CUSTOM WEDDING DOCUMENTS

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Holly

Weddings, weddings, weddings! This is the time of year when preparations are being made. I receive phone calls for numerous types of wedding documents. I will picture them below with brief explanations. Perhaps you’ll get a few ideas….

This first picture is a framed GUEST SIGNATURES gift. The brides father, my client, requested flowers indicative of Colorado in all 4 corners, their names and space for a certain number of signatures. He also specified the colors.

At first, he wanted people to randomly sign. He came back to me later and said that he wanted the doc to have a more organized feel and would like penciled lines. I gave him a Mars Staetler eraser so he could remove the lines later. (I will do that for you, but he was in a creative career, so he could handle this!) For those who want the lines inked in, that is definitely possible. I either place them with a ruling pen and ink OR a Zig or Pigma Micron Pen. These are fade proof, water resistant and archival so I recommend that guests sign with them.

This next piece is a the WEDDING WISDOM that the pastor shared with the couple at their wedding…..flourished and simple. Italic lettering.

The picture below is a Quaker Marriage Contract.

It includes the bride and grooms name and other important information. This one more traditional in feel with the flourishing, Old English and Engrosser’s Script. (Older technology leaves me with a less vibrant copy….sorry about that!) I could email you a close up of the script, if you’re interested. Bound & Lettered, Volume 10, Number 4 has an article about creating these documents.

Wedding Vows

couple wanted the Three Sister’s Mountains with a border of Juniper and another of Sage which was reminiscent of their outdoor wedding. The borders divided their vows in three sections. A lovely burled frame finished the look for their home. They had sweet words, but didn’t want the world to see! I wanted you to see the layout and the borders. The elements were in the setting where the wedding was held.

And then there was this little piece. Silver and black on handmade paper.

A sweet little gift from groom to his bride….

So many options for calligraphy related to weddings. You are only limited by your imagination! Calligraphy expresses your favorite words to your ‘most cherished’ and creates an heirloom of your love for the next generation.

Calligraphy for the Ballerina Wedding

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Holly

Last year, I was sitting at the drawing board, when Sue Corral called from www.DesignCorral.com She had been at a speaking engagement in NYC, when the Martha Stewart Weddings people asked her to design the stationary for “The Ballerina Wedding.” Tiler Peck and Robbie Fairchild, the two principal dancers in the New York City Ballet, were getting married! Willingly, she submitted samples from several calligraphers to the ballerinas, and unbeknownst to me, mine had been selected! Tiler and Robbie wanted lettering that was traditional, tailored and elegant. I was honored. So Sue and I put our heads together to come up with something special. Sue, had the design reigns and sent multiple mockups, but the ballerinas had simple, elegant taste. They landed on one, that incorporated the motif from the Cathedral floor in the picture below. Enjoy the professional pictures taken by Photographer Charlotte Jenks Lewis, www.charlottejenkslewis.com

Both the lettering and the tri-floral ends of the design were letterpressed in gold foil. Originally, the calligraphy was created in black…

Letterpressed type and “Dinner and Dancing” calligraphy was charcoal grey.I am sharing a close up with you….one might think that the gold lettering is typeset, the letterpress makes it look soooo perfect. But no, this was all done by hand at the drawing board, retouched in Photoshop and digitally transported to Sue. The calligraphy was much more delicate than it shows here. If you are not familiar with letterpress, the process always thickens the intended fine lines.Menu’s were letterpressed via Sue, as well. In an effort to elegantly use the Menu as a Place Card, I was asked to personalize each one with gold gouache. I used FineTec gold, but have to say that the marriage between the paper and the gold was a delicate one. I painstakingly went over each name a second time, so that the hairlines would 1). show up better 2.) while not losing their delicacy…so had to keep a light tough. I achieved the look that I wanted. (Perhaps soon I will post a closeup of a few of those.) Here is their extraordinarily romantic table setting. I was pleasantly surprised to see the calligraphy initials that I created for their names, foiled into the cover of Tiler and Robbie’s Guest Book.

The initials also appeared on their peekabo wedding programs. Again, the symbol from the Cathedral floor the cut-out on the cover.

Another surprise was to see the calligraphy delicately carved into the lid of the wedding ring box below. How sweet is this!?

The table numbers came towards the end of our project. Tiler and Robbie had the originals. I scanned them, so that both Sue and I could reproduce the table numbers, in case others wanted to use them. My Epson printer prints on two sided digital Entrada fine art paper, so it is easy enough to do.

The wedding favors, were two special little cookies in a box, that the Martha Stewart Weddings people hired out. My lettering did include a flourish, which I thought for sure would be perfect for a ballerina wedding. I had envisioned them reducing the design so it would fit on the box. Instead, it was removed. Nevertheless, I’ll show you! It’s below the last picture in this blog.

To see all of the wedding credits and pictures, go to www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com 20th Anniversary Edition > Tiler and Robbie wedding > Slide show > page 44, to see all of the fabulous people who helped to make their wedding a day to remember.

May these two beautiful ballet dancers, live happily ever after. What a fabulous couple they are…with a bright future! Again, check us out: Calligraphy: Holly V. Monroe, Stationary Design: Sue Corral, and Photography: Charlotte Jenks Lewis

Calligraphy in Weddings!

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Holly

This Spring, my life has been filled with weddings. Both my son and daughter were married within 7 weeks of each other. In May, my daughter and her husband were married under two big oak trees.

Afterwards, we walked several yards to the barn reception. Heidi did a great job of carrying through the barn theme.

One of her projects was the signage. She spray painted white, some old gold frames that were sitting in my studio for years. After spray painting some plywood with black chalkboard paint, she placed that in the opening of the frame.

On her wedding morning, she handed me some chalk and said “Mom, can you hand letter 5 signs for me?” Before dashing home to get dressed for the wedding, I made it through “Welcome” and “Thank you”.

I hope this gives you a little idea for your barn or casual outdoor wedding!

It’s Wedding Season!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Holly

BOTH of my grown children are getting married this year! One in March and one in May – whew! I have been busily designing invitations and addressing envelopes (more on this to come).

My daughter, Heidi, is engaged to a wonderful man, Phil. They asked me to do something special for their engagement photos. Like many couples, Heidi and Phil took a few photos for use on their Save the Date card during their engagement shoot. I designed a white on black, flourished Save the Date poster for them. It was elegant, but bold.

(Photo credit: Shashank Shrestha)

I like the way that they were both in the picture as well as the design….which could also be used on it’s own. This is available for ‘rent’, if you would like to use the image on your card.(Photo credit: Shashank Shrestha)

The Save-the-Date sign will be up on my website soon! Until then, call my studio if you’d like to use the sign in your photos! I am so excited to see what other fun touches of calligraphy Heidi and I come up with. Keep reading to check in on our progress and ideas!