Hand-canceling invites?????

elcobb

Hi guys,

I was hoping to put my invites in the mail by the end of the week, but when I went to go buy stamps for the RSVP envelopes, the post office dude said I had to pay EIGHTY ONE freaking cents for postage!!!  Obviously I freaked out and left. 

The full story is that my invite designer said I'd have to get probably the 64 cent stamps because of a design element I used making it over 1 oz. (OK, fine) and then ask for the invitations to be hand-canceled OR find a post office that would let me stand there and cancel them myself.

Has anyone gotten their invites hand-canceled in the Raleigh area recently?? If so, what post office?? 

I feel like it should be illegal for them to charge 20 cents extra when I can't even be certain they won't go through the machines anyway-- not to mention, over on the Invitations board, it seems like plenty of folks get their invites hand-canceled for no charge.  If the USPS is a government entity, why aren't all locations doing the same things?

Any help would be appreciated. I'd be willing to drive a ways if you know of any good POs.

Thanks!

pirategal03

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_north-carolina_question-mailing-out-invitations-triangle-brides

pirategal03

also

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_north-carolina_usps-update

ETA, which I see you found already.

elcobb

Just an update-- FI finished assembling all the invites for me while I was TAing a class in Chapel Hill this afternoon and worked the post office circuit for me

Avent Ferry PO said the same thing about 81 cents without giving much of an explanation or second thought, just like the man at the NW Maynard PO.  

Then he went to Crabtree, where they actually took our invite and did some measurements and put it through this cardboard thing to check the width and they told FI they were "confident" we could get buy with the 61 cent stamps and then we could drop them in a box someplace.

Apparently, the canceling machines only roll over the top (where the stamp is) and the bottom (barcode), and our wax seals were inside the envelope adhered in the center so they would likely miss the rollers....phew! Still, I ask for your well-wishes and prayers for my precious invites as they are now sitting in a blue mailbox waiting to be sent, hopefully without an incident, with 61 cent stamp!!!  

tarheelbabs

You should be fine if the issue was the size of your envelopes.  They made a big production out of measuring mine at the Crabtree post office.  They were 5.25 inch envelopes, but because the paper was so thick, they were right on the border of their grid.  A couple folks looked at them and they hemmed and hawed about whether I'd need to go up on the postage.  I stuck with the $.81 postage and all was good.  Two weeks after mailing and no returns.  Just lots of rsvps, thank goodness!!