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How To Mail Out Wedding Invitations

Choose And Order Wedding Invitations

How to Mail Wedding Invitations – avoid Post Office mistakes!

The second step of your wedding invitation timeline is choosing the actual invitations, which will set the tone for the whole wedding by giving guests a glimpse of your theme and color palette. Start researching wedding stationers and browsing invitation styles at least six months before your wedding. Leave plenty of time for yourself to choose a design and place your order, especially if youre creating a custom designyoull want to avoid rush fees and allow time to look over invitation samples and proofs. In addition to the invitation itself, your stationery suite should include:

Love the look of calligraphy? This is also the time to contact wedding calligraphers to help you with addressing envelopes if your wedding invitation designer doesnt offer that service. Since most wedding calligraphers work solo, their schedules can book up quickly, so we recommend reaching out to potential vendors sooner rather than later.

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When To Send Wedding Invitations With No Save

If you choose not to send save-the-dates, feel free to send your wedding invitations out a bit earlier than if you had. In the 8 to 16 week range, you may want to lean more towards 16 weeks before the wedding for invitations if you did not send guests a save- the-date. This way, guests have a little more warning and more time to plan.

What About Invitations For International Guests

If you’re inviting just a few overseas guests, send their invitations along with the ones for your other guests, but make a point to give them a heads-up. Give them a call or send them an email with the details, as well as information about booking hotel rooms, so they can start to arrange their travel with time to spare.

Does half of your family live abroad? You might want to consider bumping up the timeline for them and the rest of your guests. Start designing your invitations a few weeks early and plan to send them out a minimum of 12 weeks in advance.

Be sure to follow up promptly with anyone you haven’t heard from to make sure they have plenty of time to book their flights.

You will also want to have all of the information available on your wedding website as soon as save-the-dates are in the mail. Sure, it means you’ll have to start ironing out the hotel room block and transportation information sooner than you’d expected, but you’ll be happier in the long run. Those overseas guests will have all the information at their fingertips, and you’ll have even more crossed off of your to-do list.

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Use An Online Rsvp Service

Did you know its proper etiquette to add a stamp to all your RSVP card envelopes? Whoa that adds up quick! If you have 100 invitations to mail, youre spending $50 on respond card postage alone.

Instead of having guests mail back their respond card, use and online RSVP service through a wedding planning website like The Knot. But, you dont necessarily have to exclusively use an online RSVP service. You can also include a phone number or email address for people to reply to. The idea though is to eliminate the need for an RSVP card and that pesky postage stamp.

Ask The Post Office To Hand Cancel Your Stamps

5 Steps to Mailing Wedding Invitations

Instead of letting the post office run the invites through a machine-operated sorting system ask them to hand cancel your invitations. This means that theyll use a special ink stamp to mark your invitation and theyll sort it by hand, reducing the risk of the damage. While some post offices refuse to do this, most are flexible if you pop in during a slow time.

Ready to start shopping for gorgeous wedding invitations? Check out some of our favorite wedding invitations and order wedding invitation samples.

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Can You Mail Envelopes With A Wax Seal

Speaking of thickness, yes! You can actually mail wedding invitations with a wax seal no problem. You can also mail invitations with wax seals inside the envelopes. Youll want to keep two things in mind, though:

  • A wax seal does affect postage. There will be an additional surcharge . This is because the wax seal itself is not machinable. It adds a certain thickness that requires hand sorting.
  • Youll want to either make the wax seals on the envelopes directly, or use the permanent adhesive if using wax seal stickers.
  • Learn all about Wax Seals here, including how to make them!

    Take Advantage Of 2oz Wedding Stamps Theyll Save You Money & Theyre Pretty

    Wedding stamps are another great tool for keeping postage costs down. They were designed with bulkier wedding invitations in mind, and more importantly, theyre much prettier than the average stamp cakes & flowers over flags & bells so take advantage!

    One 71 cent* wedding stamp is good for up to 2 ounces . The USPS also offers a 1 ounce wedding stamp for 50 cents.*

    * Current USPS postage rates in February 2018

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    Pay Attention To Sealing Make Sure Everything Is Good & Stuck

    Before sending your invitations on their way, be sure everything is properly sealed and were not just talking stamps to envelopes, but the envelope itself too.

    The more enclosures you have inside your envelopes the closer attention you have to pay to sealing. Make sure the gum seal is secure all the way around, or your envelope may open in route.

    Do We Have To Invite Every Guest With A Date Or A Plus

    Wedding Invitations : When Do You Send out Wedding Invitations?

    No, you don’t have to. If a guest isn’t married or in a serious relationship, it’s perfectly acceptable to invite them solo. Most guests will understand that without “and Guest” or another name on the invitation,they aren’t invited with a plus-one. While it’s always nice to invite everyone with a guest, that can add up quickly . If a guest RSVPs for two, call them and explain you’re trying to be diligent about your guest list, unfortunately, you were not able to invite everyone with a guest. If you realize that nearly everyone will be coupled up, you might want to extend a plus-one invitation to your few single friends and family members.

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    Outer And Inner Envelopes

    Sending out an invitation in two envelopes ensures that each guest will receive a pristine envelope, even if the outer one has been torn or soiled in the mail. Still, the two are not necessary you may omit the inner envelope if you wish. The outer envelope includes all of the information the postal service needs for delivery. The inner envelope should have the names of the invited guests in the household .

    When To Send Save

    A save-the-date is different from a proper wedding invitation. They typically stand as a placeholder for the real invitation to ensure that guests know to clear their schedules on that day, or avoid committing to any other events.

    Save-the-dates are sent out before wedding invitations, and the general rule of thumb is to send them between 6 and 12 months before the wedding. If your engagement is on the longer side, its common to send the save-the-date 12 months out.

    In light of COVID-19, couples across the globe have had to reschedule their weddings. Right now, many brides and grooms are grappling with rescheduling venues, vendors, and alerting their guests.

    If you are scheduling your wedding in the aftermath of the global pandemic, it may be wise to send out your save-the-dates slightly earlier. With so many couples rescheduling at once, dates are being scooped up quickly, and it may be necessary to let loved ones know your date earlier so that they can save it and avoid missing your special day.

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    Rsvp Card Postage Stamps

    One thing some couples forget is the RSVP postage! You want to provide a stamp on your RSVP envelopes, so that your guests dont have to find or go buy a stamp themselves. Plus, you can curate a pretty one that corresponds with your suite beautifully!

    We will attach RSVP card postage for our clients free of charge, but do require that they order and send it to us.

    Set Your Rsvp Deadline

    How To Mail Out Wedding Invitations

    When you send out the RSVP cards with your invitation suite, be sure to provide a specific reply by date for your guests. The RSVP date should be two or three weeks before your wedding day. This will leave enough time for you to give your wedding vendors a final headcount , follow up with guests who didnt respond, and create your wedding reception seating chart once you know who will be attending.

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    Be Clear Whether Children Are Invited Or Not

    Similar to the wedding registry, you will want to avoid including any cluttered information on the wedding invitation. Let your guests know if children are invited or not by addressing them in the invitation. Addressing only the parents full names on the invitation implies that children are not invited and that the wedding is an âadults-onlyâ event.

    If, for any reason, your guests reply with their childrenâs names included, simply get in touch with them and let them know that it will be an adults-only event. The sooner you get in touch with your guests, the sooner they can make proper arrangements on their end.

    Square Invitations Require More Postage

    Due to the abnormal shape, square envelopes require more postage to mail. While this isnt a huge monetary difference you can easily cut a couple of extra dollars by opting for a regular ol rectangular envelope. If youre looking for other ways to save on your invitations, opt for an RSVP postcard rather than a traditional mail-in response card, as the cost of a postcard stamp is less than a normal stamp.

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    I Invited My Friend And Their So To The Wedding But They Recently Broke Up Now They Want To Bring A Friend I Don’t Likecan I Tell Them No

    If you worded the invitation by having their partner’s name on the envelope , you have every right to say no. As a rule, invitations are nontransferable when people are invited by name. Explain that you’re not friendly with their proposed guest and you’d prefer the wedding be limited to close friends and family. If you invited all of your single friends sans dates, let them know they won’t be the only one coming solo .

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    What If My Invitations Get Lost In The Mail

    How To Send Wedding Invitation To A Judge

    Generally, you dont need to worry about large amounts of invitations being lost in the mail. Sure, one or two invitations might go missing, but letters and other mailed items dont get lost nearly as much as people assume or assert. While mail sent with the US Postal Service may take anywhere from one to two weeks for delivery, more often than not, mail does eventually arrive safely.

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    How Early Is Too Early For Wedding Invitations In 2021

    And last, but by no means least, whats happening in the world? As we slowly emerge from lockdowns and the restrictions associated with the Coronavirus pandemic its becoming clear that the next year or two are going to be extremely busy ones for weddings. After all, there are nearly 18 months worth of celebrations to catch up on! Im advising all the couples I talk to at the moment to factor this in when and consider sending their invitations a little earlier.

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    When To Send Wedding Invites

    Finding the right time to send out wedding invitations can be a difficult balancing act. The general rule of thumb is to send invitations 8 to 12 weeks before the date . You can set a date on the card for guests to RSVP by so that you can get a headcount, but prepare for some guests to fail to meet that deadline. If youre concerned that you need more time, send out your invitations 16 weeks before the wedding at the earliest.

    Wedding invitations and RSVPs are important for a number of reasons. Not only do you want your closest guests to make it to the wedding, you also need a guest count to tell the venue for tables, chairs, and seating arrangements, and to tell caterers and other vendors so that you have the right amount of food, drinks, and so on.

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    How To Mail Your Invitations

    We recommend hand-cancelling wedding invitations, especially the 1 mm thick acrylic invitations. It does cost extra but it will make the invitations non-machinable so they will not get sent through the USPS processing machines .Hand-cancelling basically means the postage is rubber stamped to cancel them so they cant be used again. When you consider a 20 cent up-charge or having to re-do your acrylic invitations, the extra small charge is definitely worth it.

    The thickness of acrylic invitations

    And, if you indeed love our acrylic cards but worry mailing, you can order one sample on our website to check the quality.

    Don’t Forget Your Return Address

    5 Steps to Mailing Wedding Invitations

    While you’ll of course have each guest address on the wedding-invitation envelope, you’ll also want to ensure that you don’t forget to put your return address on the invitation! You’ve likely only ordered so many wedding invitations just like your save the dates and the last thing you want is to not only have a guest not receive their invitation but also not have the invitations returned to you, so you can send them out with the proper wedding postage or guest address.

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    How To Address Guests On Wedding Invitation Envelopes

    Consider this your etiquette cheat sheet, so you can mail the good news using the correct wording.

    Wedding invitations are undeniably important: Not only do they inform your guests about when and where the celebration will take place, but they also set the tone for the entire party. And since this is one of the very first wedding-related details your family and friends will see, it’s important that you go about sending your invitations correctly. That’s why learning how to properly address wedding invitations is a key step in the process there’s a lot more to it than you might think. To ensure you get it right, we’re explaining exactly how to address your envelopes based on the different attendees who may be joining you.

    Finalizing the guest list is one of the wedding-planning tasks most couples dread, but it’s essential and must be done before you get ready to mail those invites. Still, just because you know who gets an invitation doesn’t mean you know how to address everyone on your guest list. That’s where we come infrom figuring out how to address a judge to the right way to mail an invitation to a family full of doctors, we have all of the information you need to ensure these important pieces of mail get sent out without a hitch. These guidelines can be tailored to your guests’ preferred pronouns, too.

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