Hand Cancelling

[Deleted User] · March 2010

Can anyone recommend a post office that has no problem hand cancelling in the Teaneck, Paramus, Fair Lawn area?? I asked the lady at the post office if the do hand cancelling and she said absolutly not.

NJMom050911 · March 2010

I would like to know about this whole process. I asked the Wayne post office and they told me that I can come in and they will show me how to do it and that I can do them all myself. I went to the Lodi post office and they told me they don't do it and even if they did it will still go through at least 3 other machines so that there really is no point of hand cancelling. Can anyone please shed some light on this topic. Thank you.

Lola Minnie · March 2010

Just please be very careful with this. I hope people provide you with good rec's.

My mom dropped off my invitations at a specific post office just to have them hand cancelled - well.... we found out they did not do that. My mom was steamed she was lied to. My invitations were not cheap either so with the amount of $ I spent on them, I was really annoyed at the situation.

akmackay · March 2010

I just went into the post office and gave the lady the invites, asked if she would hand cancel them and she said "of course, when there isn't a line I'll work on them". Not a problem. I also asked if she wanted me to do it for her and she said not to worry about it, it's my big day. Worked for me!

I don't get how some say they won't. I asked my mom to drop off some stragglers to the post office and the lady at the Middletown one tried to make her pay extra to hand cancel. My mom said she went to Lincroft and they did it without an issue and the lady said "fine". Not sure if those ever got hand canceled, but oh well

dmoney79 · March 2010

my mom took ours to the post office in elmwood park on the boulevard, and she didn't ask them to be hand cancelled, but they did anyway
plus, i've always just had luck with that post office (way nicer than the one in radburn when i tried to get my passport).....mh's uncle in florida got the invite the next day!

rlb81 · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:58c1d4e7-2533-43f4-8ffa-29c9475af435">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]I went to the Lodi post office and they told me they don't do it and even if they did it will still go through at least 3 other machines so that there really is no point of hand cancelling.Posted by kathygrzywnowicz[/QUOTE]
We brought our invites to the post office on Saturday morning and asked if we could hand cancel them ourselves (which is what a friend did). Took us about 5 minutes to do this, and the woman said she couldn't promise us that they wouldn't go through another machine at the main mail center.

I got a text from a friend that she received our invite yesterday- and since I have OCD- asked her to send me a picture of the stamp area. Of course they went through the machine. I was seriously annoyed but at least they didn't lie to me.

I agree about money spent on invites, calligraphy etc. and then it makes the envelope ugly and potentially bends your invitation.

Kvarrone · March 2010

Kathy- Which one in Wayne did you go to?

NJMom050911 · March 2010

The one on Valley by the A&P

Lola Minnie · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:3e8d9d8d-8173-42cc-a55e-4f3d93882fc6">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Hand Cancelling : I agree about money spent on invites, calligraphy etc. and then it makes the envelope ugly and potentially bends your invitation.
Posted by rlb81[/QUOTE]

that happened to us - we know of 2 invites that were destroyed. One was bent bad and the other came destroyed. I guess on the plus side, it was 2 guy friends of fi that are single so they weren't really going to care either way about my pretty, expensive, letter press invitations.

Laurms15 · March 2010

I went to the post office in Paramus told them I needed to stamp mine (I had wax seals on the back) and they let me do it there. I also was allowed to do one or two in fair lawn but they said I could do the rest if I wanted (however paramus had longer saturday hours)

michelle221 · March 2010

What does "hand cancelling" mean?

Kvarrone · March 2010

Try the one by packanack lake... Some were sent through the machine and other were not. I know, weird. They also tried to tell me that because of the rhinestones on the invites, they had to put them through. Which makes NO sense to me, but this post office was much nicer and most of the invites (from what I know) were hand canceled.

40 LAKE DR W

WAYNE, NJ

ecg129 · March 2010

This is totally something I didn't even worry about. Whoa.

NJMom050911 · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:ab0ed19a-5d9d-4cd2-8207-1b0d0bb2c945">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]Try the one by packanack lake... Some were sent through the machine and other were not. I know, weird. They also tried to tell me that because of the rhinestones on the invites, they had to put them through. Which makes NO sense to me, but this post office was much nicer and most of the invites (from what I know) were hand canceled. 40 LAKE DR W WAYNE, NJ
Posted by Kvarrone[/QUOTE]

The one in Wayne didn't give me a problem, they told me I can cancel them myself which I think I really would like to do. It's the one in Lodi that said it's pointless. But thank you!

NJMom050911 · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:b3625c48-1f60-462f-87f5-f502e0ea795f">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]What does "hand cancelling" mean?
Posted by michelle221[/QUOTE]

Hand canceling simply means that a human stamps a mark over the postage stamp (so the stamp can't be reused), instead of putting it through a machine to do the same thing

jgido · March 2010

I went into the Westfield Post office in Central NJ to inquire about it before I send out (which I will be doing Thrs ---can't wait!!!) The postmaster at the counter said that Westfield offers it, however you have to do it yourself. I smiled at that cause I have a sever OCD thing and Im like perfect I can ensure its done correctly and perfectly

But he also said the same thing can't guarantee it won't go thru another machine down the line. But he was really nice about it. I will post back on Thrs and let you ladies know how it went

Cheers!

cherylanddan0706 · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://northjersey.weddings.com/main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:21449c18-5b2e-426a-a5f6-ba12d1e23ead">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]I just went into the post office and gave the lady the invites, asked if she would hand cancel them and she said "of course, when there isn't a line I'll work on them". Not a problem. I also asked if she wanted me to do it for her and she said not to worry about it, it's my big day. Worked for me! I don't get how some say they won't. I asked my mom to drop off some stragglers to the post office and the lady at the Middletown one tried to make her pay extra to hand cancel. My mom said she went to Lincroft and they did it without an issue and the lady said "fine". Not sure if those ever got hand canceled, but oh well
Posted by akmackay[/QUOTE]

Wow, which one in Middletown, I had the BEST experience!

rlb81 · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:b44cb4fa-f428-4bf4-a9fd-e47ef4dcae44">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]I went into the Westfield Post office in Central NJ to inquire about it before I send out
Posted by jgido@aol.com[/QUOTE]
I took mine to Scotch Plains the other day and they said the same thing- and I would assume that SP and Westfield end up at the same place (Newark?) after leaving the post office... and mine went through more machines :( boo.

akmackay · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:d0a33ae0-4c42-4657-82ed-d9880e8d657e">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Hand Cancelling : Wow, which one in Middletown, I had the BEST experience!
Posted by cherylanddan0706[/QUOTE]

The one on 35- apparently the lady was giving my mom a VERY hard time. She kept putting one invite through this little thing she had- I guess to make sure it wasn't too big or something. My mom said "my daughter just sent out about 80 of these. I didn't think it would be an issue" and the lady said "we'll see". My mom stood at the counter for like 5 minutes for like 5 invites. So ridiculous. I either get really nice people there, or really nasty people. The lady at Lincroft was great though! I'd never been there before but I guess I'll be back since it's now down the street from me haha

dolanjj · March 2010

i went to the little post office in rumson (right near salt creek grille and crazies ice cream) and they were so helpful. they just said to bring them back on a weekday in the morning, which is when they are slow, and they would be happy to hand-cancel them for no charge. so i did that, and they were all hand-cancelled and arrived nicely.

savannahrl · March 2010

I went to my usual post office and asked enough questions that she said I could do it myself. The only stipulation is I wouldn't be able to take the stamp home, so I'd have to hand cancel them in the post office. (this was in Hamburg, but I think if you make a fuss they will give in!)

Reilly626 · March 2010

Why don't I care? I want them to look nice, but that is life, I cant control a postal machine and dont want to get worked up about it....

kewltif · March 2010

I asked at my post office and they said no problem. I went on my lunch break in the middle of the week. I would suggest going when they aren't busy. It was a non issue and they did it for me.

Karma01 · March 2010

I didn't bother hand cancelling and just mailed them

michelle221 · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:60b25872-1b24-4611-9aa0-958e184c6769">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Hand Cancelling : Hand canceling simply means that a human stamps a mark over the postage stamp (so the stamp can't be reused), instead of putting it through a machine to do the same thing
Posted by kathygrzywnowicz[/QUOTE]

So what would be the concern?

NJMom050911 · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:fad2e911-2de1-4c7c-921d-2fb6e33a0514">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Hand Cancelling : So what would be the concern?
Posted by michelle221[/QUOTE]

The machine presses the ink onto the envelope and since it feeds the invitations pretty quickly it can leave a smudge across your envelope or bend a corner of it. It just looks cleaner if you do it manually, that's all. It's really not too big of a deal but some of us I think are a bit anal. I want them to look as perfect as they can :)

rlb81 · March 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_hand-cancelling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:f244adc6-a3ff-4532-a16b-07a50672ee24Post:6275eb7a-ad4e-4812-80dd-be4c0e7d35c3">Re: Hand Cancelling</a>:
[QUOTE]It just looks cleaner if you do it manually, that's all. It's really not too big of a deal but some of us I think are a bit anal. I want them to look as perfect as they can :)
Posted by kathygrzywnowicz[/QUOTE]
Yup!! :)

uppereastgirl · March 2010

I think the pictures in this post from LI weddings show the value of hand-cancelling:

http://tinyurl.com/yf2xvyl

The invitation we mailed ourselves showed up in pristine condition -- if it had been run through machines, we couldn't tell. After all the effort that went into designing the invitations, having calligraphy done, etc., I didn't want them showing up like that Christmas card.

Hand Cancelling

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