Fab * Blog by InvitationConsultants.com

Back to Basics | Pen + Ink

Just yesterday, I was telling myself that I really need to get back into calligraphy.

As a child, I would practice writing my name over and over and over. At every grade level, I would change something about my handwriting, whether it be swooping my y's and j's a little more, only writing in cursive, or making everything gesture really chunky and block-like. At one point in time, I was practicing my calligraphy skills pretty frequently. My love of handwriting continued through architecture and design school. In the beginning, we would practice our lettering every class, writing each a-e-i-o-u over and over, until we developed our own architectural style; hence now it hurts to write in anything other than all-caps.

This post is dedicated to my love of calligraphy and my promise to get back into it. Here are some lovely hand-inspired images to start your day...enjoy.


Photos inspired by: Swoon Over It | modern calligraphy studio, Pen and Ink calligraphy, Stiletto Typeface, Stephanie Barba's Paris Couture Map, Kathryn Murray calligraphy, and Love, Jenna. 

Wedding Vowels: Wedding Invitation Etiquette

We all know our a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y's, but do we know why we use certain verbiage on wedding invitations? There are certain traditional etiquette tips which brides have subscribed to for generations, and there are newer recommendations as far as proper etiquette. Through my wedding vowels series, I hope to bring you some helpful information for wording your wedding invitations so you can be confident when sending out those invites.

There is a lot of ground to cover, so we'll start with the basic: consistency and spelling. Check out the invitation above. Notice that the date, year, and time is spelled out. This is one of the first things our consultants check for when proofreading your order. If it is a formal wedding invitation, and the date is spelled out, we recommend spelling out the time as well. The same case goes for when you use the numerical form of the date.

Please also note the spelling of the word 'honour'. 'Honour' is the British English spelling and 'honor' is the American English spelling of this word. They are interchangeable and it is completely acceptable to use either. Our recommendation when it comes to this word is remain consistent with your use of the language. For example, a common phrase on a response card is "The favour of your reply is requested by (insert date here)." If you use 'honour' on your invitation, then it would be appropriate to use 'favour' on your response card.

I hope this information was helpful! If you have any questions regarding wedding invitation wording etiquette, please post a comment! I would be happy to answer them in an upcoming Wedding Vowel post.

Invitation featured above: Flaunt the Natural

p.s. Congrats to Maggie Gyllenhaal & Peter Sarsgaard who were wed last week and share 12 vowels between their unique names. Their monikers inspired the title of this post.