How to write wedding place cards in calligraphy if you’ve never done it before

I’ve written tens of thousands of wedding place cards. In my calligraphy workshops I meet people who are learning especially for a wedding, and I remember how scary it can be the first time. I wanted to write this little step by step guide to help you if, like my friend Michelle, you’ve got a wedding coming up and you’ve promised to write some calligraphy for it!

Before you write place cards in calligraphy – essential practice

1. Learn the basics of modern calligraphy – attend a workshop, or do an online calligraphy course.
2. Practice at home – as much as you can! Set aside just half an hour, once or twice a week, and just get used to your pen and nib. Enjoy them, and don’t be afraid of them!
3. Use a pencil. There are two sides to modern calligraphy. The first is using a dip pen and nib. The second is shaping letters. Practice letters with a pencil as often as you can: lose the app and have a paper shopping list which you write beautifully. Leave post-it notes for your family around the house – written in shapely letters. Scribble down notes to yourself: little reminders to put the bins out, or meet your friend. The more often you write, the more chances you give yourself to learn letter shapes, the better you’ll be with a calligraphy pen!
4. Make sure you’ve got lovely quality ink and card. I can’t emphasise this enough. Poor quality ink and card will make your task much harder. I use cards from GFSmith: Colorplan is lovely and smooth, perfect for calligraphy. And I mix my own coloured inks from Winsor & Newton Designers gouache and water. Practice this too! Your gouache ‘ink’ should be thin enough to run smoothly through your nib, but not so watery it won’t leave a lovely colour on the cards.
5. Have spares – lots of spares. Double the number of cards you actually need, isn’t too many. (You can always use them for gift tags!)

When you’re ready to start! How to write your place cards for a wedding

1. 1. Spend half an hour writing names in pencil on lined paper. Write lightly, don’t press hard. This is to get more confident with the letter shapes and joining up.
   2. Spend half an hour writing names with the right ink on lined paper. This is so you’re happy with the consistency of the ink and how it flows through your nib. (And to sneak more name practice in!)
   3. Don’t beat yourself up about being perfect! OK so this is important. No one is expecting a master calligrapher. Your friends / family have asked you to do this – and they’ve asked because they want a little bit of YOU in their wedding. If you can’t execute a perfect capital K, no one will notice apart from you! So allow your letters to have little wobbly bits, and know they add character and personality to the names. If the couple getting married wanted perfection, they’d have their place cards printed – and how boring would that be?! Be kind to yourself.
   4. Rule pencil lines – gently. A delicate pencil line to write on will make your life so much easier. Trust me. Make it light as a feather, so you can just see it – and so you’ll be able to rub it out later. Don’t rule all the cards at once. The line should be about 2/3 of the way down the card… but this is personal preference and you might like the line a little higher or lower… experiment to see where you want that line (and the names) to go.
   5. Start from the middle / end of the list. The grooms / brides / groom and bride will be at the top of the list. (Probably.) They’re not the names you want to start with! I always start writing somewhere in the middle. Even as a professional, I know the first names I write won’t be the ones I’m happiest with – that happens when you’re in the flow of writing, usually about half way through the list.
   6. Have somewhere to dry the cards. I use big bits of cardboard I have lying around as ‘trays’ to dry place cards on. My calligraphy studio is usually full of them! (When I had a cat, the trays were easy to lift to safety in a hurry if he jumped on my desk. If you don’t have a cat, feel free to lay your place cards to dry on your table!) Lay the cards flat so the ink doesn’t run. (Calligraphers on instagram use drying racks – there’s no need. Flat cards won’t warp and the ink will dry uniformly.) Don’t dry the cards in bright sunlight – they might curl up!
   7. After 24 hours at least, rub out your pencil lines. Do this carefully, and slowly, watching to see if the ink smudges at all. If it does, wait another 24 hours before trying again. I use a Staedtler rubber.
   8. Check all the names and spellings. Count them to make sure you’ve got the right number. Then check them backwards, and maybe check again. It’s easy to forget someone!
   9. Add a ribbon, flower or wax seal stamp – any of these will ‘lift’ a place card and make it even more pretty!
   10. Be proud of yourself! We’re all our own worst critics. Know that what you’ve written in calligraphy is the very best you can do. You’ve put time and love into it, and that’s a really special, kind thing to do. You’re the best, and your place cards will go down a treat! (Trust me – they always do!)