Wedding Invitation Envelope Etiquette

[ambgoph]

Need some advice on addressing envelopes for our wedding. The wedding will be on a Friday evening at a very small country club (business casual attire).

Is it ok to print the addresses on the envelope with a printer? How about using clear labels? Or, should I just suck it up and handwrite all of them?

Thanks!

 

[JaneBanks]

I had them printed on the envelope by my invitation lady.

 

[Janepod]

How's your handwriting? Unless it's impeccable, I wouldn't hand write them.

We (and most people I know) hired calligraphers.

If your wedding is casual a printer is probably fine. But I suggest you not put "business casual" on the invitation!

 

[Meriweather]

IMO hand write them.....but I am old
I have never received a wedding invitation that had been printed on a computer.

 

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

I just did my wedding invitations with a printer and used a really pretty script font. I think they came out really beautiful. Most wedding invites that I have received have all been done on a printer. However, I would not do lables for a wedding invitation.

 

[ksjayhawks]

I would not use labels for the addresses.

I would either handwrite them--don't worry if your handwriting isn't perfect--or use the printer and select a font that looks similar to handwriting.

 

[bethy]

Handwriting them is the classiest and most personal - even if the handwriting isn't perfect.

If you are worried about proper etiquette I also wouldn't put "business casual" on the invitation. In fact perfect etiquette would indicate not to make any recommendations as to attire at all. People can figure out what to wear based on the venue and the style of the invite and the time of day. If they are still wondering they can contact the bride's family and just ask for more guidance.

Years ago I worked in a fancy stationery store while in college and we did wedding invites all the time.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I recommend hand writing them if you care about etiquette.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

This:

How's your handwriting? Unless it's impeccable, I wouldn't hand write them.

We (and most people I know) hired calligraphers.

If your wedding is casual a printer is probably fine. But I suggest you not put "business casual" on the invitation!

 

[englishteacha]

We hand wrote ours, 10 years ago. ("We" included me and my mom). DH addressed a couple of his family's invitations...he has rotten handwriting, but his aunt was pleased to see it! We printed the return address on the envelopes, though.

Over the past 10 years we've gotten invitations addressed in a variety of ways-printed on the envelope, hand written, and labels. No one has ever hired a calligrapher in our family! My niece has a small business making custom invitations and announcements. She uses some gorgeous fonts on the invitations. Her own wedding invitations had our address printed on the envelope, but the font looked so much like perfect handwriting I had to double check it!

 

[shortbun]

Lately, I've gotten a couple on printed labels. I almost threw them away thinking they were some fake business come on. I'd hand write them. Get your maid/matron of honor and bridesmaids to help you.

 

[sharonmickey]

Funny you should start this thread OP. DD and I are discussing this very question. She and her fiancee printed their own invitations. They came out great. Now for the envelopes. Very few people in our area can afford to hire a calligrapher. They are expensive. I finally figured out the right size of the envelope to print them with our printer. I'm afraid though that the printer will smudge the envelopes. Neither DD, her fiancee or I have neat handwriting so that is not an option. I bought clear labels today but she still hasn't decided if she will print the envelopes or use the labels. Most people I've talked to said the wedding invitations they have received recently all had clear labels.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Never have seen one with a label, all have been hand written or professionally printed.

 

[NYEmomma]

I prefer handwriting them (and lord, I know it sucks... we had 400 people at our wedding & I addressed every single one of them -- it was torture). I wouldn't know any calligraphers personally and IMO, it's just not an expense that *I* find worthwhile.

I know there's a TON of really pretty fonts on the computer but I've seen so much junk mail lately that's addressed using fancier fonts (I assume in an attempt to trick us into opening & reading it) that nicer fonts don't really mean anything "special" to me anymore in terms of mail.

 

[DaisyLynn]

We ordered our envelopes with the return address (my parents) printed on the back flap.

Myself and my bridesmaids got together and hand wrote the addresses of our invited guests. That part was important to me.

 

[minkydog]

We just got a wedding invitation today that not only had the return addressed rubber stamped on it (!) but apparently she is already using his name. It says "Gary & Mary Barry" but the actual invitation lists their names as Marilyn Wynn Flynn and Gary Larry Barry. I will give them props for not including a little slip of paper with their registries listed on it. Not that they need a registry--they've been living together for 3 years. She's going to be almost 9 months pregnant (with her 5th baby!) at the wedding and YES! she is wearing a poufy white dress! His mother and grandmother are completely scandalized (you have to understand, they live in a very rural part of a Deep South state, where things like that are Just Not Done.) Whatever. It's an outdoor wedding. I'll wear my sunglasses so no one will see me rolling my eyes.

Honestly, you can't make this stuff up

 

[clh2]

It wouldn't concern me at all to get a wedding invitation with a label on it. Not at all.

 

[bumbershoot]

We chose to write it all out by hand, and even though they weren't perfect we're happy we did it.

Lately, I've gotten a couple on printed labels. I almost threw them away thinking they were some fake business come on. I'd hand write them. Get your maid/matron of honor and bridesmaids to help you.

That's a good point. Going the opposite direction, I've received several fake business come-ons that did, indeed, look almost like wedding invitations. So I can see what you're saying!


I say, see if your fiance can help! DH can do a bit of calligraphy, so he did the outer envelopes and I did cursive on the inners. It was quite nice, actually, to do together.

 

[Janepod]

You could try Etsy or Craigslist and see if you can find a cheap calligrapher. Maybe someone from your local school art department?

 

[mvazul]

When my husband and I got married almost 12 years ago, I hand printed every envelope. I do have good handwriting, but I went out and bought a book on calligraphy. I practiced for quite awhile and then did every address in calligraphy. It was fun and we received a lot of compliments on how nice they looked.

I would definitely go with handwritten or a nice font directly on the envelopes over a label. Good luck!

Michelle