Experiences Learning Calligraphy

We've been preparing for our upcoming wedding and thought it would be fun to be able to write our own calligraphy name cards. Calligraphy is always something I've been wanting to learn.

I started by looking for calligraphy classes. They look like a lot of fun, but seemed a bit out of my price range to start. Of the ones I've found so far, classes range between $145-250 for a beginner session. I might try it in the future, especially for some intermediate classes. They also look like a lot of fun for groups and a good opportunity for a bachelorette party! For those of you in the same boat as me, there are also several materials to learn on your own too. Here are some promising options I found:

• Laura Hooper Calligraphy
  Laura Hooper offers workshops, courses, but also a lot of learning material online. I really like her inks and bought colors in dusty rose, slate grey, and smoky blue. They're very fluid to write with and beautiful in color. For those of you who can't attend workshops in person, she has an online course that runs around $145. I haven't tried it yet so if you do, please let me know if you'd recommend it!

• The Postman's Knock
  Rather than buy the expensive calligraphy start kits (which you don't need to start learning, but are nice), I thought the Postman's Knock had a good recommended list of supplies you can easily buy online for ~$20 total. Here's her guide and tutorial.

• Brown Fox
  Brown Fox offers workshops, both beginner and intermediate. They're located in Hayes Valley (San Francisco) and run about $185-200 per workshop.

Both Laura Hooper and Postman's Knock have some really good templates (some free, some paid) that you can download and print for practice. Etsy is also another good source in general for calligraphy templates. 

While scouring the internet for beginner's tips and where to get supplies, a lot of people recommended Paper Ink Arts. For those in the bay area, a friend of mine highly recommended visiting a store called Castle in the Air, which is located in Berkeley and has several calligraphy/paper supplies. It's still on my bucket list to go!