Are you thinking about calligraphy for your wedding invitations, custom calligraphy for the invitation’s envelopes, or maybe place cards, or escort cards for the reception? If personalized hand calligraphy is on your wedding goals list, you’ll love today’s advice post as we share our best tips for hiring a calligrapher for your big day.

You’ve set your wedding date, booked the venue, hired your wedding planner and other wedding vendors, and now it’s time to think about your wedding day invitations and stationery! Your wedding save the dates and invitations will help set the stage for your wedding day. It’s the first glimpse that your guests will have of your wedding style.

Custom wedding day stationery is a great way to really get creative and create something beautiful that reflects your style as a couple. Perhaps you are not interested in creating a fully custom wedding invitation suite but would still like to elevate some of your wedding day details with custom calligraphy. There are five important things to keep in mind when hiring a calligrapher for your wedding including knowing when to book, understanding extra charges, being aware of costs and cheap services, considering timeline expectations before the wedding, and being comfortable with hiring a calligrapher who is not local to you.

Like the rest of your wedding planning to-do list, searching for and hiring a calligrapher for your wedding paper details can be a lot of work. You have likely not had the need for a calligrapher until planning a monumental event like your wedding. Whether you are looking for a calligrapher to address your wedding invitation envelopes or are looking for custom calligraphy escort cards and place cards, we have a few helpful tips to share with you and help guide you in your search.

Here are our top five things to keep in mind when searching for a calligrapher for your wedding stationery.

Tip 1:  When To Book a Calligrapher

As a general rule of thumb, you will want to send your wedding save-the-date invitations eight to twelve months before your wedding day. The only change in this timeline would be to send the save-the-dates a bit earlier if you are planning a destination wedding that requires a lot of your wedding guests to travel to your wedding. (The more notice the better, as your guests will need to take off of work and book flights.)

Your wedding invitations should be mailed two to three months before the wedding day. You will have to decide if you need a calligrapher for your save the dates or just your wedding invitation suite or both. Either way, you should at least be researching wedding calligraphers about a year before your wedding date.

It may be easier to work with just one person for your invitation design and calligraphy needs, but it’s certainly not a requirement. Not all calligraphers will offer stationery design and vice versa. If you do opt for two separate people for design work and calligraphy work, we would recommend booking your wedding calligrapher at the same time you hire your wedding stationer. At Laura Hooper Design House, we offer both stationery design and printing that includes hand calligraphy, as well as on-site calligraphy services.

Pro Tip:  Most calligraphers will take a non-refundable retainer at the time of booking to secure the time for you in their calendar. This ensures that once your envelopes are ready, they can head straight to the calligrapher for addressing and avoid any delays in your target mail date for your invitations and/or save the dates.

Tip 2:  Understand Extra Charges

When inquiring about wedding calligraphy services, and invitation design services, it is important to ask about any extra charges when requesting an estimate from your calligrapher. There are important questions to ask upfront and understand all fees and rates when it comes to wedding calligraphy before you sign a contract so that there are no surprises and you’re getting exactly what you want.

You want to know if the calligraphy work is done on a flat rate basis or if there are fees for any additions such as metallic inks or extra lines beyond a standard 3-line address block. You want to know your total calligraphy price upfront so you can compare services with all the calligraphers you are considering and so you stay on budget for your wedding without any surprise fees down the road.

Pro Tip:  A “cheaper” or less expensive per-piece starting point for wedding calligraphy and/or invitations does not necessarily mean it will end up costing you less money in total when all is said and done. Be careful of starting price points and be very aware of what is considered an add-on or extra for each calligrapher or designer that you request an estimate or quote from.

Tip 3:  Beware Of Cheap

We know that many couples are mindful of costs and budgets when wedding planning, but remember that in many cases you get what you pay for.

When calligraphy for your wedding invitations, place cards, or envelopes is “cheap” you definitely want to find out why. It may seem like a good deal and an easy place to cut the budget for your wedding, but do a little more research before making a final choice.

Be sure to look at samples of any calligrapher’s work and compare them to others who are more in line with wedding industry-standard rates, which are $3.50+ per outer envelope address, on average.

In addition to price, experience matters when working with a calligrapher. Reach out and see how quickly and clearly they communicate. You will most definitely see a difference in the quality of work, but not only, but you will likely also find a difference in their experience (or inexperience) in communicating quickly and efficiently regarding your order and their process.

It’s completely up to you if you want to invest in quality and experience for the calligrapher and calligraphy services for your wedding, but be sure you know what you are in for either way!

Tip 4:  Timeline Expectations

Another important factor to keep in mind when hiring a wedding calligrapher is the timeline and turnaround expectations.

You will want to find out the calligrapher’s turnaround time for your size of wedding guest list and plan this accordingly with delivery of your wedding invitation envelopes and final guest list. If you are working with one person for invitation design and calligraphy services, this timeline may be a bit shorter as they are handling all aspects of your wedding stationery and you don’t have to worry about shipping your envelopes to the next artist.

On average, the industry calligrapher standard is about two to three weeks to have an order completed. Obviously this can vary slightly depending on the size of your wedding. Many calligraphers can accommodate a shorter turnaround time, but there will likely be rush fees applied.

Pro Tip:  When a calligrapher imposes a rush fee, it doesn’t mean the writing is “rushed.” A calligrapher can’t just write faster! It usually means that they will be working nights or over a weekend to accommodate the shorter turnaround time. Basically, the calligrapher has to work unplanned overtime to make up for delays in the design or printing stages or to get your order to you sooner than the standard timeline. This is another reason to book your wedding day calligrapher and stationer early, or better yet, choose one company to work with for all your stationery needs!

Tip 5:  It’s Okay To Not Be Local

Our last tip to keep in mind when hiring a wedding calligrapher or invitation designer is that you don’t necessarily have to stick to only who is in your local area. If you live in a bigger city, you may have many options for local artists and calligraphers.

Even if you have many options close by, you could hire a wedding calligrapher in any part of the world. At Laura Hooper Design House, we work with wedding calligraphy clients and planners all across the United States and regularly ship orders to our couples.

More than location, it’s more important to find someone whose style and quality of work is in line with what you are looking for for your wedding invitations and day of paper details.

Pro Tip:  That said, when you are communicating with a potential calligrapher for your wedding, keep an eye out for any signs that they aren’t experienced in shipping envelopes and wedding stationery suites. If they are discouraging you from having them ship the work either to you or your wedding location or venue, definitely believe them and go an alternate route!

Hopefully, these tips will help you in your search for a calligrapher and stationer for your wedding paper goods, invitations, escort cards, place cards, menus, and more. Calligraphy for your wedding invitation and envelope can add a beautifully personalized touch to your wedding and help you set the tone for an amazing day. We would love to work with you to help bring your wedding vision to life with custom invitations and our signature calligraphy services.

To learn more or to inquire about your own custom wedding stationery or wedding branding needs, please visit the weddings section of our website.