Helpful Hints for Addressing Your Wedding Invitations

Addressing Etiquette and Tips

1. Creating the wedding guest list is the first step in getting organized. The guest list should contain full names, addresses and zip codes. You will find you can use this list not only for addressing your wedding invitations but for sending Save the Date Cards, Wedding Announcements and Thank You Cards as well.

2. Experience tells us that some guest may forget to put their names on the response card that they send back to you. Why not assign a secret number to each of your guests from the beginning. Then lightly in pencil or an invisible ink pen, write it on the back of your response cards. If your guests forget to write their name on the line, you now have created a way to find out who is responding.

3. Your invitation envelopes are traditionally addressed by hand, a calligrapher or perhaps from your home or office printer.

4. Traditionally, 2 envelopes are used for wedding invitations and/or announcements. The outer envelope has a glued flap and is used for the complete mailing address. The guest's full name is always used on the outer envelope with the street address:

Mr. and Mrs. William Smith
2 South Main Street
Bliss, NY 12839

Nicknames or abbreviations should be avoided when possible except for Mr., Mrs., Dr., Jr., etc. and for military rank. You may use an initial if you do not know the full name or if the person never uses their given name. Cities, states, and numbered streets are written out in full. Remember to include zip codes. You can visit the USPS.com website to obtain zip codes.

4B. The inner envelope, which may be plain or lined in a color to coordinate your ensemble, is without glue and remains unsealed. It is used to enclose the invitation or announcement and any accompanying cards. It also makes sure that your invitation itself is delivered in a clean envelope that does not show signs of handling and markings from the postal service

The inner envelope always carries the last names only with no address:
Mr. and Mrs. Sutton
Avoid the phase “and family” if possible. Younger children should be mentioned by first name, according to age, on the line following that of their parents:

Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Linda, John, Patti

These names should appear on the inner envelope only. The outer envelope would simply be addressed to the parents. You should avoid writing "No Children" on the invitation or envelope. This should be handled verbally, if you feel someone needs this clarified.

Dates of single guests should be sent a separate invitation or you may wish to enclose a personal note in the invitation of a single guest saying, "Please bring a guest of your choice" or "Please bring Miss Marie Jones".

Two unmarried people who reside at the same address may be sent a single invitation. Their names would appear on separate lines in alphabetic order:

Ms. Roberta Jones
Mr. Robert William

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

In addressing clergy, military officers and medical doctors, always use their titles in full:

The Right Reverend William Harbison
Colonel and Mrs. John Mann
Doctor and Mrs. Martin Jones
The Doctors Jones

The Postal Service recommends that you put your return address on the flaps of the outer invitation envelopes. These should be printed, written, or embossed on the flap of your outer envelope. This ensures that any wedding invitation envelope can be returned to you with an address that is in error or for any other reason.