Whether you plan a formal or an informal affair on that momentous day when you finally walk down the aisle, it is still imperative to know the proper way to address wedding invitations because you normally don’t want to unwittingly commit a social blunder, right? Since you will ideally get a single trip to the altar and say those solemn ‘I do’s” you would definitely want to do everything by the dot. It’s only the most fitting way to kick off the new route to married life, and creating a good impression to your wedding guests would definitely include knowing how to address wedding invitations properly. So here are a few pointers to help you muddle your way through the fine art of addressing wedding invitations:

Most of the classic invitations have an inner and outer envelope, with the outer envelope indicating the complete address of the recipient along with your return address and postage. On the other hand, the inner envelope contains lesser information and you can approach it as if you are hand delivering it. However, you prefer the contemporary designs of wedding invitation which are becoming increasingly popular these days, you need to determine if you want an outer envelope or not since you are actually free to do away with it.

The rule of the thumb in the proper way to address wedding invitations is to avoid abbreviations as much as possible and write addresses by hand. However, there are a number of exceptions that apply here, such as the street number which can definitely be quite painstaking to spell out and you can also opt to use state abbreviations such as using CA, instead of entirely writing down the word California. If your guest list has run up close to a hundred or more, it can be a sheer nightmare to write meticulously on every single invites. This can be a wonderful time to ask the help of your close friends and relatives, just make sure they have an exceptionally good penmanship. If you prefer to seek professional service, there are a number of calligraphy establishments that readily offers computerized way of addressing wedding invitations, which can be printed to perfectly match the font and design of your invites. This will of course lessen the possibilities of mistakes and makes a stunning effect that would definitely create a great impression to all your guests.

If the recipient is a married couple, the outer envelope should have the Mr. & Mrs. title along with the first and last name of the husband, and the inner envelope should only have the Mr. & Mrs. but this time only with the family name of the couple. If the couple takes different last name, the wife should always precede the name of her husband, and you can also put and extension ‘and family’ if the couple have children that are below 18 years old. However, if you have invited a teenager above 18 years old, she/he should get a separate invitation from the one given to the parents. Single guests with partners should be given separate invitations unless it is a long-term relationship or they are openly engaged in domestic partnership.

These are just the basics of addressing wedding invitations that you should take note of if you want to put your best foot forward and avoid offending guests and making a blatant mistake that can be a cause of embarrassment on your part. The return address should also be included which should be printed on the flap of the envelope addressed to the person hosting the event. If your parents will be hosting the event, it’s only proper to indicate their address and contact number rather than taking the liberty of putting your name instead. This way the guests who will not be able to attend or wishes to send their gifts before or after the wedding will be able to use the address as reference for sending packages.

Now, that you have the idea on the basics on proper way of addressing your wedding invitations, you can start the ball rolling and bring forth the good news of the impending nuptials and invite friends to take part in the celebration.