Hi guys, Ashley from Fine Day Press here. We’ve finally come to the last post in our Invitation 101 series. Thank you for reading and learning along with me! Today’s post covers the last steps in getting your invitations out the door: invitation addressing and mailing.

Be sure to check out our previous posts:
• Where to Start
• When to Send
• Printing Methods
• Wording & Etiquette

Addressing and Mailing

You’ve spent countless hours picking out just the right invitation suite, and possibly months agonizing over every little detail from the wording to the printing. Take a few moments to plan using our invitation addressing and mailing tips below; I promise it will be well worth the effort!

Plan Ahead

First, leave some time to gather and organize your address list. You’ll want to provide your stationer (or calligrapher, or printer) with a clear, detailed list of names and addresses that includes appropriate titles like “Mr. & Mrs.” or “Dr.”  It’s commonplace to spell out in full the address line and state, for example, “123 Smith Street; New York, New York 10010”.  Additionally, if children under 18 are invited to the wedding, list their names individually on the line following the parents’ names — unless you are using inner envelopes (increasingly rare these days), in which case the names of any children should be listed here and not on the outside. Adult children should receive their own invitation.

Secondly, make sure you have extra envelopes in case of any addressing errors. About 10% over is a good rule of thumb, and many stationers (including Fine Day Press) will automatically include some extras with your order. If using a calligrapher, be sure to ask if more than that are needed. You’ll also want a few extra invitations on hand for last-minute guests, and just in case one gets lost in the mail (it happens).

Methods of Addressing

Traditionally, invitations are hand-addressed, usually by a professional calligrapher. There’s nothing quite like receiving a calligraphed envelope in your mailbox, and it’s most definitely high up on my happy list. And if it‘s in your budget, go for it! Check with your calligrapher to confirm how much time they’ll need to address your envelopes, but at minimum you’ll want to factor around 2-3 weeks for envelope calligraphy into your invitation mailing timeline.

If you are hand-addressing the envelopes yourself, a great option for the return address is to have a custom stamp created. We‘ve created many of these for our clients over the years. Provided you aren’t moving right after the wedding, the stamp can be used again on thank you notes, holiday cards, and other future mailings. Alternately, with the convenience and quality of digital printing, many stationers will print guest addresses directly onto the envelopes. You can even choose a calligraphy-style font.

Above: Custom return address stamp by Fine Day Press; calligraphed envelopes by Blue Eye Brown Eye

Adding Postage

Note the size of your invitation and compare it to the post office standard sizes. Square invitations require extra postage; the same goes for double-thick stock. If you’ve got extras like a reception card, list of wedding events, map and directions card, ribbons, bows, bells or whistles, that can push your overall weight up beyond the first class stamp zone. You’ll want to take a complete envelope suite to the post office for weighing. They can tell you the exact postage amount you’ll need, and help you find a stamp (or stamps) to match. Don’t forget to take into account any international guests. When addressing, put these in a separate pile and have the post office determine the correct postage for each.

Beautiful postage is the last thoughtful touch to complete your invitation. USPS has definitely stepped up their stamp design game in the last few years, so you can easily achieve a beautiful envelope just by browsing the available stamp selections online. The post office also usually has a few different love-themed options, like these Louise Fili stunners. Custom stamps can be created to match your invitation design (for example, via zazzle.com), from personalized stamps with a custom monogram to vintage-inspired designs. Vintage postage is a beautiful detail for wedding invitation envelopes, but can be difficult to find and sometimes costs more than the face value of the stamp – you can read all about finding vintage postage here. And remember that your reply envelopes will also need a first class stamp – don’t leave your guests hunting for postage to send their reply.

Let ‘em fly

You’ve done your homework. Time to send those beautiful babies out into the world, and wait for the excitement that follows!

One last pro tip: Request hand-canceling. There can be an extra charge for this beyond 50 pieces, but it’s worth it to not have that bummer of a barcode printed along the bottom of all of your gorgeous envelopes.

Happy Mailing!

Hi guys, Ashley from Fine Day Press here! Welcome back to our Invitation 101 series, all about wedding invitations. Today’s post is all about timing: when to gather inspiration, when to order your wedding invitations and save the dates, when to send wedding invitations, and more!

Wedding planning the one time in life where we combine an incredibly joyful event with the complicated logistics of running a small army! I recommend keeping the invitation process stress-free by allowing yourself lots of time. This is also super helpful for your guests so they can make travel plans and other necessary arrangements to be there on your big day.

 

A YEAR IN ADVANCE

Start thinking about your invitations as early as possible in your wedding planning process. This could be a year or more in advance. Last-minute invitations would not be fun, not to mention the rush charges alone could blow your budget.

You can begin by envisioning your dream invitations with an inspiration board and identifying a few possible stationers to work with – see my first post for more details on getting started.

 

6-9 MONTHS IN ADVANCE

If you’re mailing a Save the Date, especially for a destination wedding, this is the time to get those in the mail. Our previous post covered Save the Dates in more detail.

If you’re working with a local paper shop, this is a great time to schedule an appointment to review the ins and outs of their ordering process and timeline. If you’re working with an online stationer, go ahead and order a few samples to get an idea of the products and papers you might like to use.

 

WHEN TO ORDER

For ready-made invitations, I recommend ordering your invitations 3 months in advance for local weddings or 6 months in advance for destination weddings. This will allow time for design, proofing, production, assembly, and mailing your invitations, while providing ample notice for your guests.

If you’ve decided to go the custom invitation route, this will usually add anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks on to your invitation process, so it’s important to consider this from the get-go and factor this in to your timeframe.

We’ve created a handy cheat sheet of important dates! Click here to download a printable PDF.

 

PRINTING & PRODUCTION

For digital printing, also known as flat printing, you can expect a production time of up to 2 weeks. Letterpress or specialty printing typically takes 3 weeks. Production can usually be expedited, but there is usually a charge associated with this. We’ll cover print and production methods in more detail in the next installment of this series.

 

CALLIGRAPHY

Planning to have beautiful calligraphy on your envelopes? Calligraphers generally require 2 to 3 weeks for addressing envelopes. Your stationer may be able to provide blank envelopes in advance so that this can get started while the invitations are printing.

 

WHEN TO SEND

A general rule is to send out invitations 6 to 8 weeks before the wedding. If it’s a destination wedding, at least 3 months ahead is the standard to allow time for travel plans.

Don’t forget to save a few days (or at least a weekend afternoon) for assembly. This could be as simple as putting the invitations in the envelopes and adding postage to the envelopes. but may require additional steps if such as assembling liners into envelopes (note: many stationers can assemble liners for you and may offer invitation assembly as well) or stamping a return address if you chose an address stamp instead of a printed return address.

This is the time to call in your troops. Grab your besties and ‘maids to lend  a hand; bribe them with pizza and wine post-project. Or this is could be a for you and your fiancé/ée to tackle together – put on some Netflix and make it a date night. Finally, tack on a few more days for mailing. International invitations can take anywhere from 6-10 days to arrive. We’ll cover mailing and postage in a later post.

 

AFTER THE BIG DAY

Once your wedding is over and you’ve had a blissful, relaxing honeymoon, it’s time to send out thank you notes to guests and loved ones! If you like, you can keep your thank you notes in the same design theme as your invitations and usually get them printed at a lower cost than your invitations – At Fine Day Press, we offer returning clients a 10% discount on day-of and thank you note orders – I’m willing to bet other stationers might do the same.

Stay tuned for our next Invitation 101 post; it will cover one of my favorite topics – printing methods.