Addressing envelopes

katie88f

I did a search and couldn't find much on this.  How are you addressing your outer envelopes?  Are you handwriting them?  Are you using your computer to print directly on the envelopes or printing labels? 
Just trying to get an idea on how to do this!
Thanks.

LeiselEB

Printing directly onto the envelope using a nice font is fine. Labels, not so much.

I work in stationery and all the high end stationers offer engraved or otherwise "printed" envelopes now. Calligraphy is definitely the standard for formal, traditional invites, but since so many brides are carrying their design ideas/theme into stationery, keeping the design cohesive by printing envelopes is becoming popular. 

In my personal opinion - handwriting looks dumb on a wedding invite, especially if it is a formal, fancy invite. Just my opinion here, I don't mean to offend, it's just not my favorite

DiLynn83

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_addressing-envelopes-16?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:6c2f0e9b-53c7-497d-a531-bd558a395115Post:0a72204e-b1f5-4cd8-8a32-4b52788f3173">Re: Addressing envelopes</a>:
[QUOTE]Printing directly onto the envelope using a nice font is fine. Labels, not so much. I work in stationery and all the high end stationers offer engraved or otherwise "printed" envelopes now. Calligraphy is definitely the standard for formal, traditional invites, but since so many brides are carrying their design ideas/theme into stationery, keeping the design cohesive by printing envelopes is becoming popular.  In my personal opinion - handwriting looks dumb on a wedding invite, especially if it is a formal, fancy invite. Just my opinion here, I don't mean to offend, it's just not my favorite :)
Posted by LeiselEB[/QUOTE]

<div>I'm gonna give CMGr about 2 minutes to pop into this thread and totally disagree, however, *I* completely agree with every single word written above.</div>

coraleetbwed

I got so tired of hearing that the ONLY acceptable way to address wedding invitations is to handwrite them that I bought an Emily Post Wedding Etiquette book and a Crane's Wedding Blue book.  The Emily Post wedding etiquette book doesn't say anything and the Crane's says you can either handwrite or if your handwriting isn't that good you can have a calligrapher do it.

This same book says that the only acceptable paper for invitations is white or ecru.  I checked the publish date and it's 1993.  I'm going to see if there's a newer edition.

Either way, it looks like handwritten isn't the only way and I also agree with every single word above. 

yellowrose314

I think it depends on a number of things...
1) How good is your handwriting? If you have nice handwriting, I think it's a nice personal touch to hand address the invitations. You can get great caligraphy sets, with different colored inks (to tie into your color scheme) from Staples.
2) How many people are you inviting? If you have upwards of 100, 150, 200 etc etc , and depending on whether or not those people are couples or singles, you're going to have a killer case of writer's cramp if you're doing it by hand. I think printing off the addresses on the envelopes is perfectly acceptable to avoid a bad case of carpul tunnel...

I think it really depends on what you like. Some might think handwriting is a little old fashioned, but it's a nice personal touch that I think people might enjoy. Then again, with the exception of close family and maybe your bridal party, is anyone really going to keep the envelope? Doubtful. Go with what you feel.

bunni727

We sent out 120 invitations, and my hands survived by working on a few at a time. I printed in a really light gray and traced over it, so they still have the personal touch of being technically handwritten, but don't have my goofy unassisted handwriting on them.

emilyandes

I am printing addresses directly onto my envelopes. For the return address on the back, which can be tricky depending on the flap, I am ordering a stamp that is an appropriate size to use on the RSVP envelope as well. My mom is technically the one sending the invites, so I am just getting the stamp for her. As long as the font you use to print the invites is more of a script-like font, I don't see there to be a problem; and honestly I doubt that many people would notice. Hope this helps.

P.S. I have size A7 envelops and the settings for printing them is tricky. Google how to print on A7 envelops for a walk through that is super helpful.