Mailing Your Invitations

By the time you are ready to mail out your invitations, you have most likely already spents many months (closer to a year for some) planning this special day. And if you have chosen to have your envelopes hand-calligraphed, you are definitely making a statement about the the value you have placed on your invitations and your guests receiving them. It's a great first impression for your upcoming wedding!

So now that it is time for you to send these beautiful invitations, here are a few tips to make sure they make it to their recipients quickly and in nearly the same condition as when they left your fingertips:

1. Be sure that you weigh one fully assembled invitation to determine the proper postage. With the rules at the post office constantly changing, you don't want to get stuck with all of your beautiful envelopes returned to you with "postage due" stamped in red across the front!

2. It is also a good idea to send one or two "tester" invitations. These can go to people such as your parents, sibling, maid of honor, or even to yourself (although many couples like to keep their own invitation unmailed as a keepsake). This will ensure that you have used correct postage, and will also give you an idea of how your invites will look when your guests arrive.

3. Having the post office "hand stamp" your envelopes is an option to consider as well. You will notice that when you receive mail there is the red marking across the stamps indicating that the item was processed through the mail. When you request that your items be hand stamped at the post office, a postal worker will count your postage on each envelope and physically stamp, or process, it by hand instead of sending it through the machine. Keep in mind, though, that sometimes this will leave excess ink that can be smeared if your invitations are stacked on top of each other.

After you have followed these simple steps, your invitations are ready to go out in the mail, and your guests will surely appreciate the time and effort spent creating the perfect "first look" into your big day.