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Let The Pegasus Plume help you turn the tedious task of addressing your invitations and holiday cards into a time saving, affordable, and elegant impression.

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Wedding invitations were once delivered by hand. If you were a bride back in those days, your footman delivered your invitations to your guests' homes. Their servants received the invitations and removed them from their mailing envelope, an envelope much too pedestrian for your guests to handle themselves. The servants, then, presented the invitations to your guests in its pristine inside envelope. Because the invitations were already at their destination, the inside envelopes had only the names of your guests written on them. The address was no longer needed. They just had to be directed to the appropriate members of the household.

Most wedding invitations are still sent in two envelopes. The outside envelope is the mailing envelope. No abbreviations are used. "Rural Route", and "Post Office Box" are always written out.

Your guests' names and addresses are written on its face. The copy may be centered or staggered. Staggered copy was much more popular years ago before there was such a thing as zip codes and before it was necessary to include the state on invitations sent in-state. Now, the addition of states and zip codes has, in most cases, made the last line to long to be staggered.

Your guests' names are repeated on the inside envelope. This time, however, only their titles and surnames are used. If children under the age of eighteen are invited, their first names would appear on a line beneath their parents' names.

The back flap of the outside envelope has the sender's address blind embossed or engraved on it. Blind embossing is the more traditional of the two. It is preferred over engraving because of the feeling that the first time guests see the engraving; it should be on the beautifully engraved invitations. The return address, on the other hand, should melt into the background. The post office disagrees. They prefer engraving since it is easier to read. The postal service would also like you to engrave the return address in the upper left corner of the envelope's face. Don't do it. It will make your invitations look too commercial.

Only the address is blind embossed on the envelope flaps. The names are not. The apartment number must be given when applicable, since without the name there would be no way of identifying the sender. The apartment may appear alone on the first line with "Apartment" spelled out or at the end of the street address, preceded by a comma or a bullet. (A bullet is a period that is raised to a point halfway between the top and the bottom of a line).

The address of whoever issued the invitations appears on the back flap. If, for example, your parents issued your invitations, their address appears. Many people, however, use the return address as an indication of where the gifts should be sent, so if you would like to have your presents sent directly to you, you may use your address for the return address.

Wedding envelopes are addressed using the same etiquette that is used on wedding invitations. Because they are seen only by their recipients, less traditional etiquette is occasionally used, especially with women's names and titles. "Ms.," for example, may be used when addressing envelopes even though it is not properly used on invitations.

This information is the traditional way to address envelopes for weddings. In this day and age you can follow the tradition or make adjustment. The addressing of the envelopes can depend on how formal your wedding will be. Ask us for suggestions if you are unsure of how you would like to address your envelopes.

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Questions and Answers regarding Addressing Envelopes:

Q: We are sending Wedding Invitations to two sisters who are living together. Whose name is first?
A: When addressing envelopes to two or more siblings under the age of eighteen who are living at home, the name of the oldest child is listed first followed by the names of his our her siblings in reverse chronological order. If they are over eighteen, they receive separate invitations.

Q: We are sending Wedding invitations to a couple with two children.
Do we use "and family" on the outside envelope?
A: No. Wedding invitations are sent to the adult members of the household. In your case, the outside envelope is addressed to the parents who receive the invitations on behalf of their children. Their children's names (not "and family"), if you wish to invite them, are written on the inside envelope on the line beneath the names of their parents.

Q: We are sending invitations to a "junior." Do we use "junior"?
A: If "junior" is a part of a man's name, you would include it (or "Jr.") on the outside envelope. It is not necessary to repeat it on the inside envelope unless both "junior" and "senior" are living at the same address.

Q: Should we use numerals or should we write out the numbers?
A: Numerals are usually used for the street number, although it is also appropriate to write out numbers one through twenty. Numbered streets may appear whichever way is more aesthetically pleasing. Numerals are always used for zip codes.

Q: How can I tell which envelopes are the mailing envelopes?
A: It is easy to tell which envelopes are which. The outside envelopes have glue on them; the inside envelopes do not and they are also a bit smaller. To avoid confusion when addressing envelopes, it is best to work with one set of envelopes at a time. Address all the outside envelopes first. After those are all addressed, start addressing the inside envelopes. That will make it almost impossible to address the wrong envelopes.

Q: I am addressing an envelope to a man and woman who are living together. Whose name goes first?
A The Woman's name goes first.

Q: A number of our friends are seeing somebody. We would like to invite them to our wedding.
How is that done?
A: The nicest way to invite dates is to call your friends, get the names of their dates, and send them each an invitation. A less formal way is to address the inside envelopes with either "Mr. Clayton and guest" or Miss Clayton and escort." Women who feel that an escort is unnecessary in this day and age prefer "Miss Clayton and guest" or "Ms. Clayton and guest.

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