Calligraphy: Which Pen to Choose?

This is my first major embarkment into DIY territory so I hope you've got your seatbelts fastened!  We ordered the STD magnets from vistaprint.com and they came in last week (Yay!!).  Now, I had already decided that I wasn't going to hire a calligrapher.  I think they charge WAY too much money, and honestly, if my wedding guests are anything like me, they're just going to throw the envelopes out.  So I decided to DIY.

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I took a trip to one my new favorite stores since I started wedding planning, Hobby Lobby.  There I purchased the following items:

1.  A fountain pen with different sized nibs and 4 different ink colors.  
2.  A Calligraphy book
3.  Some other random wedding things that have nothing to do with this post. :)

The book I bought has been immensely helpful and if you're looking to do some simple calligraphy, I would recommend it.  If you're looking for more detailed, elaborate calligraphy it's probably not the book for you. 

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They also sell it on amazon.com so you can read more reviews and maybe get it used.  It's called "First Steps Calligraphy" by Don Marsh. 

The pens I purchased were pretty basic pens.  From what I've read there's some pros and cons to the most common types of pens.  There are others such as the reed pens and quill pens but these are much more advanced and they're a little bit beyond my DIY capabilities.   

Dip Pens (This is overall the best quality, but also the most advanced)

Pros: 
There's a large variety of nibs available for this type of pen.
You aren't limited as far as ink goes.  There's a lot of different inks available for dip pens.

Cons: 
More difficult to learn.
More difficult to control than fountain pens or markers.

Fountain Pens
Pros:
You don't have to pause to reload the pen so it's easy to maintain the smoothness of calligraphy.
More portable than Dip Pens.

Cons:
Limited variety of ink types.
Limited nib sizes.

Markers
Pros:
Easy to use.
The most inexpensive option

Cons:
Inaccurate definition.
Very limited size and color range.
Limited use. 


After weighing the pros and cons, I decided on the fountain pen because it's less maintainence and much easier to learn and control. 

Next up, more DIY Calligraphy!