Addressing invitations

KGold80

The feminist in me is not a huge fan of addressing envelopes as "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith" and quite a few of the people on our guest list feel similarly. I may be looking in the wrong place, but I can't find anything regarding proper address etiquette for this particular situation. "Mr. John Smith and Ms. Jane Smith" looks a little odd to me, but is it correct?

theartistformerlyknownas

Yep! I think this is a good resource.

http://www.emilypost.com/forms-of-address/titles/96-guide-to-addressing-correspondence 

KGold80

That is exactly what I needed! Thank you!!!

CMGragain

Do be aware that more traditional couples prefer Mr. and Mrs. John  Smith.

stef42188

KGold80 said:

The feminist in me is not a huge fan of addressing envelopes as "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith" and quite a few of the people on our guest list feel similarly. I may be looking in the wrong place, but I can't find anything regarding proper address etiquette for this particular situation. "Mr. John Smith and Ms. Jane Smith" looks a little odd to me, but is it correct?

I am 100% with you!

KGold80

CMGragain said:

Do be aware that more traditional couples prefer Mr. and Mrs. John  Smith.

I am planning to have the invitations for those couples addressed that way.

Most of our guests are less traditional - i.e. Female Ph.D.s, women who kept their maiden names, hyphens, prefer to be called Ms., etc. I like having options available to address invitations according to personal preferences.

CMGragain

TheWeddingMile said:

One alternative to the "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith" invitation phrase is to simply eliminate the honorifics, and say:

"John and Jane Smith [request the the pleasure of your company at their marriage, etc.]"

Or, if you want to include maiden names:

"John Smith and Jane Doe [request the the pleasure of your company at their marriage, etc.]".

A wedding invitation is a formal document, and titles should be used.  Mr. and Mrs. John Smith is not necessarily the only correct from.  Ms. Jane Smith and Mr. John Smith is fine, though.  However, the OP was asking about addressing envelopes, not invitation wording.