Weddingbee Blog

i must say that the professional calligraphy we had done on our envelopes was not permanant either. and we didn’t have them redone. they went as is and no one said anything about any messy envelope that they received.

yeah, just like what susan said, there’s a spray that you can use. just go to any craft store…they should have it. that’s what we’re doing and it’s working perfectly fine. just make sure you spray outside.

To save money, why not get some clear labels and stick it across your calligraphy. Or even a strip of clear plastic tape (cut neatly) would work. That way, you don’t have to buy extra envelopes and present your invites the way you intended.

like Mrs. BOP - ours were not permanent and we didn’t worry about it. No one complained, nothing happened and it all worked just fine.

But if you’re concerned, I’d try the spray and if not, go with the large white envelopes. The suspense will build up as people open your invites.

The spray you’re looking for is called fixative. You can find it at any Arts & Crafts store (probably with the colored pencils or charcoal, since that’s what it’s typically used with to prevent smearing). Some fixatives have a gloss finish while others are matte. I’d buy a can of matte and test it out on an envelope or two (samples, of course!) and see if a few drops of water stand the test But you will most likely want to do this outdoors, since it has chemicals in it and is a bit smelly when you’re spraying it!

what if you just go over it with a permanent pen? it will take forever but it would work.
I second (third? fifth?) the clear sticker idea too. With rounded edges it would look ok.
if you are really concerned that it will look bad maybe enclose a little note saying something like “sorry for the sticker covering the addreess but the calligraphy didnt come with a warrenty”… cheezy but shows it was intenetional and that you cared a lot.

Miss Emerald: I think you were looking to hear our own blunders to make you feel better. Well, let me share mine with you… oddly enough, my frustration came at the invitation stage as well. After addressing 115 envelopes, I realized that I ordered the Man/Woman wrong. At .75/envelope I was not about to redo all 115. Luckily, after 3 days of “what do I do?! “they” won’t blame Mr. for this… it’ll be ME that “they” blame!!” my invitation designer told me that her caligrapher always does it the way I did, man first. So, I mailed them out… and fast. So I didn’t hear something to the contrary.

Don’t worry–get the spray… send them off, and then wait for the rsvps. It’s like winning the lotto every time you check the mail (if the rsvps come to your address). It’s ok… no one is perfect, and I doubt there is any bride who didn’t have at least a blunder or two in her planning.

A can of the spray shouldn’t be more than like $9, tops! If you line up the envelopes to do a bunch of them with each spray, you’ll use far less than a whole can for all of your envelopes. That stuff goes a long way.

I fifth/sixth the clear label idea. I can’t remember what your invites look like (or maybe you haven’t shown us yet!) but you could stamp a cute design or use a corner puncher to put a design in it. I think it would look sort of neat actually.
Otherwise, there are clear envelopes or Vellum envelopes (I don’t think that the mailmen like those though). But the clear ones would look really cool and you could probably get your same size so it looks totally on purpose! good luck!

What about enclosing the envelope in one of those crystal clear bags - see: clearbags.com ! I use these all of the time for sealing greeting cards.