How to Hire a Calligrapher for Your Wedding Invitations?

Calligraphy Invitations, How to Hire a Calligrapher for Your Wedding Invitations? When your invitations are printed and ready to mail, you'll be facing another task – addressing the inner and outer envelopes. Some couples choose to handle this task on their own, especially if their budget is tight. However, other couples love the idea of having a professional calligrapher address the envelopes for them. In fact, some couples even choose a calligrapher to write the invitations themselves.

Calligraphy, which literally means “beautiful writing,” is practiced in almost every culture. Most calligraphers today have been trained through classes and work in a freelance capacity. You may be able to locate calligraphers through your local telephone book, online, or through other wedding vendors, such as your paper vendor or printer.

Is Calligraphy a Good Choice for You?

Before you start your search, determine your calligraphy budget. You need to know how much you can spend since this will be a factor in who you choose to do the work. As always, you should contact as many calligraphers as possible before making a decision. Of course, your options may be limited depending on your location, especially if you would prefer to work with someone local and not an online provider.

Choosing the Right Calligrapher

When you interview potential calligraphers, you should bring along samples of fonts or styles you would like for your invitations. You don't want to hire someone who can not complete the job in the way you desire.

Additionally, you should ask to view samples of the calligraphers work, preferably examples of his or her work with wedding invitations. Also, ask for references you can contact. If the calligrapher does provide references, don't hesitate to contact them and ask them if they were satisfied with the job. On the positive side, unhappy brides are all too happy to pass on information about bad service, so if you hear good things then you can feel pretty confident about the calligrapher's abilities.

Working Out the Contract Details

You should also talk about the price. Calligraphers will either quote you a price per envelope/invitation or an hourly price. If the calligrapher chooses to quote you an hourly price, you should ask for a written quote based on the number of invitations you will need addressed or written. Along with the price, you should also ask about payment policies. Generally, calligraphers will require a deposit. A second payment is often due at some point during the project, possibly when half of the invitations have been addressed. The balance is usually due at the end or near the end of the project.

Another important question involves time. Because your invitations need to be completed in a timely fashion, you must have some clear idea of how long the calligrapher will require to finish the work. Make sure to get the deadlines in writing.

Finally, you need to ask about what happens when mistakes are made. Even professional ligraphers are not perfect, they will make mistakes. You should, of course, have extra envelopes available, but if you need even more envelopes or if mistakes are made but not caught then you and the calligrapher should have terms in place to deal with those problems.

Calligraphers, like any other wedding vendors, should be interviewed carefully so you make the right choice. Don't forget to put everything in writing. If problems do arise, having a contract will make the issues easier to resolve.