What is Calligraphy?

Calligraphy is an art form by which a designer writes unique letters, words, numbers, and decorations all by hand. Essentially, artwork of lettering. There is skill, practice, and of course talent involved when creating a piece of calligraphy.

What should I look for when planning for calligraphy for my event need?

First, quality is the key. Are the designs straight? Does the lettering have consistency? Each product whether it is an envelope or a placecard is an original piece of artwork and as such has been crafted by an individual by hand. Quality and perfection are important in creating our unique designs.

How much should I expect to pay for this service?

Because Calligraphy is artwork, and is creating an original 'unique' piece every time, an understanding of the time and effort is appreciated. To create a 4 line invitation envelope takes approximately 5 minutes per envelope. The time to uniquely create 100 envelopes is approximately 500 minutes or (8.5 hours). Because this is artwork and unique, you should expect to pay about $25.00 to $50.00 per hour, depending upon the designer. Then consider the supplies the artist has to use to complete your project and whether you want your envelopes stuffed and mailed for you (you provide the postage, of course).

So bottom line is for 100 envelopes you could expect the following (Based upon $25.00 per hour):

Inner envelope (receipient only or one line) - 200 minutes or 3.5 hours
Outer envelope (receipient only or 4 lines) - 500 minutes or 8.5 hours
RSVP envelope (receipient only or 4 lines) - 500 minutes or 8.5 hours
Stamping & stuffing - 300 minutes or 5 hours
Total time to create 100 invitations = 25-30 hours
Total cost $625-750.

What do you charge?

Keen Invites has worked with many clients and attempts to work within the clients budget. Pricing for our services can vary and is based both on time and quality design. Pricing is provided by individual estimate of each project and is based on the following and are only approximates (approximately .25 per minute):

Inner envelope (receipient only or one line @ 2 min per envelope) - .50 ea
Inner envelope (receipient & Sender @ 10 min per envelope) - 2.25 ea
Outer envelope (receipient only or 4 lines @ 5 min per envelope) - 1.25 ea
Outer envelope (receipient & Sender @ 10 min per envelope) - 2.25 ea
RSVP envelope (receipient only or 4 lines @ 5 min per envelope) - 1.25 ea
RSVP envelope (receipient & Sender @ 10 min per envelope) - 2.25 ea
Stamping & stuffing (3 min per envelope *not including stamps) - .75 ea

Place Cards (one line @ 2 min per card) - .50 ea

Programs - combintation of computer print & calligraphy (Each program is specialized for each event and can range from 2.00 - 5.00 per page)

Program design setup fee - $25.00

Rush order fees range from $25.00-$100.00

What styles do you offer?

Keen Invites offers a wide variety of styles and options. We can work with you to provide original designed and unique shower invitations, wedding invitations, announcements, RSVP cards, place cards, ceremony programs, thank yous, and more. Combining computer designed typeface with hand written calligraphy or elegant hand writing, we create each design as a unique piece of artwork.

If you would prefer print media designs generating a picture perfect image solely via computer, we are also able to create original design works where all the graphics are created and printed by us in our home studio. Please feel free to browse our designs to see the variety.

Orders average approximately 1-2 weeks depending upon the size of order. Rush orders will have an extra fee based upon quantity and turn around time.

If you would like handwritten or calligraphy invitations by Keen Invites, please contact us to request a personalization quote for Keen Invites.