RSVP on time PLEASE!

Have you been invited to a wedding? Being a guest is a wonderful honor, and should provide you a happy occasion  to take part in with your friends and relatives.

If you are married, you must remember all the many details the bride has to take care of to make certain that her wedding will be wonderful. One of the most important details, is knowing who is coming to the wedding so that seating arrangements can be completed.

In the past, an invited guest was expected to write back on their own engraved personal stationery to congratulate the mother of the bride, and let her know whether the guest was going to attend. Unfortunately, etiquette being very different, and few people owning their own engraved stationery, invitation companies started including RSVP cards and envelopes for guests. Now the engaged couple always encloses a stamped envelope, so it is really easy to write your name, and the number of people who will or will not attend.

BTW, make sure you put your name on the RSVP or the bride won't know who is coming to her wedding! I always tell them a little trick just in case their guest forgets. Lightly in pencil, assign a number to the back of the rsvp that corresponds to the invitation list. That way, if your guest forgets, you'll still know who is coming!

RSVP's literally mean: répondez s'il vous plait. Please respond to the invitation, within the requested date by which you are asked to respond!

I cannot tell you how many brides are given extra work with their limited time when people are not courteous enough to respond to the RSVP!  Brides end up having to spend so much time to make phone calls to find out if their guest will attend; or if they will be bringing a guest!  I have even heard stories of people saying they were coming and then asking if they could bring a guest (they weren't invited with a guest) OR a child(!!), and then not showing up.  That is very poor manners imo!

As the calligrapher who must write out table cards last minute, it's extra effort for my job as well.  Be a real friend to the bride, make sure you RSVP on time!

For original wedding gifts of personalized love poems, please visit Beautiful Calligraphy.

Wedding Certificates To Remember Your Happiest Day

Contemporary Design Wedding Certificate

Are you getting married? Congratulations! So much planning goes into making your wedding perfect. From choosing the perfect  ring, to the invitations, the parties, there are so many details to consider!  One thing that many couples neglect to consider is having a commemorative wedding certificate designed. Although not a legal document, the wedding certificate can be a beautiful document that incorporates your marriage vows, decorated with elements from the wedding itself, such as the flowers, or theme. Because the wedding certificate is a custom design, you can choose whether you prefer a traditional type of decoration, or a more contemporary design. 

Jewish Marriage Certificate
Ketubah

I've done many marriage certificates. Some religious traditions have wedding certificates as part of the ceremony. Jewish marriages certificates are called Ketubah (Ketobot) and are a very important part of the ceremony. There is interesting history involved with it as well!

Quaker wedding certificates are also an intrinsic part of the ceremony, with places for not only the bride and groom and officiant to sign, but places for the witnesses and guests as well.

I'm happy to say that I have done Gay marriage certificates for couples who live in states where they have been able to get married. I also design commitment certificates as well.

Quaker Wedding Certificate 

Gay Marriage Certificate

Many couples enjoy framing this beautiful document and putting it over their bed. It's a nice thing to glance at before you go to sleep next to your husband or wife.

And if you have forgotten to order your wedding certificate at the time of your marriage, just remember, 1st year traditional gift is paper!  There's another opportunity to have your wedding certificate completed!

If you are on a limited budget, I have some really beautiful designs available in more store, where you can choose your text from a variety of love poems, and have the rest personalized with your names and dates. Because it's a print, the price is substantially lower than a totally custom designed wedding certificate.  

Best of Luck and Happiness from,

Lianda

Unique Wedding Gift Idea for the Couple that has EVERYTHING!

Invitation Addressed in Italic Calligraphy

Many of your friends or relative's weddings that you are invited to are second or even third marriages. Or maybe you are getting remarried, and don't know what to have on your bridal registry. What do you buy for the couple that has EVERYTHING from prior marriages?

One of my client couples had another great original idea for a wedding gift that they could really use. They had everything they needed in their combined homes.  The couple was planning on going to Hawaii for their honeymoon. They had many ideas of things that they wanted to do while there: helicopter rides, surfing lessons, guided tours, etc... They set up their itinerary, and made it available to all of their guests. It allowed the guests to contribute to the activity during their honeymoon - and pay only a portion of the expense, so people could allocate whatever amount they wanted to gift the couple. What a great idea?!!  And the couple could naturally take lots of photos of them during the activity and send it with their  thank you note!

Apache Wedding Blessing Personalized in Calligraphy

Here's another unique gift idea. Naturally, being a calligrapher, I will tell you that personalized calligraphy love poems that have the new couple's name and date of the wedding is something that you know they won't have!  You can even choose a poem or scripture that was recited at the wedding to make it even more personal for the new couple.

Another gift idea is to use the invitation from your couple. The bride has put a lot of effort into picking the perfect invitation. Most of the time it just gets put into the photo book, and never seen again. When you personalize it and decorate around it, and with framing, the wedding invitation becomes a really beautiful and unique gift that the couple will enjoy whenever the see it.

Wedding Invitation Framed with Decorated Calligraphy

Custom calligraphy is a really unique wedding gift option for the couple who has everything!  Please check out my website for either custom and personalized calligraphy ideas, or my store for less expensive great gift options. They are great for any occasion!

Calligraphy Thirty Year Wedding Anniversary Gift

Calligraphy is such a romantic and unique gift for wedding anniversaries. The traditional 1st year anniversary gift is paper, which can be money; but calligraphy will last a lot longer.
I have just completed a thirty year anniversary gift that a wonderful husband commissioned for his wife. I took out their last names because I didn't want to spoil the surprise just in case you know the couple! (what is the possibility of that? - but, you never know!).

I also love doing marriage proposals. As a woman I think that it is such a romantic idea, especially when the man has written the poem, or finds just the right quote and decoration that is meaningful to them both. I've done 6 proposals, and heard back from the Groom to be: 6 out of 6 Yes!


I just love the private code and symbols he wanted in this piece. The horses running towards each other really add to the piece.  It's really fun conspiring and collaborating with my clients to come up with the perfect surprise gift!  Give it a try - be creative with me.  You'll be glad you did!

Gifts for Grandparents

Grandparents usually have everything they need. But the thing that means most to grandparents are their grandchildren! I've even been told that "You don't know the meaning of love until you have a grandchild". I find that hard to believe knowing how much I love my kids, but I guess I'll just have to wait to find out!

One thing grandparents never have enough of, is pictures of their grandchildren. And another thing that grandparents don't have enough of, are pictures of THEMSELVES WITH their grandchildren. So, I encouraged Grandpa Mike here, to take a picture of him with his beautiful granddaughter Victoria. It was a nice photo, but needed some photoshop work to take out a distracting background.

I incorporated a hand drawn picture of a tree, with added roots and leaves (great metaphor) (thank you photoshop!) to reflect the sentiment in the lovely words that Victoria wrote to her beloved grandpa. Then I added a gradient background to pull it all together. Completed, this keepsake will be a gift treasured by both for years to come.

Have a grandparent who you love and want to make happy? Think about Beautiful Calligraphy and YOUR Words to live by!

from the heart,
Lianda

Mother's Day Quotes

If you are fortunate to still have your mother alive, and lucky enough to have a good relationship, you may be thinking about Mother's Day coming up.
Realize that we don't need a holiday to express love and thanks to the people around us. In fact, it's best to say our feelings now, and as often as possible. Don't wait, because there are no guarantees in life. You don't want to ever think to yourself: "I should have said" and now it's too late.
I am thankful every day since my mother died last July, that nothing was left unsaid. I have no regrets about the things I wanted to say, but didn't.

A reminder in the way of Words To Live By, can be those words that are in your heart written in beautiful calligraphy. They will always we there and can fill the gap in between the times you speak with your mom.

Here's the quote I've just done. I hope you are fortunate enough so that this applies to your relationship with your mother.

To My Mother:
You’ve always been my greatest supporter throughout my life; the woman I look up to. You’ve taught me the important things in life by living the example. You’ve taught me to love myself as well as others, to trust and be true to myself. You’ve encouraged me through hard times, and celebrated with me in the good times.
Although life brings constant change, your love has always been the constant presence that I know will always be there, unchanging.
I’ll never be able to fully thank you enough for all you’ve done for me. I hope you know how grateful I am that you’re my mom.
I really love you –

By the way, I can calligraph this quote for you and personalize it with your name and even include a photo of you and your mother. The sentiment may be applicable for those of you who would like to use it instead for a Father's Day gift instead. I can also substitute the artwork in the example with other images, such as a heart. After all, this is custom Beautiful Calligraphy, Words to Live By - for you and those you love.

Designing Calligraphy

One of the pleasure of calligraphy is coming up with a design that reflects the sentiment in the words, as well as the reflects the taste of the person who is receiving the calligraphy. This is the fun part, and I enjoy encouraging my customers to collaborate with me in the process.

After all, my tastes are not necessarily their taste. And I can design something that is traditional OR contemporary, and all of the colors and textures of the rainbow are available. In fact, short quotes give you so much more flexibility with the design that it can be a real challenge! There's so much choice, that I do need some direction!

Sometimes I am blessed to have the type of customer who tells me: I like contemporary, these are my color preferences, and if you can put in something like...... Then I have such fun coming up with the design. I really want my customers to stretch - not do black writing on cream color paper. In fact, I WON'T do that - it's boring!

So, when I received this latest commission, I had such fun planning it out. And the designed evolved as I thought about it.

The quote was: Love cannot let you know music, but music can let you know love. Immediately I thought of the two words that if emphasized would give a big visual message that was obvious: Love and Music. If possible, I do the first layout of the words on my computer substituting different fonts and sizes. It's easier to move around the text that way than using and wasting paper. After all I am a "Green Scribe" : )



And of course, the most obvious symbols of Love and Music is a "heart" and "notes".



When you're doing a good design, you shouldn't do something that doesn't "hold together". For instance, if you could physically remove a part of the picture and it doesn't seem like something is missing, the design should be changed.


So, in the first printed by computer layout, you see parts of the quote that are necessarily integrated. Then I thought about what else could hold it together, and naturally, the idea of sheet music as a background popped into my mind. It was alright, but the background was white.



I felt like I wanted the sheet music to look a little aged, and I wanted it to relate to the color in the heart. So I tinted the music the color you see. And voila! A finished piece that reflects the sentiment, and artwork that supports the statement. Thank You L. for giving me free rein and trust to do your quote!



Have a favorite quote that you'd like to have made into Words To Live By: Words that you will see and remind you daily of how much that quote/poem means to you? Remember, Mother's Day is coming up, and your mother might really enjoy YOUR words of thanks and love!