It kills me. KILLS me. A gorgeous custom-made, high-quality invitation arrives in the mail. With cheesy address or return address labels slapped on the front. Or scribbled on carelessly. You mean to tell me you went to the trouble of selecting the perfect designer, invested a bit more for a quality invitation, and took the time to get everything inside JUST right … then stuck a dinky sad label on the envelope? Even on the rsvp cards, it sends shivers down my paper & design-obsessed spine.
So what can we do about that?
Beautiful custom-printed guest addresses!
“But Kate, it’s just the envelope! The post office is going to trash it anyway. The guests are going to throw it out anyway!”
Yes, it’s the part of an invitation that takes the brunt of handling abuse from the post office. This is the case with every piece of mail. But it’s also the very first impression OF the first impression of your wedding or event. The envelope is a perfect space to really WOW your guests, and custom-printed digital calligraphy rounds out the design to create a truly coordinated invitation package.
Here are a few examples pulled from our portfolio. Custom-printed guest mailing addresses can be any color, any font, or use multiple fonts. It can even include artwork to create a very custom look.
A custom-printed return address and RSVP address also ties into the invitation theme so the whole design flows together seamlessly.
Another option for addressing the envelopes include, of course, hiring a professional traditional calligrapher, which I do recommend if you have the budget and like the look. Or perhaps you know someone with AMAZING hand-lettering skills.
But even if you have EXCEPTIONAL hand-writing, consider the time it will take to beautifully hand-write 50, 100, 150 or more addresses. I’m sure you’d rather be doing something more fun, right?
I tried my hand at addressing just for fun. Good thing I’m usually typing and using pretty fonts.
Please. PLEASE PLEASE. Whatever you do, promise me you’ll never ever NEVER use those tiny return address labels as a mailing label on a wedding invitation.
