Debi Zeinert has been a wedding calligrapher for the past 25 years. She specializes in Copperplate and other pointed pen styles that pair beautifully with letterpress printing. "I've loved letters forever,” Debi says. "When I was a little girl I used to trace the 'M's on cards from my grandma over and over again because I thought they were so pretty." Debi is also the mother of two college-aged daughters, the wife of Bob, the best friend of Ellie the Sheltie, and the founder of the ever-popular Blooming Quill Calligraphy.
Q&A with Debi Zeinert
What inspires your designs? The old 19th calligraphy masters. My daughters. My mother. And Christmas. I'm a Christmas nut (I put up 7 full size Christmas trees each year!).
Where do you design? I have a studio that I built on my house. It's a 300 square foot edition with big picture windows on two sides, a patio door on the third side, and two French doors on the last side leading into back into the house. It's all windows, with a vaulted ceiling and a beautiful tile floor, and a little Franklin gas stove in the corner. The walls are painted to look like leather. Everything is vintage looking. The word contemporary is not in my vocabulary.
What are your favorite colors of the moment? Light sapphire and amethyst.
What's the most existing thing that you've done? The most exciting thing I've done was the first time I designed a wedding invitation. It was for a bride in New York City. I used a traditional Copperplate style—this was back in the days when Copperplate was all I did. We printed the invitation on Arturo paper, and I drew beautiful pink roses on it—it amazed even me.
Describe your wedding. Everything at my second wedding was pretty much either done by me or by someone I knew. I made the bridesmaid dresses—my daughters were my bridesmaids, along with my best friend from high school. Of course I made my invitations and my programs. We had our reception at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The wedding was really centered around our families.
What's your favorite travel destination? New York City—I love the culture in New York, and I love the mix of people, and I love that you can find anything and everything.
What were the colors of your childhood? Purples and blues.
What's on or in your nightstand? My teddy bear from when I was born and some other little stuffed animals I grew up with. A telephone. An alarm clock. And a bottle of Excedrin.
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