I hope everyone has that one friend with the superpower of seeing details that ordinary humans cannot. Maybe more than one. Or may it’s you yourself, lucky. I am fortunate enough to have this friend, and I even try to remember how fortunate I am when I’ve chosen things that fall below the standard and I get “the look.” In hindsight, it’s never undeserved, but without my friend’s superior eye for detail I would never have seen where I went barreling along mindlessly in the completely wrong direction, and she knows it, too.
In 2017 when my friend was planning her spectacular wedding and asked if I could do calligraphy for her, two things crossed my mind: absolutely this sounds like fun, and sheer terror, and not in that order. Fortunately, she was waist-deep in the eternal well of Instagram weddings and had done most of the research already. (As I wrote this she reminded me of how this skill has continued to serve us now with houses, babies, and gardens.) One of the things in her findings was gouache, which we couldn’t pronounce, but the super talented calligraphers on Instagram chose over and over for its stunning, matte depth and luscious opacity.
With this in mind and being mostly familiar with traditional broad nib styles, I set out to learn pointed pen calligraphy, quickly realized I had all the wrong tools, and then set out again a bit better prepared. One of the first new tools I determined I would need was an oblique nib holder. Things got easier once I had a pen that could achieve the correct angles. To help me on my way with the Copperplate style she loved, I studied Dr. Joseph M. Vitolo’s fabulous resources on this script available at Zanerian.
After a few months of practice with the new script, I finally had the courage to start learning with the gouache. Based on the wonderful gouache intros by The Postman’s Knock and Patricia Lovett, I went with Schmincke Calligraphy Gouache in the rich Jet Black that my friend wanted from Paper & Ink Arts. It was fairly easy to get the “heavy cream” consistency by adding a little bit of water at a time. The gouache had smooth, creamy flow vs. the looser flow of my go-to Higgins Eternal Black. It tended to cling to the nib rather than pooling, and on the paper had a velvety presence. There’s another post dedicated to my obsession with this on The Calligraphy Supply blog.
For her envelopes (inner and outer), my friend chose an off-white. The black gouache created a crisp, elegant look.
The tablescape she created was that effortlessly elegant place where everything simply comes together. She chose placecards in Shimmer Gold from Paper Source. Against a long white table, lush greenery studded with ivory roses, tapering white candles, white plates with golden rims, and classic flatware, the placecards caught the warmth of the afternoon sun. The deeply matte black writing the perfect anchor on the gold. Again the detail of the calligraphy created a special space where each guest was invited to the table.
Even now the Schmincke’s Calligraphy Gouache on the envelopes and cards has remained as beautiful and as deeply opaque as it was that day. Looking at the suite brings me right back to that table, and maybe also to the moment when I was told I would speak for my friend after the eloquent British gent, and without a microphone.
Including hand drawn calligraphy for her wedding suite wasn’t the most expedient, or easiest choice. However, by not overlooking this detail, she infused the ambiance of timeless elegance into every moment in the day. She told her guests how vitally important they were in her life without saying a word. Though she did tell me they looked good.
