Tips On How To Properly Address Invitations

Planning your dream wedding? Well, today anything goes! What has not changed however, is how to address invitations.  So here are some tips that you may find very useful:

• Invitations should ALWAYS be hand-addressed, preferable in black ink.  Never are you to use labels.  If you are hand writing them, they should be addressed by someone with  neat, beautiful, and legible handwriting, or in calligraphy.  *Hint* Many printers now have the ability to take your guest list (if stored in the computer) and generate you addresses to look just like calligraphy.

1. NEVER use abbreviations expect, Mr., Mrs., Dr., or Jr.
2. Symbols should NEVER be used. For example,write out the word "AND" rather than using an ampersand (&).
3. NEVER use initials. Write "James," not "J".  If you do not know the name do not use an initial.
4. North, South, East, and West should not be abbreviated.
5. Street, Road, Avenue, Boulevard, and Lane should ALWAYS be written out, not abbreviated.
6. States are spelled out in full (for example: South Carolina, not SC)
7. Figures are used in zip codes and housed numbers.  Numbered streets are written out.  For example, Fourteenth Street, not 14th Street, or One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, not 125th Street.
8. Avoid "and family" if possible.  All children over age eighteen should receive a separate invitation.
9. Mail invitations first class mail, NEVER metered mail.
10. Be sure to include a return address on the invitations.

***Wedding announcements and thank you cards are addressed the same as invitations, and should be mailed immediately after the wedding.

HOPE THESE TIPS ARE USEFUL AS YOU BEGIN PLANNING YOUR DREAM WEDDING!!!!!!