A: Wedding invitations traditionally consist of an inner and an outer envelop to dictate who is invited to a wedding and/or reception. The outer envelope is used for the postal service to get it there, the inner to show who is invited. Now, where in the world did this little tradition come from?
Long ago, wedding invitation recipients would have been greeted at home by the brides and their assistants, who went door to door delivering their invitations. Many times, servants would answer the door, accept the invitation, remove the outer envelop and hand only the inner envelop to the invited guest. My favorite example of this is from the movie Ever After (modern take on the Cinderella Story), with Drew Barrymore i.e. Danielle/Cinderella. I have a weakness for movies like this! The horsemen ride up, inviting everyone in the household to the royal wedding, leaving poor, sweet Danielle out.
The outer envelope is, more often than not, addressed formally with the formal name and address:
Outer:
Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Neal Smith
1234 Walla Lane
Walla Walla, Wisconsin 13456
Inner (formal): Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Inner (personal): Greg and Sally
All spelled out. No abbreviations. This is an example of a married couple with the same last name. Obviously, not everyone is married, so other formats can apply...
click to view me full size!Some additional items:
Making sure you have the correct address is a priority. Don't guess or look in the white pages. If your invitation is returned because of the wrong address, you have 1) wasted (that ever so expensive) postage and 2) are giving guests late notice of your date.
Avoid abbreviations, nick names, and initials. It is ok to ask for full formal names. At this time in our lives with Facebook, how many of us have received a facebook message asking for address and spouse names?
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