"Maureen, As you can see, Mary Beth's wedding invitations are just beautiful! We are mailing them today. As they travel throughout the country, your work will touch so many lives. Well done!" -- Paulette Guion, Houston, Texas

"Dear Maureen, I can't believe that our first anniversary is rapidly approaching! ...In any case, I am so sorry I haven't contacted you about this sooner, but I did want to send you some things from our wedding (a CD of pictures as well as a few leftover printed items) so you can see all the various ways we used your calligraphy in our wedding. Really if we had any kind of theme, it would be your calligraphy – it was so beautiful, absolutely my favorite decorative element from our wedding! 

...Again, thank you so much from working with us! Your beautiful calligraphy really made our wedding so elegant and personal. I have various keepsakes such as our invitation and our ceremony program cover framed in our home, and I still get such joy out of seeing how beautiful they are. I can't get enough of your gorgeous artistry, and I look forward to any opportunity I might have in the future to work with you again! -- Best, Sara Hesselsweet, Beaumont, Texas

P.S. ...here is a general summary of the ways we used your calligraphy (I think I've remembered them all!).

• Monogram was printed on cocktail napkins (fairly inexpensive at www.foryourparty.com).  You can also have any artwork from a PDF file printed onto matchbooks, drink coasters, note cards, etc. at this website.

• I ordered a rubber stamp of the monogram you made (lots of websites do this from PDF artwork), and we stamped it on cardstock which we then formed into cones to hold rose petals for our guests to toss at our "getaway" (we have pictures of the cones, and I saved you a couple extras). I still have the stamp of our monogram, and I've used it for scrapbooking, wrapping paper, stationery, etc.

• We ordered a custom "gobo" which is a plate that fits onto a light fixture so that our monogram could be projected onto the dance floor (hopefully I can send you some of the wedding pictures so you can see how the gobo turned out -- it was amazing)

• My sister designed our wedding cake, and the central focus was on our monogram, which was reproduced by the pastry chef in icing

• For our guests' welcome bags (distributed at the hotels) we included scented votive candles in clear glass holders decorated with our monogram printed on a round ivory sticker (See pictures; I think we had extra of these too which my mother can bring you)

• Also in the guest bags, we had water bottles labeled with "DeWitz-Hesselsweet Wedding" and the date (all in your calligraphy).  It is expensive to buy custom-labeled bottles, but I ordered water bottle labels online (available at a number of adhesive label websites) which were waterproof and inexpensive. Then we peeled the labels off Aquafina bottles and stuck on our own labels.  They worked wonderfully and were fairly inexpensive.

• We had chocolate favors for our wedding guests, and they were wrapped with a tag with a note from Tim and me.  We "signed" it with our names in your calligraphy.

• For the ceremony, I made my own unity candle and also a memory candle for Tim's mother who had passed away. Since candles made for weddings tend to be quite expensive, I decorated plain pillar candles by wrapping them in cardstock that I printed with our monogram and wedding date.

• I used your calligraphy throughout our ceremony program and also on other printed elements such as our maps, dinner menu, and valet parking tickets for our guests. (Pretty much everything was monogrammed!)

• I had the maps designed by www.snappymap.com, but everything else I printed myself on our home printer. The calligraphy made it look so elegant and formal.

• Of course you know we had a sign on our "getaway car" that said "Just Married."

• We also had all the table names done in calligraphy and then put each in a frame on every table, in addition to escort cards and place cards.

• We had the "Your Best Wishes for Tim and Sara Hesselsweet" sign on our guest book table.

• We had our thank-you notes printed professionally on Crane Stationery: I have some that say "Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Blair Hesselsweet" and also some with our monogram.  I can get more printed whenever I need to, and we'll use this stationery forever!

I also used the numbers by each address to label the back of the reply cards lightly in pencil for those who respond with nicknames or handwriting I can't read. I can't tell you how easy you made the invitation experience. I will continue to recommend you to everyone and use you in the future for parties!" -- Shelley Toomey, Texas

I'm sure you haven't done calligraphy on preserved ivy leaves [as place cards] before, and may not again soon, but they were exquisite, as were the "share your wishes" card and monogram you designed for the newlyweds. I just can't imagine how we would have put together such an elegant event without your talent -- the fact that you were so patient and willing to experiment was just frosting on the (wedding) cake! 

Thank you for the many ways in which your talent contributed to this very special event in our lives. I can't wait to think of another project on which we can collaborate -- With great appreciation,  Ellen Kalish" -- Texas 

Gary and I want to thank you so much for your beautiful artistry for Denise and Josh's wedding. The Copperplate calligraphy on the invitations was breathtaking. It really set the stage for an outstanding wedding. Before the guests went to the outdoor ceremony, they were greeted with golden table cards with their names beautifully written... and the table numbers beautifully coordinated with the menus and programs. 

Thank you for your talent and for adding a special touch to a storybook wedding. I'll email you pictures so you can see how everything turned out. Thanks again. It was wonderful working with you. -- Fondly, Marsha”

Maureen addressed the envelopes for an event we had six months ago. It was a big Gala in Florida and most of the invitees were dignitaries. For anyone who has worked in event planning, especially events involving political leaders, you know it’s hard to get their attention with an invitation because they see so many every day. With Maureen’s efforts to make this a hit, she decided to spice things up a bit with the most exquisite envelopes you have ever seen. 

Now I know you are thinking how exquisite can an envelope with someone’s name and address be? Well hands down this was like nothing you have ever seen before! Some of the guests were employees of our company, and they asked that their invites not be sent through the mail so the stamp and postage would not ruin the “wow” of seeing their name so beautifully done. I still have mine in my top desk drawer and plan to use Maureen for all of my future needs. 

... All in all, we here at the Gulfstream Natural Gas System, L.L.C give Maureen 5 Thumbs Up!!!" -- marketing rep, Williams Natural Gas, Texas

One of our wedding guests, who received an invitation calligraphed by Maureen, was a congressman. When he saw the beautiful writing he told his wife that "it must be an invitation to the White House for a state dinner." Needless to say, he and his wife were impressed with the beauty and precision of the calligraphy!

Several of our wedding guests told us that the calligraphy was so fabulous on the invitation that they felt like framing it. Another wedding guest was so amazed with his name done so well in calligraphy that he wanted to have it reproduced on his business cards. " -- Karen Waters, Texas