Wedding Invitations & Paper

How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them?

There is no room in my budget currently for a calligrapher, and I had fully intended to address my invitations by hand.  Then I bought a calligraphy set and realized I was horrible at it...so I tested my handwriting on my parents address (I usually print everything these days with the exception of my signature) and realized that I don't use cursive handwriting at all because I have horrible handwriting!   So my dilemma is that I can not possibly address my own invitations because I would be embarrassed by the results.  I would love for my mom to do it because she has pretty handwriting but she hates addressing things and will not volunteer....she thinks I should either pay a calligrapher or send it thorugh the printer.

My questions is how bad will it look if I print them, as opposed to have them handwritten?  I thought it was against ettiquette to print them.....

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Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them?

  • I have horrible handwritting. My FI's is even worse! My mom said I should have been a doctor. 


    I got clear labels and printed mine. Once on the envelope you cant really even see the label.  With sending out over 200 invites there is no way I could hand write all of them and have them be ledgable!
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  • I strongly prefer handwriting to printing the addresses.  You don't have to use cursive.  I think it would be fine to hand address them in print rather than use labels.
  • We printed directly on the envelopes, which allowed us to do a couple of cool design elements.  I think labels should be the last resort, I just don't think they look very nice.
    This is a neglected planning bio.
    This is a belated married bio, with no reviews yet because I'm lazy.

    image
    Sometimes I feel like people think that brides are delicate little flower princesses who get all dressed up and pretty for one special moment of their dreams, when really they're just normal people who just happen to be getting married. Things shouldn't have to be sugar-coated for grown-ass women. -mstar284
  • For your options, if you can't hand address...please print directly on the envelope.

    If you can't do that, then print on a wrap around label.

    Please don't use clear labels, no offense to pp, but it's really tacky

  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_bad-print-addresses-vs-handwriting?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:485c8144-5819-4662-ac67-5e1df00267f8Post:29025952-e8ca-455e-bea5-aa745e71c3bb">Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them?</a>:
    [QUOTE]We printed directly on the envelopes, which allowed us to do a couple of cool design elements.  I think labels should be the last resort, I just don't think they look very nice.
    Posted by aerinpegadrak[/QUOTE]

    <div>What kind of design elements are you referring to?  Do you have a pic by any chance?</div>
    image
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_bad-print-addresses-vs-handwriting?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:485c8144-5819-4662-ac67-5e1df00267f8Post:036fe761-c671-4102-baa0-c82a476b855a">Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them?</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them? : What kind of design elements are you referring to?  Do you have a pic by any chance?
    Posted by shortee426[/QUOTE]
    They should be in my planning bio under DIY.  Basically, we were able to right-justify the text (which is possible to do manually, but a giant bitch), and we printed on the filmstrip motif that we had on all of our stationery next to the addresses.  We did have a custom stamp with the same design, but being able to print it saved a lot of time.
    This is a neglected planning bio.
    This is a belated married bio, with no reviews yet because I'm lazy.

    image
    Sometimes I feel like people think that brides are delicate little flower princesses who get all dressed up and pretty for one special moment of their dreams, when really they're just normal people who just happen to be getting married. Things shouldn't have to be sugar-coated for grown-ass women. -mstar284
  • shortee426shortee426 member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited November 2010
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_bad-print-addresses-vs-handwriting?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:485c8144-5819-4662-ac67-5e1df00267f8Post:3c6c2c6b-b46d-41eb-a33f-bfb2bc797b62">Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them?</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them? : They should be in my planning bio under DIY.  Basically, we were able to right-justify the text (which is possible to do manually, but a giant bitch), and we printed on the filmstrip motif that we had on all of our stationery next to the addresses.  We did have a custom stamp with the same design, but being able to print it saved a lot of time.
    Posted by aerinpegadrak[/QUOTE]

    <div>I just looked at it.  It looks great!!!  I think the envelope liner you did was awesome.  I am thinking about doing something like that.  Was it hard? Or just time consuming?</div><div>
    </div><div>ETA: Sorry for the threadjack :-/</div>
    image
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_bad-print-addresses-vs-handwriting?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:485c8144-5819-4662-ac67-5e1df00267f8Post:93925663-6d76-42ba-a30d-75f7fa3f1ed6">Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them?</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them? : I just looked at it.  It looks great!!!  I think the envelope liner you did was awesome.  I am thinking about doing something like that.  Was it hard? Or just time consuming? ETA: Sorry for the threadjack :-/
    Posted by shortee426[/QUOTE]
    I was very thankful for the extra envelopes in the lining process!  Once I figured out the trick, it went pretty quickly.  Basically, I only applied the adhesive to the angled edges, and then tucked the rest of it into the envelope.  (The liner only goes down a little further than the envelope opening.)  The liners were just on printer paper, nothing special there.  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.
    This is a neglected planning bio.
    This is a belated married bio, with no reviews yet because I'm lazy.

    image
    Sometimes I feel like people think that brides are delicate little flower princesses who get all dressed up and pretty for one special moment of their dreams, when really they're just normal people who just happen to be getting married. Things shouldn't have to be sugar-coated for grown-ass women. -mstar284
  • IMO I think invitations should be hand written, it just feels more personal.  I am doing mine myself but they will not be in cursive (I dont even think I could remember how to write in cursive).  I would just take the time to hand print them as neatly as possible, is there anyone else besides your mom who might volunteer?  One of your BM?
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  • megk8ozmegk8oz member
    First Comment
    edited November 2010
    DH and I both have awful handwriting, and a calligrapher was just not an option for us (Way out of our budget). So we printed ours. We didn't use the clear labels (I don't like how those look), we just printed directly onto the envelope.

    Personally, I'd much rather receive a printed envelope than one with terrible handwriting on it-it looks much nicer. I know it's technically an etiquette violation, but printed envelopes are a "victim-less crime"-nobody is actually being treated rudely when you have them.

    If you fire a WP member, you're against America.
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    "Meg cracks me up on the regular. Now she gets to do it in two different forums. Yay!!" ~mkrupar
  • You can also buy a calligraphy kit for under $20.  A friend gave me one and I taught myself a very basic font style that I used to address all the invitations.  They looked fantastic.
  • We bought a stamp kit, one that has multiples of each letter, and are stamping our envelopes. We bought ink that matched the colour of the printing on our invitations too.  It's time consuming, but once you get into it, it's not that bad (and we're only doing 75). And it looks great!
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  • I did mine on clear labels. I have really nice handwriting, but I've always been taught that it shows respect to use a label rather than handwriting. "Handwriting shows less forethought" is what my aunts say every time they get a christmas or birthday card that is in a hand addressed envelope. Going to the effort of printing a label (or envelope) shows planning.

    Maybe it's a regional thing. I think I've only received a hand-addressed wedding invite once, and I recall our mutual friends commenting on it.
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  • We used a font on the computer that was a calligraphy font and printed directly onto the envelope.  They came out great that way!
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_bad-print-addresses-vs-handwriting?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:485c8144-5819-4662-ac67-5e1df00267f8Post:1a1c22a4-f7f3-4a45-97f2-969a2099544f">Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them?</a>:
    [QUOTE]I did mine on clear labels. I have really nice handwriting, but I've always been taught that it shows respect to use a label rather than handwriting. "Handwriting shows less forethought" is what my aunts say every time they get a christmas or birthday card that is in a hand addressed envelope. Going to the effort of printing a label (or envelope) shows planning. Maybe it's a regional thing. I think I've only received a hand-addressed wedding invite once, and I recall our mutual friends commenting on it.
    Posted by glam70s[/QUOTE]

    I'm not sure where your aunts learned this but it's the exact opposite of proper etiquette.
  • I have had no luck being able to print on the envelope (very frustrating!) 

    So I'm printing it on paper, putting the paper inside the envelope, holding it up to the window (because I don't have a light table) and using an elegant writer pen to trace.
  • I would personally prefer to receive an envelope with a printed envelope or printed label on an envelope rather than terrible hand writing.
    I have honestly only seen 1 or 2 hand written envelopes from the 15 or so weddings i have attended in the past few years. The rest were all computer printed and I've never heard anyone complain. I just don't think that etiquette rule is important anymore these days...

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  • Terrible handwriting should not be on the envelopes.  NICE handwriting is what goes on there.  :-)
  • My FMIL is an etiquette stickler (she demands thank you notes within like 72 hrs of a gift - crazy woman, though I love her). I brought up the handwritten-vs-printed on envelopes-vs-label question to both sets of our parents, and both agreed that hand addressing is nice, but unnecessary. As against-etiquette as it may be, both parents said to just print labels... still not sure what I'm going to do, but if FMIL doesn't mind labels, it definitely puts them back on the bargaining table for me.

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  • We had our return labels printed on clear labels, once on the envelope, you can't see the label. As far as the guests address we hand wrote them all. I think its silly to spend all that money to have them done by a calligrapher, or even printed. Whens the last time you got a card in the mail and your reaction was "what was this person thinking, they have terrible handwriting!" No one is going to pay attention to your handwriting, they'll be too excited to pay attention because they'll be ready to see the invitation :)   In my opinion there are much better ways to spend your money for your wedding.

    Happy Planning! :)
  • Not to beat a dead horse or anything; but I'd print in a script font directly onto the envelopes.  For our STDs we used clear labels (since it's less formal anyway) and they looked fine, but I wouldn't do them for our formal invites.   For one, you can still see the label, and run the risk of sticking it on off center, but also I found even with our STDs that some of the names were too long for a label and needed to be printed directly on the envelope anyway.

    As for the etiquette rule of hand writting envelopes, CMGr is absolutely right about the fact that the tradition was born in the era of Pride & Prejudice, when it would have been shameful for a woman not to know proper calligraphy.  This is a tradition that, to me, has gone the way of the white wedding gown - it just doesn't matter any more!
  • Defiantly go with the print. I don't see anything bad about it as long as you use a fancy font and make it look pretty. Because there is just no way you'll handwrite them if you have over 200 guests coming! If you are not good at it then by all means go with print.
    ~* She wished she had a little yellow house of her own, with a flower box full of real flowers and herbs, pansies and rosemary, and a sweet lover who would swing dance with her in the evenings and cook pasta and read poetry aloud.*~
  • Best to worst:

    1. Calligraphy
    2. Nice handwriting
    3. Print directly on the envelope in a nice font very lightly and hand trace (you can even use a calligraphy pen)
    4. Print directly on the elvelope in regular black ink, using a nice font
    5. nice wrap around labels
    6. Poor handwriting
    7. Attrocious handwriting
    8. Ordinary labels

    I really need to save this somewhere for myself.  I keep typing it out over and over. . .
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    Married: 2010
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  • I can not recall the last time I received a handwritten invitation. And OMG! I am printing the addresses on clear labels!! For one, my handwriting is for crap (especially for the fact that I would be addressing 100 invites). The second reason, is for the fact that I actually like the way it looks.

    I wish I could do the wrap around labels...its not in my budget :(
    Wedding Planning Bio/Blog Here Updated as of 2/1/11 Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Just say no to clear labels.
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  • Times have changed. The reason envelopes have previously been hand addressed is because people didn't have any other choice.  Why can we dispense with all sorts of other wedding traditions but not this trivial one? Ediquette has changed. Printing is fine. Lables are fine. Just make it look nice. :)  
  • i have horrible handwriting so im going to diy them with my computer; when my friend got married 2 years ago i was the moh and she and i addressed envelopes for the bridal shower and some of the grooms family were upset that they didnt recieve their invite and she asked me about it and i told her i sent all of them the only thing i can think of is they got lost or sent to the wrong address (and i assume my bad handwritting had something to do with it) i dont want the risk of the same thing happening with my wedding invitations.

    side question: is it tacky to hand out invitations or do they have to be sent through the mail?
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_bad-print-addresses-vs-handwriting?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:485c8144-5819-4662-ac67-5e1df00267f8Post:12b742c1-7a34-4fdc-9ef1-eb94802f8812">Re: How bad is it to print addresses vs handwriting them?</a>:
    [QUOTE]Times have changed. The reason envelopes have previously been hand addressed is because people didn't have any other choice.  Why can we dispense with all sorts of other wedding traditions but not this trivial one? Ediquette has changed. Printing is fine. Lables are fine. Just make it look nice. :)  
    Posted by BunnyBrooke314[/QUOTE]

    A wrap around label can look OK but a clear label is not fine.  It makes the invitation look like a mass mailing.  You may find them OK but they're not appropriate from an etiquette standpoint.
  • For save the dates I plan on using labels or printing it directly on the envelope.

    It may not be proper etiquette, but it works for me.
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  • It just seems to me that whomever you ask about addressing envelopes will have a different standpoint. If it doesn't bother me (since I will be using labels), nor my mother, FI mother (since their opinions matter) why should I worry about what others will think over something soooooo miniscule?

    Somebody else pointed out that it looks like mass mailing, I beg to differ. I am DIYing my invites (pocketfolds), there is nothing "mass maily" (sp) about that. If somebody doesn't like it thats their issue! If they feel the need to tell me something about it, then they are even more rude for saying anything!
    Wedding Planning Bio/Blog Here Updated as of 2/1/11 Wedding Countdown Ticker
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