How to address wedding invitations, assemble the suite and mail it

The outer envelope is the formal one: titles, full first and last names, middle names written out or left off (never an initial). The inner envelope, if you use one, drops first names and says exactly who is invited, which is where the children and the plus-one go. These are the forms most US stationers and planners work to. They're conventions, and a warm, modern version is always fine if it fits how you and your guests actually talk.

• Abbreviate titles only. Mr., Mrs., Ms. and Dr. are fine. Write out Street, Avenue, Apartment and Boulevard.
• State names either way. Spelled out or the two-letter postal code. USPS accepts both (DMM 602.1.3), so pick one and stay consistent.
• The ZIP code is the line that gets it there. Check every one. A beautiful envelope with a wrong ZIP goes on a long detour.
• Numbers as numerals in the street address. "1408 Cedar Lane", not "Fourteen hundred eight".
• Spell-check names against something the guest wrote. A text message, an email signature, their own wedding invitation. Never your memory.

The back flap is the wedding tradition, and it's where we print yours. USPS doesn't require a return address on a stamped letter, and its rule about the front upper-left corner applies to mail with a service endorsement, which an invitation doesn't have (DMM 602.1.5–1.6). Use one anyway: it's how an undeliverable invitation finds its way back to you. Use the address where you want gifts and replies to arrive, because that's where guests will send them.

No. The inner envelope is a tradition from when the outer one arrived grubby from the post. Today it does one useful job: it lets you name exactly who is invited, children and plus-one included, without crowding the outer envelope. It's unsealed, has no stamp and no address, just names.

My take: if your guest list has a lot of "and Guest" and families with children, an inner envelope saves awkward conversations. If it's mostly couples and single friends you know well, skip it, put the names on the outer envelope, and spend the money on a second foil colour or a liner instead. One more thing to know: an inner envelope adds a layer of paper and a little weight, and on a thick cotton suite that can be the difference between one postage rate and the next.

Our three suites are built around a single outer envelope. If you want inner envelopes, ask in the Studio and we'll price them with the rest of the suite.

There are three honest options, at three very different costs in money and evenings.

I recommend printed addressing for most suites, for a dull reason: consistency. The hundredth envelope looks like the first, the typeface matches the invitation, and the names are proofed before anything prints. If the envelope is the moment you care most about, hire a calligrapher and order 15 to 20 percent extra envelopes for practice and mistakes.

• Names in foil cost per name. Foil is stamped with a metal die, and every different name needs its own small die. That's why we print guest names in flat ink and quote personalised foil on its own.
• Dark envelopes need a different answer. Light ink on a black envelope sinks into the paper and looks chalky; on dark stock we use foil for light colours, and per-name foil brings you back to the point above. If you love a black outer envelope, tell us early and we'll work out the addressing with you before the proof. A dark ink on a light envelope is the easiest to read, for your guests and for the sorting machines.

Envelopes can only be printed or pressed in certain areas, and not right to the edge, so we place your return address and guest addresses on your envelope template before the proof.

Send it as a spreadsheet, one row per household, with these columns: outer envelope names exactly as they should print; inner envelope names (if used); street address; apartment or unit; city; state; ZIP code; country. Fill the names column the way you want it to read, titles and all. We set what you give us, so the spreadsheet is where the etiquette decisions get made.

Stack the cards largest at the bottom, smallest on top, every printed side facing up, so the guest sees the words the moment the flap lifts. Then wrap, seal and check. Here's the order I use (it follows the classic Emily Post sequence):

Before you stuff a hundred, lightly pencil a number on the back of each reply card and note it against your guest list. Someone always sends one back without writing their name.

A finished suite almost never mails on one plain stamp. Weight adds an ounce or two, and the shape or contents can add the non-machinable surcharge on top. Here are the USPS retail prices that matter, so you can do the sum before the post office does.

Say your finished suite weighs between 1 and 2 ounces and the counter clerk calls it non-machinable because it's stiff. That's 1,11 $US plus 0,49 $US, so 1,60 $US on the outer envelope, plus 0,82 $US on the reply envelope: 2,42 $US per household. For 100 households, budget about 242 $US for postage before anything goes to guests abroad. If the same suite is flexible and rectangular, it's 1,11 $US plus 0,82 $US, or 193 $US for 100. The difference is the surcharge, and it's worth knowing which side of it you're on.

Yes, the reply envelope needs a stamp, and you buy it. A guest who has to find a stamp is a guest who replies late. One Forever stamp (0,82 $US) covers a standard reply envelope with a single card. Guests abroad can't use a US stamp, so give them an online way to reply (see mailing abroad).

The postcard price only applies to cards up to 4¼ × 6 inches and no thicker than 0.016 inch (DMM 101.6.2). Our 32-point cotton is about 0.032 inch, twice that. So a pressed save the date mailed as a postcard pays at least the letter price, and a foil card sent bare through the sorting machines can come out scuffed. Send it in an envelope.

The surcharge exists because some envelopes can't run through USPS's sorting machines and have to be handled by people. USPS lists the triggers in its Domestic Mail Manual, section 101.1.2. Here's what each one means on a wedding suite:

USPS's own page puts it plainly: square, vertical, lumpy and rigid envelopes "must be hand-canceled" and pay the surcharge "even if they weigh less than 1 oz" (usps.com, checked 1 October 2026).

Most etiquette guides skip this one, and it's the one that matters for pressed suites. A letter can be no thicker than ¼ inch, about 6.4 mm (DMM 101.1.1). A single 32-point cotton card is about 0.8 mm. Seven or eight of them in one envelope reach the limit before you count the envelope paper or a seal. Past ¼ inch, the suite is priced as a large envelope (from 1,69 $US), and a large envelope that is rigid or lumpy pays package prices. A suite of an invitation, details card and reply set sits well under the limit. A suite with a duplex invitation, three enclosures, an inner envelope and a wax seal may not. Thickness is also what makes a suite stiff, so a heavy cotton suite under ¼ inch can still be called rigid. That's a judgement made at the counter, so take a finished one in and ask.

They're rigid by nature. In a letter-size envelope they pay the non-machinable rate at best. Larger than a letter, a rigid piece pays package prices. Price one at the counter before you plan to mail a hundred, or keep the acrylic or metal piece for something guests receive in person, like place cards or a welcome gift.

Real wax is lovely, and it's lumpy by definition, so plan on the surcharge and hand-cancelling for every envelope that carries one, inside or out. It can also crack in transit. For anything mailed, my recommendation is a stamped foil seal: it's flat, it reads like wax across a room, and on its own a flat paper seal isn't one of the triggers on USPS's list. The rest of the envelope still has to pass: shape, stiffness and thickness. Our custom foil seals start at 195 $US for 250. Keep real wax for things that never see a sorting machine: hand-delivered menus, a seal on the place-card box, a short VIP list.

Do it in this order and you'll only stand in line twice.

1. Assemble one complete suite. Every card, the liner, the wrap, the seal, an inner envelope if you're using one. If guests abroad get an extra map or card, assemble one of those too.
2. Take it to the counter, not the self-service kiosk. Ask the clerk to weigh and measure it and tell you whether it's machinable. Ask for the price for that weight, with or without the surcharge.
3. Mail one to yourself. Same day, same stamps. When it comes back, you'll see how it travelled and how the postmark looks.
4. Buy the stamps. Outer envelopes at the rate you were quoted, plus a Forever stamp for every reply envelope.
5. Stamp the top right corner. Press stamps down firmly; thick cotton has a soft surface.
6. Bring the batch back to the counter and ask for hand-cancelling. Non-machinable envelopes have to be hand-cancelled anyway (usps.com), and most counters will hand-cancel the rest on request. The request itself isn't a priced USPS service; what you pay is the postage, plus the surcharge if the envelope triggers it. If you're bringing 150 envelopes, call the branch first and ask when it's quiet.

Any combination of stamps that adds up to the right amount works. USPS sells a non-machinable stamp for square and unusual envelopes (1,31 $US) and two-ounce stamps; branches don't always stock the designs you want, so buy online or a few weeks early. If you want vintage stamps to match your palette, that's fine too: unused older US stamps are still valid at their face value, so add them up to the current rate.

An international letter starts at 1,75 $US for up to an ounce, to any country, and the same 0,49 $US non-machinable surcharge applies to letters that trigger it (USPS Notice 123, checked 1 October 2026). Heavier suites cost more and the price depends on the country, so weigh one at the counter. One Global Forever stamp covers the 1-ounce price.

Three things I'd do:

• Mail them about two weeks before everyone else's. International post is slower and less predictable.
• Let them reply online. A US stamp on the reply envelope won't work from abroad. Put your wedding website or a QR code to the RSVP page on the details card. QR codes always print in flat dark ink, never in foil or embossing, so every phone can read them.
• Write the country in capitals as the last line of the address. Use the local address format for the rest. Your guest can tell you exactly how it should read.

Our Signature suite includes printed guest addressing, envelope liners and a seal, on top of the invitation, reply set and details card. Send the spreadsheet, we set every envelope in your invitation's typeface, and you check the names on the proof before anything prints. For 100 guests it's 4 190 $US. Production takes about three weeks after you approve the proof, then shipping. That's an estimate, not a promise, so work back from your mail date and leave yourself a week or two to stamp and post. You still do the stamps and the trip to the post office, and now you know exactly what to ask for.