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Berry,

First, with the exception of font bundles or premiums offered by legitimate foundries or software developers, "free" fonts generally fall into two categories:
1. illegal (pirated) knockoffs of legitimate fonts which may or (more likely) may not look or behave like the real thing (poorly drawn letterforms, unreliable output, inconsistent spacing, etc.);
2. fonts created by amateurs or novice designers or typographers, generally with the same problems as above.

Aside from legal issues, my concern is appearance and performance issues of the fonts I use. There's nothing like spending time designing a piece and finding that the font cannot be set properly or it won't output properly. And who are you going to call?

So, no, I will not recommend "free" fonts.

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Fonts from legitimate, established foundries are cheap software (often around $25 or less per font). If this project is for a paying client, it is accepted practice to bill the client for purchasing font licenses (and even include a markup for your time or for advancing the money).

My list of favorite scripts are meaningless as you don't just choose a font that way. You need to determine which fonts are appropriate for the job, whether designing an ad, a book, a bumper sticker, a restaurant menu...or a wedding invitation. So, as for particular scripts, what are you looking for? Traditional scripts with swashes and flourishes, mimicking classic hand calligraphy? A modern script? A casual script? What is appropriate for the wedding and the couple being married? Are they conservative? Is it a formal wedding and reception? A big affair? A casual wedding by a JP? What kind of paper are the invitations going to be printed on? What colors? Is it a formal invitation layout? How much copy is going on the invitation? How large is the type to be? Etc., etc.

In short, we need enough information to choose intelligently.

There are many scripts out there which could be appropriate. Go to the Adobe type library or to an independent vendor such as www.myfonts.com and do a search on "scripts" and you'll see what I mean. As you can see, there are many questions you have to answer before we can suggest an appropriate font.

Please think about this and get back to us.

Thanks.

Neil

Great response Neil,

It's for my brother and I'm not charging him. It's a simple design couple sitting on large rocks in a stream with the water flowing.
Size is 5.5 x 5.5 printed by me on Neutral Mat watercolor paper 300gsm.

The copy is on the far right side of the image aligned center with a slightly darkened screen with white type. 56 words, 13 lines-double spaced.

Very small formal wedding.

I would never use illegal fonts and have looked at the scripts fonts with "Traditional scripts with swashes and flourishes" similar to the "Shelley Allegro" fonts.

Thanks,

Berry

Berry, 

      I would never use illegal fonts




You understand, of course, that this is a sensitive subject in this Adobe-built forum.

You might also look at Bickham Script (which has decorative swash initials, alternate characters and flourishes), more traditional Palace Script, or even Zapfino for something completely different and beautiful.

But, be careful with scripts. They're fairly delicate and don't stand up too well to textured stock or reversing out of a background. And they are not terribly readable in small sizes -- which, if the size is just 5"x5" could be an issue (actually, this is quite small for an invitation), as a lot of line spacing has to be used to allow for the long ascenders and descenders. Scripts also demand a lot of air around them, including the margins -- confine them and they can look terrible.

Also, a square envelope or mailer is not a favorite for the post office, and, combined with its small size, may not be mailable or at the least, it would be subject to a mailing surcharge. Check before you print and mail these.

Neil

Neil,

Thanks for your advise.

Berry

Barry Wrote:

     Neil,
       Thanks for your advise.
      Berry

Ordinarily, it's considered to be really bad form to comment in forums 
on things like typographical errors, misspelling, and erroneous usage. 
  But in this case, since you're doing wedding invitations, I'd 
suggest that you check your copy with an uninvolved proofreader before 
going to press.

(What triggered my comment was your use of "advise" instead of "advice")

- Herb

Herb,

You're right about careful proofreading. It can happen to anyone -- sometimes copy can look correct no matter how many times you review it and fresh eyes will hopefully catch stuff that we don't. (And without any intention of embarrassing you,) take a look at how you spelled Berry's name. I often go back into my own posts and correct spelling or grammar, etc., sometimes days after I've originally posted them.

I've found that the most efficient way of proofreading is to read out loud to someone else who follows along with the approved manuscript. And I include capitalization and punctuation. So for instance, I'd be reading my first sentences as: "Capital Y You apostrophe re right on this period space Capital I It can happen to anyone em dash..."

But even after proofreading and submitting a PDF for client approval, I make them proofread and sign off (literally -- signature and date, or email) and return the proof.

Some years ago, I did a full-page, nationally-run product ad with a typo in the model number. It had been proofread by me and by the client, and signed off. No one caught it until the ad had run for about 6 months.

Neil