Addressing Wedding Invitations

Proper Etiquette and Tips on Addressing Wedding Invitations

Before you begin addressing wedding invitations, make sure that you have a well organized guest list, complete with full names and addresses. Your invitations should be addressed in dark ink. You might want to call a friend with nice handwriting or even hire a calligrapher to do the addressing.

However, with addressing wedding invitations, it is becoming more acceptable to have the addresses printed on your computer. I wouldn’t recommend printing address labels as these tend to look cheap. However I would recommend printing the addresses straight onto the envelope. You can address wedding invitations using your home computer and printer and buying printable wedding invitations.

Consider these tips of wedding invitation etiquette when addressing your wedding invitations:

Your invitations and accessories set the tone and style for your wedding. It is the first indication guests will have of your event, so make it special. Making your own wedding invitations is one of the best cheap wedding ideas I know. You can save hundreds of dollars printing them yourself. Cheap wedding invitations can make a very impressionable statement. You don't have to spend a fortune to make it look like you did!

Invitations should go along with the formality and style of your event: formal, semi-formal or casual.

The return address may be written, printed or embossed on the flap of the outer envelope. Your return address should be included on the outer envelope so the invitation can be returned to you if the address is incorrect, or if the invitation is not deliverable for some reason.

Traditionally, two envelopes are used when addressing wedding invitations, but today that is not always the case. If you choose to use two envelopes, use the last names only with no address on the inner envelope.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

The guest's full name is always used on the outer envelope followed by the street address.

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
900 East Main Street
Birmingham, Alabama 12345

Avoided using "and family" when addressing wedding invitations. If you are including younger children, they should be included by first name, according to age, on the line following that of their parents on the inner envelope only. The outer envelope would be addressed to the parents. If you don't want children at your wedding, omit their names from the inner and outer envelopes. Guests over the age of 18 get their own invitation.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Jonas, Beverly, Bethany

Never write "No Children" on the invitation or envelope. If you do not want children to attend, the situation should be handled verbally.

Nicknames and abbreviations should be avoided when possible. Do not abbreviate titles. Do not address Professor as Prof. or The Honorable as The Hon. The obvious exceptions are Mr. Mrs. Jr. Sr. You may use an initial if you do not know the full name, or if the person never uses his given name. In addressing clergymen, military officers and medical doctors, always use their titles in full. The person with the occupational title is listed first, regardless of sex (Doctor, Judge, military, etc.)

Reverend and Mrs. John Smith
Doctor and Mrs. John Smith
Colonel and Mrs. John Smith

Do not abbreviate addresses. In other words do not substitute St. for Street or Ave. for Avenue. Cities, states, and numbered streets are written out in full. Remember to include zip codes. For zip code help go to - USPS.com

Two unmarried people who reside at the same address may be sent a single invitation. Their names would appear on separate lines with the person you know best on the first line, regardless of sex.

Miss (Ms.) Jane Jones
Mr. John Smith

This same format may also be used when inviting a married couple, if the wife has kept her maiden name or uses a professional title.

Divorced women are formally addressed by their maiden name plus their married name.

Mrs. Jones Smith

However, contemporary etiquette does allow for the use of the woman's first name.

Ms. Jane Smith

A widowed woman is always addressed using her husband's first and last names.

Mrs. John Smith

You don't have to send an invitation to your wedding party but it's a nice memento.

When a guest is invited whose name is unknown, it is proper etiquette to only address the outer envelope to your friend "Miss Jones" and address the inner envelope to your friend and her guest "Miss Jones and Guest". If the inner envelope is addressed to only "Miss Jones", it should be clear to your friend that she should not bring a guest. For your close friends and family, it is entirely acceptable to address the inner envelope in informal or familial terms. This is a great way to add a personal touch when addressing wedding invitations.

In your initial planning, be sure to include all the additional items you will need for your mailing such as wedding announcements, reception cards, response cards, rehearsal dinner cards, thank-you cards, table/place cards, wedding programs, outer mailing envelopes, stationery, and menu cards. All items mailed with the invitation should be printed on cardstock/paper of the same quality as the invitation and printed in the same style. If you print all of your stationary items at the same time, you will give a consistent look and style to your event.

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