So you’ve decided to buy a personalized gift...congratulations! You’re definitely in the right place! You’re probably wondering how personalization works, the truth is, it works how you want it to. You can personalize our products with a Name, a Date, a Monogram, an Image, a Phrase or any combination thereof! Here at The Crystal Shoppe, the personalization possibilities are endless! The most popular form of personalization is Monogramming. There are a variety of ways to monogram gifts for people and we have some helpful tips on how to properly do so: When Monogramming a gift for a Woman or Girl the order should be her First Name Initial, Last Name Initial, and Middle Name Initial, with the last name initial being larger in the middle. For married women it is also acceptable to use her Maiden Name instead of Middle Name. For example if her name is Alison Diana Rodgers her monogram would appear as:

ARD

Modern monogramming for a man or boy can now be done in the same fashion as a female monogram with the order being First Name Initial, Last Name Initial, and Middle Name Initial with the last name initial being larger in the middle. So this time around John Alexander Smith might appear as:

If you are getting a gift for a wedding or married couple there are two ways to monogram, again we visit the Traditional vs. Modern styles. Traditionally for a couple the Bride’s Name will go first, followed by their Married Last Name, and then the Groom’s Name. So if the couple’s name is Caroline and William King then their monogram would appear as:

In today’s modern age, it is now more common to see the Groom’s Initial appear first, their Married Name, followed by the Bride’s Initial. Now William and Caroline King would be monogrammed as:

In the rare instance where you would like to give someone a monogrammed item but do not know their middle name, there are two solutions: You can just have the item monogrammed with a single initial for either their first or last name, or you can get a two-letter monogram, see samples of both below for the name Hannah Gerber:

Single Initial

Two-Letter Monogram

Font Selection

The number of fonts available to the modern-day personalization artist is virtually unlimited – and this embarrassment of riches can lead to unnecessary confusion, which is why we have selected at least three font choices for most of the gift items we sell on-line.

The Crystal Shoppe was established in the 1950’s on the basis of hand-cut engraving, an art we still pursue today and this choice of font remains extremely popular with many of our items, particularly the pitcher sets and barware offerings. Hand-cut implies a degree of artistic license and each item is an individual, one-of-a-kind work of art. The only selection criteria you are faced with if you choose Hand-cut as your font is to do with single initials, where we offer a variety of styles.

We also offer what we like to call Deep-Etch engraving. Deep-etch fonts are able to be sized using specialized computer software to the product, depending on its size and of course, your personal preference. The process however is a bit more complicated than that of our standard Hand-Cut option, as it involves several important factors. For example, the personalization you choose, or the 'artwork' needs to be sized to the item and printed on a film, where it is then applied to the glassware and then undergoes a special process we call Sand-Blasting. In this final step, we literally blast sand particles onto the product where the film has been applied; this leaves a beautiful etching featuring your personalization. Take the film off, give it a wash, and presto! You have your very own Deep-Etch item made with love from The Crystal Shoppe!

We hope that this information has been helpful to you! Please bear in mind while browsing our site, that certain font styles are only available on certain products. If there is a style you are interested in that you do not see featured on the item you want, or if you are contemplating having an image engraved, please Contact Us before placing an order. If you have any other questions about how to monogram or any creative ideas, we’d love to hear them!

Product turnaround is usually 4 to 5 days. This does NOT include shipping time.