Etiquette for addressing wedding envelopes

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"It gives me enormous pleasure and pride to be here today, although I am slightly unprepared for this heat; when Paul told me the wedding was to be held in his ..."

As anyone planning a wedding and searching invitations will notice, the style of wedding invitation reaches far and wide. Invitations have moved well beyond the typical white background, off-white border and raised font on the front of the card without anything on the inside of the card. Modern invitations include bright, bold colors, unexpected shapes, flaps and individually deigned artwork. Yet, while the physical style of invitations has changed, the basics of etiquette for addressing them remains.

1. Outer and Inner Envelopes

   • Formal invitations sometimes arrive in a larger, outer envelope. This idea remains a tradition from the days when invitations were hand delivered by a footman to the address on the outer envelope. Once delivered to the house, the guests would receive the inner invitation with their names on it. The outer envelope includes the address with the full name and title of invitees. The return address is written on the back flap of the envelope, and stamps go in the standard upper right-hand corner. This return address should be the address of who is hosting the wedding.

     Writing the address on a wedding invitation is more standardized than addressing a letter to a pen-pal. Guests should be addressed by their full name and titles such as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, Dr., and Jr. However, professional titles such as PhD or MD are not included. The address should be spelled out in full, not abbreviated. Even "P.O. Box" is spelled out as "Post Office Box." The same goes for Street, Avenue, Boulevard and others. The zip code is written on its own line.

     The inside envelope, being the more personal of the envelopes, requires only the guests' names (titles and surnames). Here, children can be listed if invited as can the name of a guest of an invitee. For example, if a cousin is bringing his girlfriend, the girlfriend's name should be written on the envelope, because it is more personal than writing "and Guest."

     For example, the outer envelope would read:
     

     Mr. John Smith
     

     123 Fifth Avenue
     

     Anywhere, New York
     

     10012

     The inner envelope would read:
     

     Mr. John Smith and Alice Jones.

   Notes

   • The invitation wording is often written in calligraphy with the lines centered or staggered, depending on the length of the text in the four lines. Although there seem to be rigid rules in addressing wedding invitations, the most important point is to address all guests with respect and accuracy, whether using the traditional outer/inner envelopes or not. There is not a law about abbreviations, just traditions and recommended style.

Source: www.ehow.com

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