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I don't think I will be hiring a calligrapher, just not our style. I don't think there should be a rule on this one. I plan on creating fun labels that match our paper and invitation suite and envelope liners. We're having a much more modern wedding with very little traditional elements. It would not seem fitting for us to use a calligrapher.
Completely your call, as it is your wedding. I think you'll get flack or feedback either way. Just remember at the end of the day, are you happy with it? If someone gives you a hard time, tell them they can use a calligrapher for their wedding.
I printed out addresses onto clear adhesive address labels and stuck them on the envelopes. No one has said anything about it, and frankly, I wouldn't care much if they did. Life is short--spend money on things that matter! I don't think people really notice the envelope anyway--the interesting stuff is all inside.
I am addressing ours but I know calligraphy and have decent handwriting. But I'm also a perfectionist and would love to have Jenna Hein do them! Haha. There are people on etsy? Also, your calligrapher doesn't have to live near you. You can send your envelopes anywhere. Did you budget for a calligrapher? Do you have any wiggle room? I know people say that they don't notice the envelope, but I do. Call me weird.
We ran the envelopes straight through my dad's color laser printer. We opted to use the same font as on the invites, rather than pretending that they were faux-ligraphed. I think they came out beautiful. (Obviously, or I would have chosen something else. Still, they were nice.)
I think we are just going to run our through our printer. If I had better handwriting, I'd write them all out myself. But they will look much better if I don't!
I used a calligrapher I found on craigslist. I mailed her my envelopes and within 2 weeks I had them back (she even paid to send them back to me). She only charged $1 an envelope and they looked amazing. If you are interested I can send you a picture of her work and her contact info – just PM me.
I printed onto labels. Everybody actually complimented our invites, and said they were beautiful and unique. :)
I printed straight on to the envelopes. I have bad handwriting and couldn't bring myself to write on them. I haven't heard a complaint.
I printed directly on the envelope. I had thought about doing clear labels but figured this was a good compromise between the labels and handwriting. I used the same fonts we used on everything. I actually had someone ask about them while I was at the post office dropping them off. She said they were beautiful and you couldnt tell they were printed. I think this rule is a little silly, most people won't notice and EVERYONE will throw it away!
The envelope is the first thing that gets tossed. So I hand-addressed them all. I didn't feel the need for the extra cost of calligraphy, when that money could easily go towards another wedding budget item.
My FI and I hand-addressed ours -- we bought periwinkle blue gel pens to match our colors, and neatly wrote out the addresses on the envelopes. Neither of us is a calligrapher, but we thought the color gave it some pizzaz. Could you do something similar, use ink in your colors instead of paying a calligrapher?
We didn't have the money in the budget for calligraphy, even though I love the look. My mom insisted we hand-address the invitations (which I was okay with), so I wrote them myself. I used my nicest handwriting, which, as a teacher, is pretty nice looking. :)
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I figured that people would throw away the envelope anyway, I used a nice thick pen and hand-addressed them. My handwriting is nice but there was certainly nothing elegant about the addresses. I will also be handwriting the names on the seating cards for the reception (and making those cards to match the invitations) If I had a totally unlimited budget I would hire a calligrapher, but that was one of the first things we decided we didn't need.
I printed mine on my home printer. They came out fabulous and everyone actually thought I had hand written them. You can see them here
Like you, I tried Jenn's writing over trick, but it was sooooooo not working for me.
I did Faux Calligraphy and people have been RAVING. I have friends getting married asking me for the name of my calligrapher. Only thing I did differently was I printed it in black ink on the enveleope, used a large, bold font (Chopin Script from DaFont.com) and traced over it with a fine tip felt pen (I think its called an Expresso pen) You can tell it is real ink but looks so real. I used I think a size 36 for the first letter of every word that is capitalized, a size 28 for the rest of those words, and size 38 for all numbers. I also put spaces between all numbers (for example, if it was 111 weddingbee way, I typed it as 1 1 1 W(size 48)eddingbee(size32 - etc and 5 spaces between each number in the zip code to space it out) I tried the calligraphy pen - not good. ALSO TO NOTE-its easier to do on envelopes and thincker cardstock than it is on regular paper., It absorbs the ink better or something. I also added a few flourishes, extra curls, etc, to make it more hand-made looking.
my handwriting isnt that great and I am not artistic - just basic tracing skills! My font was large enough and my pen tip fine enough where I didnt need to get the hang of the calligraphy pen. PM me if you want a photo!
and i have to be honest - I received a friend wedding invite that was ran through a laser printer...it looked gorgeous. I think we're past the stage where people turn their noses up at machine addressed invites, mailing labels, even e-vites! Go for the printing if you want 
I'm working on mine now and will be printing on clear lables. I don't have the time or patience to write them all out.
I hired a calligrapher. She did absolutely gorgeous work that looks like three or more dollars an envelope, and only charged a dollar an envelope (actually less because I had so many). She was very very fast and I didn't have to worry about anything. It was one of the best decisions I made. All I had to do was put them invitations in, stick a stamp on, seal them, and put them in the mail. I mailed them out two days ago and about ten people have already called. Also, she kept a few extra envelopes for the inevitable mistakes I made on the guest list. All I had to do was e-mail her the errors and she had them in the mail the next day. Her name is Renee Polcher and her e-mail address is <span class="gI"><span class="go">polcher@bctelco.net
Goodluck!
Based on the many glowing remarks on this site, I went with Michele Clark. I originally saw the post by Mrs. Onion. Michele was really responsive, easy to work with...and her final product is so pretty! Most importantly, her prices were very reasonable both for envelopes and escort cards!
I lived in another state (Michele is in NY) so I shipped my envelopes and got them back in perfect condition. Michele did not charge extra for special inks which sealed the deal for me (my envelopes are Stardream Sapphire and I had them done in white ink).
From my understanding, she books up pretty fast due to great word of mouth. Please check out her blog if you are interested! My envelopes are highlighted in her June 16th posting!
I did mine by hand; not perfect, but hardly the end of the world. I think for the anount of time someone looks at them, it's not a critical issue for me. That said, I have spent hours gluing tiny flowers on the envelopes b/c the plain white wasn't working for me.
I tried doing the calligraphy thing, but it never turned out looking natural. I then started printing on clear labels but coudln't decide on the right font. In the end I went with my own cursive handwriting with a little twist here and there. You can see a picture here: http://gallery.weddingbee.com/photo/envelope-final I did the step alignment so that I didn't have to center it exactly. I got great comments on it from everyone.
I'm doing my own calligraphy. I'm excited to start practicing on the savethedates this weekend!
@ hmn09 - I used Renee Polcher too and her work was amazing. I have received so many compliments about my envelopes. For everyone else I try to attach a picture of her work - it is so worth the $1 an envelope.
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my mother was gracious enough to hand write all of the 250 envelopes for me!
I haven't done them yet. I am going to handwrite them, but I'm not sure if I'll just use my regular handwriting, or try to do the faux calligraphy. I guess it depends on how much time I have to work on them!
I'm thinking on writting them myself or even better ask my FMIL to do it. Goshh i love her handwritting. and I'm not too much into printing the names (I got to save)
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I was hopeful about hand addressing the invites after I saw the post about "faux calligraphy" and I tried a couple of the methods mentioned. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get a natural looking sample (that doesn't look as thought I have traced it). I even had a glass of wine to see if that would take the edge off (ha, it didn't).
Anyway, what did you brides to be do with your invites? Did everyone either hand address or hire a calligrapher? Are there any brides out there that printed the addresses onto the envelopes? Did you get any flack for that decision?
I am not ready to give up the dream yet on beautiful, hand addressed invites. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!