As both a calligrapher, and someone that has recently just got married, this question was on my mind - do you actually need a wedding calligrapher?
So I wanted to break down the pros, cons and alternatives to hiring a wedding calligrapher for your big day, and whether I personally believe that it's worth it.
What is a wedding calligrapher?
Before I jump into whether you likely need one, I should probably clarify what I mean by a wedding calligrapher. I am referring to a calligrapher that you pay to hand customise your wedding stationery with words such as place cards, table names, and wedding signs.
To clarify, I am not talking about a wedding stationer / invitation designer, i.e. someone that creates the graphic design elements of your stationery. This is a different skillset and can vary from simply customising with your names, to creating unique illustrations exclusively for your wedding.
How much is a wedding calligrapher?
It depends on what you are hiring them for, but as an indication, customising place cards with names can easily cost £2 per basic place card, and a table plan can cost £100+.
Costs can vary dependent on the number of guests, the material used, the calligrapher's reputation and skill, the turnaround time, and most importantly - the number of words!
The higher the word count, the longer it takes to create, but it also increases the risk of mistakes due to human error, increasing the time to create again. Now a calligrapher won't charge you twice if they make a mistake, but the time to take extra care to reduce the likelihood of mistakes is also taken into consideration of pricing.
To summarise, a calligrapher is going to cost more than purchasing pre-printed options, so why would you hire one? Let's get into that now!
Pros of hiring a wedding calligrapher
There are several reasons why wedding couples love to splash out on wedding calligraphy and here are some of them:
It looks amazing!
A calligrapher specialises in making words look fantastic and your wedding stationery will have that "wow" factor when a calligrapher has worked on it.
On my wedding day I spotted one of my guests admiring one of my place cards and moving it in the light to see the full effect of the metallic watercolour calligraphy I'd used which made me feel amazing.
I would say that this is the key reason that wedding couples opt for wedding calligraphy, and as both a calligrapher and stationery fan I completely get why!
It's more customisable
If you opt for a wedding calligrapher, you get more of a say over the style you choose - from the material, to the ink colour, to the additional extras such as wax seals and ribbons.
Calligraphers can work on gorgeous materials that printers may not be able to, such as agate place cards.
More consistency
If you go to a wedding calligrapher for your stationery, they can often source materials and can look for colours that match or pair nicely together.
Calligraphers will also have their own calligraphy style so the style of words will remain consistent across your stationery.
It saves you time!
Whilst having custom calligraphy applied to wedding stationery isn't a quick process it's much quicker than you doing it yourself! It's nice to be able to hand off a task to a professional rather than have something else on your never-ending to-do list.
Cons of hiring a wedding calligrapher
Additional cost
Wedding calligraphers are an expense in addition to your wedding stationery, and aren't an "essential" part of weddings, meaning that if you don't have a big budget it may be something that unfortunately is cut out of your spending list.
Additional time
Custom calligraphy work takes more time than printing which is something that must be taken into consideration if you're working against the clock.
Not high on guests wish list
Whilst your wedding is about you and your partner, you need to consider guests wants and needs. It may be that your guests would prefer more entertainment for example, over a fancy place card. I think I would be the same, and that's coming from a calligrapher!
Alternatives to hiring a wedding calligrapher
Learn calligraphy
Imagine if the signature style across all of the wedding stationery was yours!
Learn calligraphy in one of my classes or courses and you can customise your own wedding calligraphy. There is a cost to learning but it can save you money in the long-run.
Another benefit is that calligraphy is relaxing, and encourages mindfulness - something that is greatly needed during the stressful wedding planning season.
The trade-off that it takes time to learn calligraphy.
Get a free guide to getting started with calligraphy by placing your name and email below.
Vinyl stickers
There are businesses, including small businesses if you want to #shopsmall, that offer vinyl stickers. You can either purchase pre-made options such as alphabet stickers, or you can have stickers custom made.
These can then be applied to the items of your choice so are more customisable than printed items. These can sometimes be cheaper than opting for a calligrapher.
Printing
You can opt to have your stationery items printed and use features such as gold foil to increase the luxurious feeling of your stationery.
If you're unfamiliar with foil on stationery, it's essentially just a shiny metallic effect. As a stationery fan I love this effect and choose my journals with this feature.
If I weren't a calligrapher I would probably opt for this option.
Go without
Who said you actually need fancy stationery, table plans, custom vows, etc, etc?
In my wedding I personally opted out of certain wedding traditions such as a wedding cake, wedding band, hiring a DJ, and perhaps most controversially as a calligrapher - invites!
Yes, I, a calligrapher, went digital with my invites! Now I love creating calligraphy HOWEVER, I don't love spending money on a tradition I'm not fussed about. If you have a budget you should be prioritising what you and your partner want over feeling obliged to participate in traditions.
Do you need a wedding calligrapher?
I said I would give my opinion on whether I believe you need a wedding calligrapher so here it is - no, I don't think you need a wedding calligrapher.
That is not to say I don't love calligraphy, and I don't see the value in it (I'm a calligrapher, of course I do!), I just think you need to look at the pros and cons and decide what you actually want to prioritise in your wedding. If you want to prioritise fancy stationery, great! If you want to prioritise other things, great!
And if you do want to hire a wedding calligrapher I recommend Anastasiia at AnaScripts, or Rachel at Cotswolds Calligraphy who are incredible wedding calligraphers!
If you want to learn calligraphy yourself, come and learn calligraphy with me.
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