I'm an English teacher. I've mastered the skill of writing neat cursive on a whiteboard.

When I try to write on envelopes, however, I get all shaky from worry.

In other words, I get a bit weird. Weirder than normal.

I've hired a calligrapher for my own sanity. Her name is Agnes, and she is also an enormous fan of Firefly and the work of H.P. Lovecraft. She is getting married next month and is buried in her own DIY projects.Above is the test sample she created for our stationary. It is curvy and classic, and I love the "chubby" ink.

For some brides, calligraphy is an extravagant expense. If I was having a more traditional "Irish" wedding with over 200 guests... it would be an extravagant expense. But we're inviting less than sixty guests, and we only need to create about forty invitations. I've also hired her services for our placecards.

Inner and outer envelope sets seem charming, don't they?
(Or is the belief that stationary can be "charming" or "cute" another symptom of bridal-craziness?)

I ordered A-7 Ecru unlined envelope sets from LCI Paper. I may make my own envelope liners to accent our invitations. The inner envelope measures 5 7/16 x 7 7/8, almost one whole inch larger than our A-7 5 x 7 invitations. This provides plenty of room for our invitations, rehearsal dinner invites, RSVP postcards, and our over-sized foldout Vermont maps. Stellar!

Now, I just need to order some Forever Stamps before the May postal stamp price increase. I just realized if I didn't, the RSVP postcards wouldn't have enough postage and would be returned to sender! LOL