How to make your own Agate place cards

As soon as I started learning calligraphy and getting ideas about what to write on, I knew I just had to find out how to write on an agate slice. The colour is unreal and they make the best place settings without much effort at all.

This is a bit of a long process, but if you have time on your hands and want to get crafty then it is definitely do-able for even the most un-artistic. You don’t even need a ton of supplies – just a gel pen!  

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HUNT FOR AGATE

Firstly, you need to find some agate. So what you need to do is to get an pick axe and start digging in your back yard until you hit something solid… imagine! I would love an endless supply of pretty crystal to write on, but the best bet for most of us is looking for a supplier who sells wholesale agate slices. Make sure you order a sample first to make sure you’re happy with the quality, colour and that you like the look of your writing on it before buying a big batch - just remember to order polished agate slices so that they're smooth enough to write on. 

The Hollow Geode on Etsy ships worldwide from the US, and has a great selection of colours available. They don’t always have every colour in stock however so try and order as far as possible in advance of your wedding.

Those green agate slices though 😍

Obviously, they’re natural bits of crystal so they won’t all come the exact same size, or look the same, and the colour may vary a bit, but I think that’s what makes them that little bit more special. The best bit is that they can be unique keepsakes for your guests as well as place cards.

GET THE RIGHT PEN

So, this is probably controversial, but when I’m writing on Agate I use a gelly roll gel pen. It does sometimes need a bit of encouragement, I just think it works a bit better than my other multi purpose pens and it’s easier to get rid of if I make a mistake. It will wipe off when you first put it on, but then it stays put and you can only get rid of it by scratching it off once it dries. Plus, gel pens are so easy to get a hold of, although my uniball gel pens don’t seem to work as well as the gelly roll ones.

You might totally disagree, in which case, when you get your sample try a fine posca pen, a fine tip sharpie or, if you’re handy with a paint brush, some glass paint on it instead and see what works for you. Obviously for darker coloured agate you need a white, silver, gold or lighter colour pen, and then for lighter slices, vice versa.

FIND A FANCY FONT

Maybe you already have a style of font that you used for your invitations, or that you’re using for other décor. Ideally, you want to use a font in a calligraphy style, so one that has thick down strokes and thin upstrokes like this Prologue Script that I’m using. 

If you don’t already have a script in mind, check out my post here about where to find wedding fonts for free.

Once you have your font downloaded, make a list of all of your guests on a spreadsheet or word document and change them to that font.

 

THIS IS THE LONG PART

Now it’s just a case of copying across each name. It’s not going to be perfect, you just use the font as a guide for how the letters should look

Start with the initial shape of the letters and then add in the downstrokes. I’ve recorded a video of how to write on an Agate Slice here…

And then voila, place them on your wedding tables for your guests to enjoy.

If you don’t have time, you think this is a bit our of your depth or you want something more professional looking then try Etsy for your wedding table place cards. A lot of sellers use pointed dip pen and do some amazing work like Inky Letter, who ship worldwide. 

Let me know how you get on or if you have any further questions in the comments below!