Addressing Wedding Invitations | Wedding Etiquette
How to Address Your Wedding Invitations
You have designed your beautiful invitation and you are now ready to collect everyone’s addresses and start forming your guest list. Did you know that there is proper wedding etiquette to addressing your invitation envelopes? DM Paper Designs has dug up all of the information you need to properly address your invitations to etiquette standards.
Guidelines for Guest Addressing
For the names on your invitations:
- Titles for adults, include Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms., Doctor. These are the only acceptable abbreviations during your addressing, Doctor being the exception. If you wish to be less formal, titles do not have to be included.
- Initials are not acceptable; Write “William,” not “W”. Omit the middle name if you do not know it.
- Insert the word “and” between guests’ names. An ampersand or “&” should not be used.
The following guidelines apply when wording your guests’ names and addresses:
TO A MARRIED COUPLE
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Stuart Brown
TO A MARRIED COUPLE WITH CHILDREN UNDER EIGHTEEN
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Stuart Brown
Jane and Paul Brown
TO AN UNMARRIED COUPLE AT THE SAME ADDRESS
Miss (or Ms.) Emily Jones
Mr. Williams
TO A SINGLE WOMAN (NOTE: on a formal invitation, Miss is used for an unmarried woman under 21, Ms. for an unmarried woman 21 or over)
Miss (or Ms.) Emily Jones
TO A SINGLE MAN
Mr. John Williams
TO A WIDOW, OR A SEPARATED WOMAN
Mrs. Walter Stuart Brown
TO A DIVORCEE WHO IS STILL USING HER FORMER HUSBAND’S NAME
Mrs. (or Ms.) Smith Robertson or Mrs. (or Ms.) Barbara Smith Robertson (Smith being her maiden name)
TO A MARRIED COUPLE WHEN THE WIFE USES HER MAIDEN NAME
Ms. Emily Jones and Mr. John Williams (Both names are on the same line)
TO A SINGLE MAN OR WOMAN AND GUEST
Mr. Williams and Guest
TO A MARRIED COUPLE, BOTH DOCTORS
The Doctors Williams
TO A MARRIED COUPLE, WIFE IS A DOCTOR
Doctor Emily Jones and Mr. John Williams (She kept her maiden name) or Doctor Emily Williams and Mr. John Williams
OTHER ADULT RELATIVES WHO RESIDE IN THE HOUSEHOLD should each receive his or her own invitation
For your addresses:
STREET ADDRESS:
- Include house number, and street name.
- Spell out all words; North, South, East, and West should not be abbreviated. Street, Road, Avenue, Boulevard and Lane should always be written out, not abbreviated.
- Figures are used in zip codes and house numbers.
- Numbered streets can be written out, but is not required. For example: Fourteenth Street, vs. 14th Street, or One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Street, vs. 125th StreetFor additional address information, such as Apartment number, spell out the word, Apartment vs. Apt., or Suite vs. Ste.
CITY, STATE AND ZIP CODE:
- States are spelled out in full (for example: Georgia, not GA).
Some extra advice
- Invitations should be mailed six to eight weeks before the wedding.
- Mail invitations first-class mail, never metered mail.
- Be sure to include a return address on the invitations.
- Wedding announcements are addressed the same as invitations, and should be mailed immediately after the wedding.
Guidelines for Guest Addressing for outer and inner envelopes
Many wedding invitations have two separate envelopes, the outer envelope and the inner envelope, which contains the actual invitations.
The following guidelines apply to addressing them:
TO A MARRIED COUPLE
Outer: Mr. and Mrs. Walter Stuart Brown
Inner: Mr. and Mrs. Brown
TO A MARRIED COUPLE WITH CHILDREN UNDER EIGHTEEN
Outer: Mr. and Mrs. Walter Stuart Brown
Inner: Mr. and Mrs. Brown
Jane and Paul
TO AN UNMARRIED COUPLE AT THE SAME ADDRESS
Outer: Miss (or Ms.) Emily Jones
Inner: Miss (or Ms.) Jones
Mr. Williams
TO A SINGLE WOMAN
Outer: Miss (or Ms.) Emily Jones
Inner: Miss (or Ms.) Jones
TO A SINGLE MAN
Outer: Mr. John Williams
Inner: Mr. Williams
TO A WIDOW, OR A SEPARATE WOMAN
Outer: Mrs. Walter Stuart Brown
Inner: Mrs. Brown
TO A DIVORCEE WHO IS STILL USING HER FORMER HUSBAND’S NAME
Outer: Mrs. (or Ms.) Smith Robertson or Mrs. (or Ms.) Barbara Smith Robertson (Smith being her maiden name)
Inner: Mrs. (or Ms.) Robertson
TO A MARRIED COUPLE WHEN THE WIFE USES HER MAIDEN NAME
Outer: Ms. Emily Jones and Mr. John Williams (Both names are on the same line)
Inner: Ms. Jones and Mr. Williams
TO A SINGLE MAN OR WOMAN AND GUEST
Outer: Mr. John Williams
Inner: Mr. Williams and Guest
TO A MARRIED COUPLE, BOTH DOCTORS
Outer: The Doctors Williams
Inner: The Doctors Williams
TO A MARRIED COUPLE, WIFE IS A DOCTOR
Outer: Doctor Emily Jones and Mr. John Williams (She kept her maiden name) or Doctor Emily Williams and Mr. John Williams
Inner: Doctor Jones and Mr. Williams (She kept her maiden name) or Doctor Williams and Mr. Williams
DM Paper Designs was born and grew from a love for creative unique invitations and stationery which are a joy to send and receive!
We design and produce each order based on the customer’s vision for their event, whether it be a wedding, corporate event or fundraiser, bar/bat mitzvah, quinceanera, birthday party, new baby, or any other event requiring an invitation, announcement, stationery or printed piece.
We have designs which have been created for others, that you can duplicate and personalize. If you see a piece that catches your eye, but want to change certain elements or colors, that is something we do with ease. What truly inspires us is starting from scratch to create a piece just for you! By designing and producing each piece as it is ordered, we are able to create pieces which meet any budget, style, colors and/or theme that you have in mind.
DM Paper Designs is a Preferred Vendor of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates.
