1. DIY Calligraphy. I've read about brides teaching themselves how to do calligraphy, but it seems like this would be really time consuming! One option I'd consider is the tracing method, from this Weddingbee post. Basically, you print out the address on the envelope in a light ink, and trace over it with a calligraphy pen. This could take a lot of time, though.
2. Wrap-around labels. It seems like wrap-around labels are the only acceptable labels in the wedding etiquette world. I mean, Martha has a template herself. The ones I've seen are really cute, but apparently sometimes USPS machines mis-read the return address on the back and mail the envelope back to the sender. This doesn't seem to happen consistently enough to completely rule this option out. These labels would also be good because our return address would be included as well. The only problem is that we don't have a color printer so we couldn't print them at home. I really don't want to spend extra money on this.
Image from here.
3. Print directly onto the envelopes in a pretty font. We're leaning toward this option, because honestly, who has time for all of this?! (Not me!) If we end up doing this, don't call the etiquette police on me!
I'd love to use a stamp for our return address, but since we're moving in March, it doesn't make sense to buy a stamp right now. I think we'll get one to use for our invitations, and we can use it going forward when we send holiday cards and things.
The last touch for the envelopes is the postage. Again, not the most important thing to be thinking about, but it would make me happy to have a nice stamp! Zazzle has an overwhelming selection, but I like these two designs:
Images from Zazzle
Anyone have any other ideas for addressing? What have you done/are you planning to do?
I like your idea of printing directly onto the envelope or using the wrap-around labels. We actually used clear labels and a script font, which I think came out looking classy and not at all cheap or tacky. I definitely think it’s fine to not go all out with calligraphy and hand-addressing if you don’t want to, because like you said, who has time?! And in all honesty, the envelope is just going to be thrown out anyway.
ReplyDeleteI love wrap around address labels but we are going to do diy calligraphy with white india ink instead because it goes better with the invitation we chose. I love the wrap around you posted!
ReplyDeleteI went through this too. I decided my ugly handwriting would take less time than printing labels and sticking them and would be more personal.
ReplyDeleteI haven't given this a lot of thought, but I really should, since our Save the Dates will go out in March. I'm sort of leaning toward the wrap-around labels now. I didn't know that about USPS mis-reading the return address, though. That's a little scary. As for color printing, I wonder how much it would cost to print it out at Kinko's? Or at work, hehe :)
ReplyDelete@PartyPlannerGal: I didn't know about the USPS issues with wrap-around labels either until I started googling it to find inspiration. But the people who said they got a couple of their envelopes mailed back to them said it only happened for one or two envelopes, if that. It doesn't seem to be a huge issue, so it's still worth considering!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of printing directly or the wrap around labels. I also like the clear labels idea that Bicoastal Bride mentioned. We've thought about doing that too
ReplyDeleteSo tricky - we had our designer print the addresses directly on the envelope for the Save the Dates but may have to go with a calligrapher for the invitations. So many choices!
ReplyDeleteGirl, I wrote all of my STD's...BUT! I do plan to use labels for my reply card envelopes (I want to make sure all of my RSVP's make it and there's not ??'s on where to mail them) and I will use them on my thank you note envelopes.
ReplyDeleteBecause guess what? When all of this is over, I know I won't feel like hand writing them.
I'm so late to the party here, but just to toss in my .02 cents . . . those wraparound labels are nice. (I'm sure I'll find out which ones you ended up using as I keep reading!) We handwrote them all, the save-the-dates as well as the actual invitations. It was a bit time consuming, but less hassle than dealing with the envelopes and the printer and the labels and the blah blah blah. And after the hassle of our DIY invitations, the less hassle option was the way we were going!
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