Happy Monday everyone – and welcome to a short week! We’ll be wrapping up a bit early this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, but before we go I have a couple of beautiful wedding invitations and a super fun DIY project that I know you won’t want to miss. First up this week, these gorgeous calligraphy wedding invitations by Melissa Esplin – each of which was written entirely by hand. Yep, Melissa hand calligraphed each and every invitation for this intimate wedding, most of which were in turn hand delivered to family and friends. These are the kind of wedding invitations that make my heart beat just a little bit faster!

From Melissa: Every once in a while I have a dream client that lets me do my thing. I was thrilled to work with this bride on a very last-minute invitation for her rustic wedding just outside of Park City, Utah.

The calligrapher hired through the event planner fell through, so I was left with 14 days until the wedding to design and calligraph 30 wedding invitations and envelopes and 42 place cards. It came down to the wire; but because the bride kept it an intimate affair, most invitations were hand-delivered. Family and close friends already had the date saved.

I came across some issues with the felt-finish paper. It has a rough surface so gliding the pen across the top adds texture to the line. I would prefer a finer line, but considering the wedding took place at High West in Wanship, Utah; it fits.

The design itself is simple and classic. A flourished running hand for the text body and a flourished shaded script for the bride and groom.

Thanks Melissa!

Design and Calligraphy: Melissa Esplin

Paper: Natural White Felt Finish

Ink: Old World Iron Gall Ink

Nib: Nikko G

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Melissa Esplin