Wedding stationery has one typographic convention everybody recognises — the names in a flowing script, everything else in something quieter — and it works. What goes wrong is rarely the choice of script. It is the size the script is printed at, what it is paired with, and asking it to do jobs it was never drawn for.
The script is for names, not for directions
A formal script is at its best on a few words that matter: the couple’s names, perhaps a single line like “together with their families”. The date, the venue, the time and the reply details need to be read quickly by a guest standing at a fridge, and a script slows that down. Put the practical information in a serif or a sans and let the script have the moment it is good at.
Scripts worth considering
Alex Brush is the most readable of the formal scripts here — a steady slant, smooth joins and capitals that sweep without tangling. Great Vibes is more ornate, with larger loops. Pinyon Script has the crisp contrast of copperplate engraving. Mrs Saint Delafield looks like a confident signature and is the most dramatic of the four; it needs space and size.
The full set is on the calligraphy style page, and every script in the handwriting category can be previewed with your own names typed in.
The partner does most of the work
The second typeface carries more words than the script, so it deserves as much thought. A classical serif is the traditional choice: Cormorant Garamond is elegant and light, and DM Serif Display gives a bolder, more modern contrast. For a clean, contemporary card, a thin geometric sans set in spaced-out capitals is the other well-worn route. The general method is in our font pairing guide.
Three mistakes that ruin a good script
- All capitals. Script capitals are drawn to begin a word, with swashes that expect lowercase to follow. A row of them collides and becomes unreadable. Always set a script in upper and lowercase.
- Too small. Hairlines that look fine on a monitor can disappear in print, especially with foil or letterpress. Give a script at least twice the size of the body text, and ask the printer for a proof.
- Letter-spacing. A joining script is designed so each letter meets the next. Adding space breaks the joins and leaves gaps in every word.
Using them for printed stationery
Every font on this site can be used for printed invitations and for designs you sell, with no fee and no credit required. If you are sending files to a printer, embed the fonts in the PDF — the default in every current design program. The details of what the licence allows are in what the Open Font License lets you do.