How to address envelopes for your wedding invitations
During the whole planning and designing of your invitations, you might leave for the last the review and correction of your guest list and then is when you start facing all the questions on how properly write names and titles, their correct order and even spelling.
There are some rules of etiquette when it comes to address envelopes. Whether you’re having a formal or a casual wedding, these apply to most and that’s why it is important to at least take them into consideration even if you’re being flexible and want to teak some of these rules that, let’s be real, *some* might be a little outdated. But regardless of how you feel about them, it’s always important to know them to have a good reference and foundation to fix your guest list.
To help you with this process, I’ve put together a few examples and situations and created this simple guide to learn how to address your envelopes. But before jumping into it, please note that all of these are for outer envelopes.
Married couple
There are a few different scenarios for married couples, which are the most common combo you’ll probably have in your guest list. Here are a few examples:
Both use the same last name
Formal: “Mr. and Mrs. Joe Doe”
Casual: “Mr. Joe Doe and Mrs. Jane Doe”
Different last names
Wife’s name comes first and needs to be followed by the word “and”, and then the husband’s name
“Mrs. Jane Jones and Mr. Joe Doe”
PRO TIP
By general rule, the husband’s name can never be separated from his last name
One having an official title
If a spouse holds an official title such as Dr, The Honorable (for judges), The Reverend (for pastors), etc, that person will be mentioned first, and their names will be separated by the word “and”.
If it’s the wife who holds the official title, will go first detailing both her name and last name. If it’s the husband, his title will be followed by his wife’s.
“Dr. Jane Doe and Mr. Joe Doe”
“Dr. and Mrs. Joe Doe”
Same-sex married couples
Both full names must be displayed separated by the word “and”, and usually the person closer to the couple that’s getting married comes first. Also, they can be sorted in alphabetical order based on their last names.
“Mrs. Jane Doe and Mrs. Jane Jones”
Same-sex couples that share same last name
The general recommendation is to type the names in alphabetical order based on the name, but also can apply the rule of the closer person to the couple getting married to be mentioned first. IN any case, both last names must be written and use the word “and” to separate them.
“Mr. Joe Doe and Mr. James Jones”
2. Unmarried couple living together
Both names have to appear in full but instead of using the word “and” to separate them, names have to be written in separate lines. Also, usually the woman’s name comes first but you can also consider to put first the name of the person that’s closer to the couple that’s getting married.
“Ms. Jane Doe”
“Mr Joe Doe”
3. Single guest
In this case, just use the preferred title and the full name. If a “plus one” is considered, the correct way to detail that is by writing “and Guest” after the name.
4. Addressing to a family
If you are inviting a full family group, you have two options:
Parent’s names only
“Mr. and Mrs. Joe Doe”
Parent’s names followed by the words “and family”
“Mr. and Mrs. Joe Doe and family”
If you want to specify the names of the children (which is highly recommended if you decide to go addressing the parent’s names only on the outer envelope), consider adding an inner envelope in which you can write each of them. Although that if it’s just one child, you can actually write the name after their parent’s but in a different line
“Mr. and Mrs. Joe Doe
Little Joe Doe”
There are specific rules that apply when adding title to children’s names, but I personally find those very outdated and, in my experience, people prefer not to use them.
5. The use of the ampersand
Some people prefer using an ampersand instead of the word “and”, and although that is 100% personal reference, the general rule for a more formal addressing is to write “and”. Also, especially when addressing the envelopes with calligraphy, the ampersand can be hard to read.
Another important detail to remember is that every person older than 18 years old receives their own invitation, even when living in the same house as the parents, so in that case envelopes will need to be addresses accordingly.
And finally, keep in mind that your guests need to feel as welcomed as possible since the very beginning of the wedding, and the invitations are actually their first touch with your event, so don’t forget to take into consideration the use of the gender neutral title “Mx.” if necessary when addressing the envelopes.
Hope you find these tipos helpful and let’s get in touch if you need more help with your dream invitations!
