

Since then, I have calligraphed envelopes for Halloween invitations, Christmas cards, and even a baby shower. The more you do, the easier it becomes, and the more you can play with fonts and typeset (how the name/address is displayed on different parts and angles on the envelopes). Below, I am going to give you a quick tutorial on some of the fancy fonts I use for calligraphy, typesetting tips, and how to easy calligraphy envelopes. I’ll give you quick tutorials on all levels – quick, medium, and advanced – in hopes that you can easily DIY after.

My one advice if you are planning to calligraphy your own Wedding invitations would be to PRACTICE. Get the idea in your head early, buy some cheap envelopes from Amazon or Office Depot, and practice a couple times. Once you figure out a font and typeset you like (and are good at) go to town. It’ll give your stationery that million dollar feel, at a fraction of the cost 🙂

Step By Step Instructions on DIY Calligraphy: Simple, Medium, and Advanced

The Necessary Tools:

• LightTracer Box (needed for all the following tutorials)
• Envelopes
• Home printer and paper
• Pen (I always use 0.7mm fine tipped pens). Like these.
  • Or if you want to play with color, try these or these.

SIMPLE

1. When starting your calligraphy, you’ll first want to pick out a font. For simple fonts, stick in Microsoft word and pick some sort of “script”. For beginners or envelopes you want a quick, but professional look, I’d recommend the following:
   • Segoe Script (What you see in my SIMPLE pictures)
   • Bradley Hand ITC
   • Lucida Handwriting
2. Once you’ve picked a font, type your address list into Word in that font and center it in the middle of the page. Make sure you make the font as big as you’d like it to appear on your envelope.
   • For example, if you’re working with a small A2 envelope, then try working with size 18-24pt font. If you’re working with a larger A7 envelope, try using size 36-48pt font. These are just suggestions, but just make sure it fits within the parameters of the envelope size.
   • You can double check that it will fit in the ruler markings on Word.
   • Then, print out the list in black ink on normal paper.
3. Take your list, and place the first page on your light box. Turn the light on from the switch on the back, and place your envelope over the first address. Make sure to center the address in the middle of the envelope.
4. Start tracing…
5. Voila! Once you’ve finished, your envelope should look something like this:

MEDIUM

1. Are you beginning to get the hang of things? Once you feel a little more confident, move on to the more advanced fonts and play with typeset. Again, I like the “script” fonts for invitations, but choose what goes with your theme. There are a few good ones in Word, but you can download personalized fonts (for free) on 1001freefonts.com. A few of my favorites are:
   • Antrokasdemo (what is used in my MEDIUM pictures)
   • Montez
   • Roskrift Clean
2. Once you’ve picked a font, again, type your address list into Word in that font and center it in the middle of the page. Make sure you make the font as big as you’d like it to appear on your envelope.
   • For example, if you’re working with a small A2 envelope, then try working with size 18-24pt font. If you’re working with a larger A7 envelope, try using size 36-48pt font. These are just suggestions, but just make sure it fits within the parameters of the envelope size.
   • You can double check that it will fit in the ruler markings on Word.
3. For MEDIUM level, take the zip code and type it in the line below the city and state. Then, make it a couple font sizes larger than the rest of the address (when using 36-48pt font, I make the zip code 72pt font).
4. Then, print out the list in black ink on normal paper.
5. Take your list, and place the first page on your light box. Turn the light on from the switch on the back, and place your envelope over the first address. Make sure to center the address in the middle of the envelope.
6. Start tracing, but ONLY the name, address, city, and state. DO NOT trace the zip code quite yet.
   • When tracing these types of fonts, there are usually parts of the font that are thick and parts that are super thin. To master this, I like to trace the OUTLINE of the font, then fill in the thicker areas after I have traced the outline (remember how to color in the lines?). The process will look like this as you’re going along:
7. Once finished with the first part of the address, now play with the typeset of the zip code. I like to position it in a semi-circle below the city/state as such:
   • To do this, move your paper below the envelope until the first number is in a good position to start the half circle. Trace it.
   • Move the paper again until the second number is spaced far enough apart, and tilted at such an angle as to look like you’re moving in a circular pattern with the zip code. Trace it.
     • Repeat these steps (moving the paper and tracing) until you have traced the entire 5 digit zip code as a half circle below the city/state.
     • Make sure to fill in the thicker parts with your pen here, too.

• Voila! Once you’ve finished, your envelope should look like the picture here:

ADVANCED

1. Now you’re getting really good. You’ve mastered the simple calligraphy, played with typeset, and are now ready to go crazy. Have you found some fonts that tickle your fancy? If 1001freefonts.com isn’t for you, try searching Pinterest for Wedding font types, birthday font types, Halloween font types… whatever it is you’re going for. There are a bunch of resources out there for you to pick and choose from.
2. Once you’ve picked a font, again, type your address list into Word in that font and center it in the middle of the page. Make sure you make the font as big as you’d like it to appear on your envelope.
   • For ADVANCED level, I like working with bigger fonts. Try playing with the fonts a bit to see if different font sizes for the Name vs. Address would look good. Whatever you choose, just make sure, again, that the font is not TOO big for the size envelope you’re working with.
     • You can double check this in the ruler markings on Word.
   • Again, take the zip code and type it in the line below the city and state. Then, play with the font size to either keep it the same size as the rest of the text, or make it larger.
     • Here, decide what you want to be the focal point. Is it the recipient NAME? The ADDRESS? Or the ZIP? Whichever it is, make that the largest font.
     • For this example, I have used Roskrift Clean font, 36pt for the name, 52pt for the address, and 77pt for the zip code.
     • Then, print out the list in black ink on normal paper.
3. Take your list, and place the first page on your light box. Turn the light on from the switch on the back, and place your envelope over the first address. Now, play with the positioning of the text.
   • For my purposes, I’m going to show you how to make the address go diagonally across the envelope.
   • For this step, place the envelope at an angle, over the top of the address (with the left side of the envelope tilted upward so that the text is shown underneath to be slanted across the envelope
4. Start tracing. Here is where you may run into some issues. Since you are writing on the envelope at an angle, you will not have as much width to write. That is OK. Write as much as you can on the first line, then take your paper and position it under the first part you traced so that you continue on the next line.
   • Here, try to center the continuation under the first part you traced so it looks professional.
   • Continue like this for the rest of the address.
5. Feel free to again, play with the zip code. Although you probably do not want a semi-circle when you are typesetting diagonally, you may want to add dots in between the numbers, or squiggly lines at the beginning or the end to add a special touch. Here, I show dots that I added to make the zip code stand out.
6. Voila! Your finished product should look something like this:

The advanced option may take a while to get the hang of. I highly recommend the MEDIUM option (sans semi-circle – just straight lines of text) for wedding invitations, and any special event. It’s clean, easy to read, and most importantly, the Post Office will not be confused by it. Although the ADVANCED options may seem fun, I’ve personally had issues with envelopes not arriving to their destination simply because the post office can’t read them properly.

Learn Calligraphy the Easy Way

Ok, ok. I get it. This tutorial may not teach you how to calligraphy like the pros, but it will sure look like you do! No matter if you’re using the most expensive calligraphy pen around, or just tracing your favorite fonts, the outcome is still the same. Beautiful, perfectly executed envelopes for your wedding or event stationary.

And just to summarize, the supplies needed for this easy calligraphy are:

• Light Box
• Envelopes (A7 is the standard size for 5×7″ invitations)
• Fine Point Pen (0.7mm recommended)
  • Option for metallic or color
• Printer and paper
• Pretty fonts