Wedding Blog

In the past week, I’ve been asked by two different brides whether it’s ok to use address labels on wedding invitations. Almost all etiquette sources say that you should never use address labels on invitations because they are so impersonal (yes even the clear ones!). I’m a pretty traditional gal so I’ve always followed this train of thought.

(image: morethanpaper)

What about printing addresses on your computer? Traditional etiquette experts will say that using a computer shows a lack of effort on your part and lends an impersonal air to your invitations. I’m inclined to disagree about the lack of effort part because manually feeding each envelope, searching for the perfect font, adjusting the alignment, can take just as much effort if not more than hand addressing invitations.

If you have a nice invitation appropriate font, I think it’s ok to use a computer to address your invitations. But please keep in mind that you’ll probably need extra envelopes for any mistakes you make. I’ve received several invitations that were printed at home and all of them arrived smudged. I would keep that in mind and be careful about testing your envelopes for smudgability before printing on them.

So what are your options when it comes to addressing invitations?

• Handwrite them (if you have bad handwriting, ask a friend or family member who has nice handwriting to help).
• Hire a calligrapher.
• Have them computer calligraphered.

It’s funny that computer calligraphy is accepted etiquette-wise when it actually takes less effort to send invitations out to be computer calligraphered than it does to print them yourself. We opted to use computer calligraphy for our invitations because it was much more affordable than regular calligraphy and we were really happy with the results.

I know sometimes you think all these etiquette rules are stupid and just want to do what’s easiest. Honestly most people probably won’t even care if you use address labels. Except for annoying sticklers like me.

PS - What about save the dates?! I think save the dates are much less formal than invitations and are often home made. So address labels on them are a-ok with me.