Postage- heavy invitation

HT2012 · March 2012

So I know my postage rate is going to be expensive. We picked fairly large

(5.5x7.5) invitations that are on very heavy cardstock. Also we have several international invitations to mail.

Originally I had wanted to get the custom zazzle postage which is about double in price- BUT you could choose what price denomination you wanted on 1 nice little stamp. After reading over the USPS site I see custom postage can not be used with international mail (fail- and possibly inaccurate information because that website is impossible and also WHY NOT?!!)

So as of now it looks like I'm going to be stuck with the ugly old USPS stamps but what do people do with heavy mail? Is the only option sticking multiple ugly stamps on the outside envelope???

Also- is anyone else using this type of invitation and what were your rates? (Mine haven't been printed yet so I cant physically weigh it).

Thanks and sorry for the partial rant!

LeiselEB · March 2012

Are all of your invites international? Could you just send some using a custom stamp and the international ones with the regular postage?

Ours will probably cost at least $1.50 in domestic postage, so we're just using the "wedding" stamps and putting on as many as we need to get the right postage. We're not trying to get exact amounts because I want all the stamps to be the same, so we'll likely overspend on it, but it's still cheaper than Zazzle.

Keep in mind that whatever stamp you get will arrive to your guests with a big black mark on it from the post office - I tried to keep that in mind when I debated using a custom stamp.

HT2012 · March 2012

You're completely right- I kind of think Zazzle is a waste because by the time it arrives- the stamp will be all messed up anyway but it was almost worth it to get everything on 1 stamp and not 3 or more. Not all are international- maybe 20-25%. I am definitely going in person to the post office to get specifics. I just wish they let you buy a stamp for a specified amount.

Are your invitations heavy or odd shaped? I got a wedding a invation last year that was only 60 something (64??) cents so I'm hoping for the best.

LeiselEB · March 2012

They're large - I think something like 6.5 by 8? and heavy. So I knew that postage would be expensive. They also have ribbon on them, which means there's a bump in the envelope and that adds an extra charge.

I really can't give any estimate on what yours might be - definitely take a completed one to the post office and see what they say.

I wish you could buy postage for a specific amount too - I think that would really help them make more money over companies like Zazzle.

ElisabethJoanne · March 2012

I don't think stamps are ugly. We get so little mail with actual stamps, I think any stamped mail is special.

The Post Office prints large-denomination stamps for items heavier than my rent check, so you won't necessarily have to use multiple stamps. They also print plain custom stamps about the size of 2 regular stamps, for envelopes for which they don't have standardized large-denomination stamps.

Sp2012 · March 2012

We had 6X6 square invitations (110lb wt), inner envelope, and 3x5 rsvp card and stamped envelope. Domestic cost was $1.10 each, and our internationals were mostly $1.40.

We enclosed our envelopes in a clear USPS bag (bought at clearbags.com) and then the 2 ugly stamps went on the outside of the clear bag. I didn't care much about the stamps - considered zazzle for like a second but then realized I didn't have time before our invitations needed to be sent out. Our calligrapher suggested using the clear bags - I never would have thought of it myself.

ECook25 · March 2012

We had to use multiple stamps on our invites, as well, and we just used the USPS wedding stamps. A few people commented on how pretty they were. I was worried about multiple stamps but it actually didn't look that bad after all.

When I mailed them, I requested the invitations be hand cancelled to avoid the ugly black mark over the stamps. WIth hand cancelling, our invites just had a round light red stamp over the stamp area that was barely noticeable. The post office did put a bar code sticker on there ultimately, but you could very easily peel it off and it didn't interfere with the look of the invite, really.

AurorasEnvy · March 2012

Our invites were 6x6 pocketfolds with a bunched lace belly band. Apparently the envelopes were JUST a little too big to be considered a "letter" (I'm talking by millimeters), and with the slight bump in the envelope they actually made me mail them as parcels. With the weight, it actually cost me $1.95 each to mail them. A little bit frustrating, since I measured the dimensions at home before I took them and the measurement seemed fine to me (I knew I was going to have to pay extra because they were square and not flat, but come on!!). They used a little red stamp on each one and avoided the stamps, so they weren't ruined in the mailing.

I bought zazzle custom stamps (40% off during their Thanksgiving sale) for $1.04 (my estimation), so I had to add some wedding stamps to get the right amount of postage. A lot of posters on here will tell you no one notices custom postage, but I disagree. We bought the largest size zazzle offers and used our engagement photos, and I had a lot of compliments on them. One of my mom's friends even made a magnet out of it to give to my mom! Again only you can decide whether it is worth the extra money, but they won't go unnoticed.

As far as international - I mailed one to Germany and it must have been fine because I never got it returned.

If you go the custom postage route, zazzle did a great job. Here were mine -

Postage- heavy invitation

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