Two Alexandria Businesses Featured on Season 7 of Hit Netflix Show “Love is Blind”

ALEXANDRIA, VA-Two independently-owned Alexandria businesses – Del Ray-based calligraphy studio Meant To Be Calligraphy and Old Town paper goods shop Penny Post – are featured this week in the latest episodes of the hit Netflix reality dating show “Love is Blind.”

The series, which is in its seventh season, follows a diverse group of young professionals as they try to find love *before* first sight, getting to know one another by chatting in windowless “pods” and seeing if marriage-level attraction and connection can be forged before ever meeting face-to-face. If they believe they’ve found their match, engagements ensue and weddings follow quickly thereafter.

This season all of the participants live in the Washington, DC area, and when several couples emerged from the pods engaged to be married, they jumped right into wedding planning. To prepare to tie the knot, one of this season’s fan-favorite couples, Taylor Krause and Garrett Josemans, took a private calligraphy class from Michele Hatty Fritz of Meant To Be Calligraphy (www.meanttobecalligraphy.com) at Old Town, Alexandria’s charming paper goods store, Penny Post (www.shoppennypost.com).

Both local businesses were thrilled to be singled out (no pun intended) and included in the filming of the show. “It was exciting to get the call from Kinetic Content, the production company behind the show, asking if I would be interested in teaching a private workshop for Taylor and Garrett,” says Hatty Fritz, who has been offering calligraphy and brush lettering classes locally since 2011. “I love teaching and I was honored that they thought of me for this opportunity.”

Although she has taught her classes at several wonderful venues in DC, Baltimore, Charlottesville, Middleburg, Falls Church, Fairfax and more over the years, Hatty Fritz knew immediately that the perfect spot for this very special edition of her workshop would be Penny Post in Old Town. So she pulled shop owner Amy Rutherford into the conversation and within days a plan was set.

Says Rutherford, “We are so thankful to Michele for choosing us! This was an amazing experience and we are so excited for Penny Post’s and Michele’s international debut.”

On the day of the workshop, Penny Post closed to outside customers and the film crew from Kinetic Content rolled in. Penny Post’s visual designer Doug Mueller helped set up the store for its close up, and Hatty Fritz readied to meet the newly-engaged couple.

“I’ve taught these classes so often that I wasn’t nervous at all about the teaching part of the day. I was, however, a little nervous about being on camera. But the crew was lovely and Taylor and Garrett were great students!,” says Hatty Fritz.

And love was definitely in the air. Notes Hatty Fritz, “As the class unfolded, it was obvious to me that they were both totally smitten with each other and really well matched. In between teaching them how to create beautiful lettering, we talked about their upcoming wedding and they shared with me several love letters that Taylor’s grandfather had written to her grandmother decades earlier.”

As the workshop concluded, the duo took advantage of having Penny Post all to themselves and shopped around, with Garrett finding – what else – the perfect pen for writing future love letters to his bride-to-be.

To see more of Penny Post and Meant To Be Calligraphy on Love is Blind, tune into Season 7, Episode 10, which was released on Netflix today, Wednesday, October 16, 2024.

Plus, for those who are interested in learning calligraphy, Penny Post will be hosting Meant To Be Calligraphy’s popular workshops in the New Year! Registration is now open for both Intro to Modern Pointed Pen Calligraphy and Intro to Modern Brush Lettering workshops. Visit meanttobecalligraphy.com/learn to secure a spot in an upcoming class.

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