Alesia Zorn Calligraphy

When To Mail Your Invitations

I've had a few conversations this week about the timing of addressing and mailing invitations and that's inspired this blog post!!    Etiquette says they should be mailed 6 to 8 weeks before an event.   You're fine on the 6 weeks side of the scale if you've done any of the following:

• sent out save-the-dates
• you've already directed guests to your wedding website where they can find lots of info on travel & accomodations
• your guests are local 

If you haven't done any of the above (not that there's anything wrong with that ;-),  you're better off at the 8 weeks side of things.

"Great!" you exclaim! "I'll get them out even sooner than 8 weeks!!"  "Nope," says Goldilocks (that's me) , "you need to time it just right."  If you mail them too early, you could run into all sorts of circumstances:

• Someone moves unexpectedly. Happened to a client when the real estate market took a sharp nose dive and their poor Cousin Trent AND  his cockatoo (long story) were evicted when their landlord went into foreclosure.
• Sadly, someone passes away
• Someone breaks up
• On a more lighthearted note, you address an envelope to Mr. & Mrs. John Smith, Susie and Baby Sister - and Baby Sister is born Baby Brother (true story, I'm imaginative but even I couldn't make that up)
• The RSVP is soooo far away, with a devil-may-care-I-have-all-the-time-in-the-world attitude, it is stuck on the fridge or in a "to do" pile and then it drowns in more time sensitive business.  I shamefacedly admit to doing that twice.  In the past month.  Yes, I know I should know better, that's why I made up the word "shamefacedly."

6 to 8 weeks, my friend, it's the best way to go.

(A million thanks to Paul Rich Studio for the photo of my envelope!  The script is dip pen Flourished Formal Script done with a sparkly white ink and a vintage Spencerian #1 nib)

 

Adventure to Paperland!

I'm just getting back from a trip to New England where we spent not-enough time visiting family & friends.  One of my adventures was to the Crane Museum of Papermaking with my sister & my husband (who must love me a lot because papermaking - not so much with the excitement for the civilians ;-) It was great for me and I appreciate their putting up with me!

Crane & Co. makes beautiful invitations and stationery and I frequently work with their products.  It was nice to go to the source. Sorry, other calligraphers, they don't make Letra envelopes on site so there wasn't anyone on which I could take out our collective frustrations.

Crane also has wonderful etiquette information on their website.  Their Blue Book is a must!

What not everyone knows is that all Americans work with their products every day as Crane is the exclusive supplier of the paper the U.S. Treasury uses to print money (dammit! no free samples!)

I managed to carry on.

This is the building that houses the musuem.  It used to be the rag building, where rags were broken down into pulp for paper.  Hence, the paper reference "rag content."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this plaque, the lettering is darling!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Zenas Crane himself.  Doesn't he look like a New England 19th century party boy?

Of course not, I don't think they existed back then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's one of the cutey-patootey figurines that shows the process of paper making.  The entire display was made by Dard Hunter, a prominent paper maker and printer in the 20th century.  I have crazy friends who love to make paper and I direct them to The Friends of Dard Hunter to find more crazies like them. I have made handmade paper and it's as back-breaking as this model illustrates.  I will happily buy handmade paper and not even blink at the cost.

Oh! If you're a Portlander reading this, the word is "coucher" pronounced "coocher" like our crazy street.  It's really a word, that's why I took this particular photo.

And now the word "Vatman" has entered my head and I have the "Batman" tv show theme going through my head. 

And now so do you.  Mwahahahahahaha.

 

Postage Stamp Love

No, not a postage stamp that says "love" - this is about my love of postage stamps.  U.S.P.S. really has it goin' on right now, especially since they've increased the number of "forever stamps!"  Let's take a look at a few now!

 

A wedding cake really does, in a very subtle & elegant way, shout "wedding."   This is a lovely stamp for mailing the invitation, conveniently the post office also has the Wedding Roses stamp for RSVPs.  The two look so pretty together! 

 

 

 

 

For the more adventurous, there's the Garden of Love stamps and I adore these!  Yup, I've made this big, I want you to see the detail!  It's like a puzzle from "Highlights" magazine - "How many hearts do you see?"  I'm going to suggest bucking the etiquette rule that says "only one stamp per envelope" and say if you need more than 44cents, double up on these lovelies!

Just a few pieces of advice - don't assume the amount of postage you'll need to mail your invitations, check and double check how much postage is needed.  Don't forget that the postage is determined by more than the weight, if you have square envelopes or french flap envelopes (oooh, I sense another blog post in the making!) you'll need to add extra postage.

If you need a large number of the same type of stamps, order directly from www.shop.usps.com  The nominal shipping amount will be far less expensive than you spending time and gas running around town.  You have better, more bride-y things to do!

Now I'm going to look at postage on-line for a little while longer, really, just a little ;-)

Something "New & Blue" - thank you!

Big thanks to New & Blue in The Pearl for their blog post about me!  I've been very fortunate to have been working with Tatum and her excellent staff for a few years now.  I've always had a great experience with them & their clients - and somehow always seem to come home with "something new!" 

Not in Portland?  Check out their website, it's H-U-G-E!

Calligraphy released in the wild

Hurray!  More professional photos!  This go-round is from David Barss.  When I first met David we had a discussion about table markers.  He usually removes them from the tables when he takes detail shots.  I was thrilled beyond the telling that not only did he leave this table marker on the table, this photo also appeared in the slideshow on his blog.  I scared the dog & cats when I saw the slideshow, I hollered out "David, you ROCK!!"  As you can now see for yourself. 

   I love the photos of all the escort cards lined up, ready to go off into the wild and have a great time!

The different colors on the escort cards are not just pretty, they serve a purpose.  This was a plated reception, the colors on the card told the servers which entree had been ordered.  On the list of nit-picky things that make me crazy, little "B"s for beef or "C"s for chicken on an escort or place card are so out of place.  There are more tasteful ways to get that idea across.

This was a very fun job, the cards are so flourishy and lovely, a big thank you goes out to Soiree Special Event Planning for sending this my way!

Danish, anyone?

No, not cheese Danish (although I'd give my eye teeth for one right now) - the language, silly!  Earlier this summer I posted about invitations I'd lettered in English and Danish.  I'm so very fortunate that my hard work ended up in the hands of excellent professionals - first Jean at Lark Press for the layout & luxurious letterpress (really, letterpress is so tactile!) and then Paul Rich Studiofor the fantastic photos and florist Kevan Inouye for the glorious floral touches.  Now I get to share that with you...

I received the loveliest thank you note:

Despite having so many odds against us (very different time zones, no face-to-face meetings, a tight time line, etc.) everything you made for us* was perfect, the process was painless and the correspondence entertaining!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Regards,

Abby & Steffan

And now I'm all teary-eyed again.

*Everything also included program covers, menus and escort cards.  Did I think to take a picture before I sent them packing to Denmark?  No, of course not.  I think I'll have a cheese danish to console myself.

Lookit all the colors!

Aloha!  I've just finished a very fun envelope job for a florist who's having the perfect destination wedding in Hawaii.  I was given the paper samples from the invites - purple, fuschia and a lime green.  My brush lettering was requested and I was given free rein on the colors, I obviously had a blast!

 

The Most Special Job of All

I've already admitted that I'm hooked on the vicarious warm fuzzies I get from helping people celebrate their special occasion.  The warmest, fuzziest and most special jobs of all are for family.  I was so honored to be able to do the invitations for my baby brother's wedding (I'm getting all teary-eyed as I type - ya big sap!)  It was a wonderful wedding, full of love and lots of fun.  Welcome to the family, Mary!  It's too late to go back now!

The backer card is Royal Magic Majestic Blue, the metallic papers in this line are the sparkliest & prettiest metallics around.  The invitation is printed on white Perle' and the blue diamonds and big, chunky rhinestones.  The lettering is Pointed Italic.  The envelopes were lettered in the same style with sparkly navy blue paint.

Off to the press!

On today's to-do list is a trip to Lark Press.  I must remember to bring limited cash and the debit & credit cards at home.  Oh sure, my main purpose is to drop off invitation designs for letterpress printing but Jean has such great things in her shop!  It's hard to just walk straight to the back without being distracted.  Wonder where I can find some blinders...

Here's a picture of on what Jean's going to work her magic, camera ready invitations. 

"But Alesia," you say, "I can't read the one on top!"  Damn skippy, you can't, unless you read Danish!  The bride, originally from the Pacific Northwest, went to Denmark as an exchange student and fell in love.  Therefore, invites in English and Danish!  I have fun working in a language I don't understand because then the letters and words are just design elements and I'm not reading.  (I am now fascinated with the word 'klokken' - writing it and saying it. )  The plan is to have the invite cropped so some of the flourishes and letters are cut to the very edge, with some strokes just floating into space.  That's part of Jean's magic.  I cannot wait to see - and feel! - these once they've been letterpressed!  The very thought makes my pulse quicken! 

The bride & I are working via e-mail as she's there, I'm here.  She is sooo much fun, and I'm learning a lot about wedding traditions in Denmark.  The most entertaining tradition came up when I asked what, if any, her wedding colors were.  It's tradition in Denmark for the groom to pick out the bride's bouquet and flowers.  The bouquet is then placed at the entrance to the church awaiting the bride's arrival.  I think the bride said it best "This tradition usually either elicits an 'aawwww' or an 'Oh my God, are they nuts?' from my American girlfriends."  I must see pictures from the wedding to see how the groom did.