Calligraphy fonts imitate the pointed pen: thin upstrokes, shaded downstrokes, and flourishes that extend well beyond the letter. Pinyon Script and Monsieur La Doulaise follow the Copperplate tradition; Herr Von Muellerhoff leans Spencerian; Ballet, Bonheur Royale and Lavishly Yours are the modern-calligraphy style seen on wedding signage. The style pages on Copperplate and Spencerian explain the letterforms these fonts imitate.
Give them room
These are display faces, at their best in a few words at large size. A word set in Herr Von Muellerhoff needs padding on every side or the swashes are clipped, and a paragraph in any of them is unreadable. Use them for a name, a heading or a single line, at a size where the thick and thin strokes are visibly different, and pair them with a plain face for everything else. Preview capitals first: a calligraphic Q or G can be unrecognisable to readers who have not seen the pointed-pen form before.