Address labels on invitations. Bad idea?

kroot87

I had planned on printing address labels for our wedding invitations until it came up in conversation with my FMIL and she mentioned that it's tacky and they should be handwritten. We're having a pretty casual wedding with about 160 guests on a pretty low budget - I certainly can't afford to pay a calligrapher to address the invitations, and my own handwriting is atrocious. No one in my family cares how their invitations are addressed to them, so my question is... are printed labels really all that bad? Do people really care? I'm not sure what to do on this one. TIA!

banana468

Printed labels really are bad etiquette.  FMIL is absolutely right.

If you can't address them yourself and you can't pay a calligrapher, would someone you know help you?

If that isn't an option, have your printer print directly on the envelopes.

kroot87

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_address-labels-on-invitations-bad-idea?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:6c08fde7-39cd-40af-9848-1c016c86b65dPost:cd00ea21-25fc-4c58-86ee-0e8e1dee1a1b">Re: Address labels on invitations. Bad idea?</a>:
[QUOTE]Printed labels really are bad etiquette.  FMIL is absolutely right. If you can't address them yourself and you can't pay a calligrapher, would someone you know help you? If that isn't an option, have your printer print directly on the envelopes.
Posted by banana468[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your reply. I know FMIL is right, I guess I was just not admitting it to myself. We received a wedding invitation over the summer with address labels, and I definitely side-eyed it. 

My mom has such a poor attitude about proper etiquette involving all things wedding, and I think sometimes I'm influenced by her attitude without realizing it. She's always pushing for me to do things that I know are bad etiquette. I really just need to stop discussing the wedding with her. When I brought up the wedding invitations, she didn't even want me to SEND invitations to most of her side of the family. She said, "They know when the wedding is, they'll be there. There's no point in sending them an invitation." She really comes out of left field sometimes...

 I don't want to ask anyone to help me address over 100 envelopes, I just think that's too much... Do you think printing directly on the envelopes is any less tacky than labels? I'm starting to think I may just have to find a way to pay a calligrapher.

w102nao

I love printed labels; they have helped me keep everything straight. I know who I sent save the date's to and who will get wedding invitations and I am sharing the labels with my sister for the shower.

I think that times have changed, just make sure to address them properly such as
Dr. & Mrs. Kline, even if it is your aunt/uncle. 

I do not think it is bad etiquette; they even make labels with cute designs on them to match the invites such as a return address that has two small silver hearts.

coraleetbwed

Etiquette books do say that if your handwriting is bad, you can hire a calligrapher.  I have also read in etiquette books that labels are tacky.  I think that while following etiquette books, there are other options than only handwriting.

babe915

I think address lables are fine for a casual wedding. Unless you are having an elaborate wedding its not neccessary for them to be written. Most people throw the envelopes out anyway so why waste your time on something thats gonna end up in thte trash. I keep the invites and toss the envelope. Just make sure the address label color matches the envelope and maybe use a decorative font. I'm not a 'proper' lady so the etiquette of hand writing an envelope doesn't apply to me and it shouldnt stress you out. Do what's easier for you, no one will be offended if its a label. And if they are they have some issues to work out

Avion22

I agree that printing directly on the envelope is better than labels.  If you can format your addresses for a sheet of lables, then you can format the file so it will print on envelopes.   

I have bad hadnwriting as well, but I elected to hand-address ours anyway.  We only had about 60, and I figured it would be quicker than typing all of the addresses in a Word file, formatting it, then feeding envelopes through my printer.   It only took about an hour and a half to do 60 invitations, and they looked fine.  Not perfect, but fine.

banana468

In Response to Re:Address labels on invitations. Bad idea?:[QUOTE]I think address lables are fine for a casual wedding. Unless you are having an elaborate wedding its not neccessary for them to be written. Most people throw the envelopes out anyway so why waste your time on something thats gonna end up in thte trash. I keep the invites and toss the envelope. Just make sure the address label color matches the envelope and maybe use a decorative font. I'm not a 'proper' lady so the etiquette of hand writing an envelope doesn't apply to me and it shouldnt stress you out. Do what's easier for you, no one will be offended if its a label. And if they are they have some issues to work out : Posted by babe915[/QUOTE]

Wrong. Etiquette still applied to you and you didn't follow it. It may not have been important to you but that does not mean you did the correct thing.

hoffse

I don't care how casual your wedding is (PPs, not OP since I know you're not going to use labels), labels suck.  I firmly believe that labels are meant for business correspondence, not social correspondence, and I hate to see address labels on wedding invites, save the dates, even thank you notes.  It's literally the first thing I notice because I wonder why I got what looks like a social letter with my name printed on a computer like a business letter.

CMGr's idea is a good one.  Another trick is to print the addresses in a font you like directly onto the the paper in the lightest color you can see, then trace over it.  It takes only a little practice to know which fonts work for you and which don't, but it looks awesome.

DiLynn83

Why would anyone ever think that etiquette doesn't "apply" to them?

Etiquette is just another word for manners, people.

w102nao

Interesting option: Martha Stewart sells a stamp set that is adorable at Michaels so if you don't do calligraphy and don't want to hand write it this may be an option.  It may take a while but I love all of the stamp sets that are at Michaels. I stamped save the date on the back of my STD envelopes and it came out great.

I am printing onto the envelopes and it is taking forever for 120 invites BTW I know a lot of people care about the labels v no labels but I can’t tell you how the last 10 wedding invites were sent to me.

cubswin12

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_address-labels-on-invitations-bad-idea?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:6c08fde7-39cd-40af-9848-1c016c86b65dPost:8ea55832-b693-4492-bdcb-40ba16d95d9c">Address labels on invitations. Bad idea?</a>:
[QUOTE]I had planned on printing address labels for our wedding invitations until it came up in conversation with my FMIL and she mentioned that it's tacky and they should be handwritten. We're having a pretty casual wedding with about 160 guests on a pretty low budget - I certainly can't afford to pay a calligrapher to address the invitations, and my own handwriting is atrocious. No one in my family cares how their invitations are addressed to them, so my question is... are printed labels really all that bad? Do people really care? I'm not sure what to do on this one. TIA!
Posted by kroot87[/QUOTE]

If I use clear address lables vs white ones does it make it any better?

banana468

In Response to Re:Address labels on invitations. Bad idea?:[QUOTE]In Response to Address labels on invitations. Bad idea?:I had planned on printing address labels for our wedding invitations until it came up in conversation with my FMIL and she mentioned that it's tacky and they should be handwritten. We're having a pretty casual wedding with about 160 guestsnbsp;on a prettynbsp;low budget I certainly can't afford to pay a calligrapher to address the invitations, and my own handwriting is atrocious. No one in my family cares how their invitations are addressed to them,nbsp;so my question is... are printed labels really all that bad? Do people really care? I'm not sure what to do on this one. TIA!Posted by kroot87If I use clear address lables vs white ones does it make it any better? Posted by cubswin12[/QUOTE]

Nope.

EastSideBlonde

Now i am having a friend  write mine out - but when I went to start ordering they offered "icing" it was fancy labels that matched the invite - if you provide the format they would i guess mail merge for you - I said no Thank you but i think it is starting to get offered...

banana468

In Response to Re:Address labels on invitations. Bad idea?:[QUOTE]Now i am having a friendnbsp; write mine out but when I went to start ordering they offered quot;icingquot; it wasnbsp;fancy labels that matched the invite if you provide the format they would i guess mail merge for you I said no Thank you but i think it is starting to get offered... Posted by EastSideBlonde[/QUOTE]

Just like stores will print out registry info on cards. They don't care about etiquette. They care about more sales.

ilovemedia

It's your wedding and you shouldn't worry too much about details such as these. Anyone who scoffs at your decisions regarding your own wedding celebration is stupid.

Xofelicia21

It is your wedding and you need to do what you think is best. Everyone is making a big deal about etiquette and I bet most of them didnt follow every wedding rule of etiquette themself. If someone receiving your invite doesn't like that you printed the addresses on labels they probably shouldn't be attending your special day.