families with kids over 18-- how to address?

Canadianna

K so this is a nit-picky question-- my invites are done already- but there are a couple that I need to double-check on how to address them. 

I read somewhere that children living at home (over 18) should receive an invite on their own...Ok...I get that for sure. Mostly i'm just asking because my invites are DIY--- and I'm flat out of the supplies needed to make more.

So far, there are a couple of families invited where I have addressed them as a whole family unit on one invite(put the parents names on the outer envelope and then everyone's name on the inner one). Is this a huge deal?

One is a bit more awkward in that it is for an adult relative and their s/o (guest), plus kids in their family who are all over 18 but still live at home. In my mind I still see them as a whole unit- aside from the S/O. But...it's a special case I suppose. Is it necessary to send separate invites? I didn't even think of that until today. Or, is there a correct way to address it?

Thoughts? I don't know if I explained properly..sorry if it's a bit incoherent.

I was so pleased this morning knowing they were done.... how things change....

squirrly

Don't use "and family".  That implies that their great aunt Martha, to whom you are not related, is invited too, because she's their family.  You should explicitly list each name.

And, you should really send a separate invite for those kids that are over 18, or at least out of HS.  They have their own life, their own schedule, etc.  At a minimum, if you are out of supplies and the kids really do live at home full time, it's not the absolute worst thing you could do, I suppose.  But, if they're away at college or have a home/apartment of their own, DO NOT include them on their parents invitation just to save paper and stamps.  Send their invite to where they actually live.  Please.  

cjohnsen2010

I know it's proper etiquette to send a separate invitation to each person over 18 living at home, but one family has 4 children over 18 living at home, so we'd be sending 5 invitations to one house.  They'd think it was ridiculous, too.

I'm doing Mr. and Mrs. John Smith on the outer envelope and then Mr. and Mrs. Smith on the inner envelope, with the second line listing the kids, oldest first to youngest.

Canadianna

Oh gosh...of course I would send them out to other addresses  if they lived away from home--- I would feel a bit insulted if that's what happened to me (which it did- a few times).

None of them have moved out at all- so I really didn't think anything of it--- I haven't seen them in a long while so in my mind nothing has really changed except for HS graduation.

Thanks for the input.