Love is friendship caught fire.

Isn't that the sweetest beginning to a wedding reading? I love this poem, so it was a real pleasure to write a version in elegant but simple modern calligraphy. 

For this commission I was asked to make the calligraphy lettering modern and minimal, focusing on the shapes and swells of the letters without flourishing. 

It's a lovely challenge to write like this, as the lack of flourishes draws more attention to the rhythm of each word, and the letters really do have to be perfect. 

I've shared a photo of my work in progress, so anyone learning calligraphy who stumbles across this post can see how I rule gridlines for simple projects like this one. Measuring the spaces is everything!

Written with a Gillott 303 nib on Daler Rowney art paper with Kuretake Sumi calligraphy ink. 

If you're looking for modern wedding readings, this is a favourite which appears on Rock My Wedding, attributed to Laura Hendricks.

Love Is Friendship Caught Fire

Love is friendship caught fire; it is quiet, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection, and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, hopes for the future, and does not brood over the past. It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you do not have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough.

Wedding readings and poems in calligraphy can be as ornate or simple as you like. Browse the calligraphy galleries on my website for inspiration and ideas.

To ask me about your calligraphy commission, this is how to get in touch!