Wedding Invitations: Envelope Etiquette

Sep 14, 2014
kristaraschnippert

There are lots of things to remember when planning your wedding. From your Charlottesville wedding photographers to your caterer, you want everything to be perfect. But there are some very important tasks that are often put on the back burner when they should be sorted ASAP. For example, lots of people don’t think about their invitations until later on but if you don’t send your invitations, no one’s going to come! The same goes for transportation. So many couples leave this until the last moment. Particularly during wedding season, companies like Dream Limousines, Inc get booked up very quickly so it is advisable to start considering transport as soon as you have decided on a date and venue to ensure that you don’t miss out!

Rules for wording wedding invitations are relaxing (and let’s face it, we’re not all about following the rules anyway). From wedding website builders to the never-ending inspiration on Pinterest, new technologies are making wedding planning easier than ever, you can also look over at this wedding planning checklist too. But they can also make things a little more complicated.

Like, should you include “Mr. & Mrs.?”

Is it ever OK to send out thank you emails?

How do you write an address for a couple that lives together, but isn’t married? Or for that matter, same-sex couples?

At Kristara Calligraphy, we don’t think there is a “right” or a “wrong” way to do things. At the end of the day, we think your guests will be thrilled just to share your special day.

However, we’re all about loose guidelines, so here are some best practices for invitation addressing:

When in doubt, spell it out.
In general, use full names (no nicknames or initials) and don’t abbreviate the address. That means use “Street” instead of “St.” and spell out the full state if you aren’t feeling particularly lazy.

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
123 Example Street
Houston, Texas 77007

Use titles (most of the time).
If one of your guests spent years of their life to become a doctor, you’d better believe they want that title on their envelope (and make it prominent). But if your wedding is super casual, you can leave off the titles just write out their names. It’s really all a matter of personal preference.

Dr. Jane Smith and Mr. John Smith
123 Example Street
Houston, Texas 77007

Jane and John Smith
123 Example Street
Houston, Texas 77007

Alphabetical order is your friend.
If you’re not sure what order something should go in, just put it in alphabetical order to be safe (or put whoever you’re closest to first). This is more of a personal preference.

Mr. Bob Jones and Mr. John Smith
123 Example Street
Houston, Texas 77007

Stick with snail mail.
Yes, emails are super easy and convenient. But in this case, that’s not a good thing. Your guests will appreciate the extra effort you went through to add a personal touch to your save the dates and thank you cards.

We know putting your guest list together can be like herding cats, but we hope this helps!

XO,

Kristara