Addressed to Impress

Addressed to Impress

June 21st, 2011 @ 4:31 pm by Mrs. Pony
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It’s about time in our wedding planning to start formally inviting people to the Pony wedding. I have been thinking about our invitations for a while, but now it is time to take action on the Pony invitations, which I have not been doing. So, we’ll just keep in the theoretical for today so I don’t start freaking out about our invitation (or lack thereof) situation.

Our invitations will be housed in these pretty green envelopes that I purchased way back when we made our save the dates:

Envelopes by Paper-papers

Currently, I am contemplating how to addresses our envelopes in an impressive yet efficient manner since time is not really on our side.

Calligraphy is out of the question due to both time and money constraints. And my penmanship lacks the necessary beauty to grace our envelopes:

So, I tried to feed the envelopes through the four printers we have at our home and every single one ended in disaster. Because I like my sanity, trying to print the envelopes myself is now also out the question.

Which leaves us with labels. I have nothing against labels per se, but the etiquette monster is gnawing away at me, reminding me that labels are not considered ’proper’ for a formal wedding invitation. Whatever that means.

But I’m thinking the etiquette monster hasn’t been checking out all of the lovely options available these days in the world of labels:

I talked about these invitations before, but I remembered that one of the reasons I loved them was the unique address label used.

Invitations by Paisley Quill / Via Green Wedding Shoes

Or how about a these amazing labels from Miss Panther’s save the dates that I’m still drooling over:

Fabulous save the dates with beautiful labels by Miss Panther via Weddingbee

And these round labels Mrs. Seashell ingeniously used in pinch when some of her save the dates were lost in the mail:

Lovely round labels by Mrs. Seashell via Weddingbee

And, of course, the ubiquitous wrap around label:

Via Imbue

Although the wrap around labels seem the most practical since they include both the return and mailing addresses on the label, I find myself drawn to the clean, simple lines of the labels used by my fellow bees. Ideally, I would like to use an oval label, as it is my new favorite shape, but I’m not sure whether they will be considered formal enough for wedding invitations.

So, are the labels as bad as etiquette makes them seem? Or should I suck it up and try to make my handwriting work for the invites? Did you use labels for your invites?

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19 Responses to “Addressed to Impress”

Member

KCheer (message) 370 posts, Helper bee

I used labels too - basically I just didn’t care what was “proper” or not and I doubted that any of my friends or family would know either. Besides, I loved adding more of my color theme to the outside of our invitations! I say “Whoot!” for labels!

6/21/11 @ 4:36 pm (reply)

Member

ThePinkPeony (message) 264 posts, Helper bee

I think your handwriting is cute (and, love the Friends shout-out!) - in a pretty metallic pen, I think it would look good! But, if you do want labels, go for it - oval is totally formal enough (maybe even do them outsize, and add a cute line border or something, a la Jaguar?). Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

6/21/11 @ 4:49 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Candy Apple (message) 1,465 posts, Bumble bee

Eh, who cares Ha.

I ended up using clear labels for our STDs, because we ended up sending them out super quickly and I didn’t have time to think about them, and I actually got a lot of compliments on them. I honestly don’t think people care; they just rip the envelope open anyway!

6/21/11 @ 4:50 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Panther (message) 1,046 posts, Bumble bee

Thanks for the shout-out, Pony!!
I say that the etiquette monster needs to get a software update. I had labels for our save the dates and calligraphy for our invitations, and not a single person mentioned either. I think people care enough about envelopes to say, “Oooh, pretty!” but really not any more than that. Don’t kill yourself over them!

6/21/11 @ 4:52 pm (reply)

Member

TheFutureMcBride (message) 4,484 posts, Honey bee

Honestly, I didn’t worry about it and addressed the invites in my horrible handwritting, but wrote a little slower since my husband has better writing.

6/21/11 @ 4:54 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Macarons (message) 235 posts, Helper bee

I really like your handwriting! I swear mine look’s like a little kid’s. If you don’t feel comfortable with your handwriting go with labels I really wouldn’t worry about it.

6/21/11 @ 4:56 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Lox (message) 1,128 posts, Bumble bee

I admit it, I’m a wraparound label girl. I used a scripty calligraphy font and told Emily Post to bite me.

6/21/11 @ 4:59 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Snow Cone (message) 1,026 posts, Bumble bee

If I got an invitation with an oval label, I’d be impressed at the shape, for sure. I think as long as the label doesn’t smack of Office Max + Times New Roman, you’re good to go.

6/21/11 @ 5:04 pm (reply)

Guest

Viviana

I think it depends on how formal of an event you’re having. I personally love the labels and would have done them with a fun border if I was having a more laxed outdoor wedding. I guess I feel into the “formality” monster myself. I printed the envelopes on the computer and then went over them with a metallic marker which has pretty much been the death of me. Oh and I did the same thing for my RSVP cards. As for my return address, I ordered a rubber stamp from etsy and will stamp and emboss all 125 invites. What a nightmare! lol

6/21/11 @ 5:11 pm (reply)

10.

Member

xtatic1 (message) 779 posts, Busy bee

@Mrs. Lox: Have to agree with you! AND everyone was super impressed with my wrap-arounds!

6/21/11 @ 5:32 pm (reply)

11.

Member

tocarat (message) 324 posts, Helper bee

I want to use round labels so bad! So my opinion on ovals, is do it! There is no right or wrong way anymore…and if you make them your own with a splash of creativity, your guests will be impressed.

6/21/11 @ 6:32 pm (reply)

12.

Bee

Mrs. Pain au Chocolat (message) 1,698 posts, Bumble bee

If Emily Post is coming to your wedding, worry about it. But since I’m pretty sure she’s not and it’ll just be people who love you and think the two of you are pretty awesome (even if you would send out envelopes with labels), it’s okay.

6/21/11 @ 6:40 pm (reply)

13.

Bee

Mrs. Elephant (message) 6,182 posts, Bee Keeper

I hand wrote the save the dates and went with labels for the invites. Like you, I had so many issues with sending the envelopes through the printer so we settled on the wrap around labels.

6/21/11 @ 7:24 pm (reply)

14.

Member

Sunlavender (message) 553 posts, Busy bee

I hand addressed our invitations, but I think labeled addresses are adorable! In my opinion, unless you’re doing a traditional formal invitation, why stick to the traditional on the outside as well?

6/21/11 @ 9:04 pm (reply)

15.

Member

mariewest (message) 272 posts, Helper bee

When I get a wedding invitation in the mail, I honestly don’t even pay attention to the label. I don’t care if they paid lots of $$$ for custom calligraphy or printed in at home or used labels. The idea is just to get the invitation through the mail and to the guest. Don’t think to much about what is expected and do what works for you! Outside of wedding crazed brides, who really looks at these details?

6/21/11 @ 9:23 pm (reply)

16.

Guest

Breeze

Wedding etiquette (and all etiquette) is fundamentally about helping people to feel welcome, personally appreciated and comfortable. And as Miss Manners says, to provide a structure so things happen smoothly “or at least without any shoving”.
Printing your labels doesn’t undermine any of these objectives. Let’s not forget how much so-called wedding etiquette and wedding tradition is actually about selling not-especially-necessary products and services to anxious brides…
Any person who could possibly get offended by printed labels is the one with the etiquette problem!

6/21/11 @ 10:51 pm (reply)

17.

Bee

Mrs. Tartlet (message) 3,207 posts, Sugar bee

I had so many problems trying to get envelopes to feed through our home printer, too. I think labels can be lovely! You can’t go wrong with inspiration photos like these!

6/21/11 @ 11:01 pm (reply)

18.

Guest

Ann

Your handwriting is actually very nice! All you would have to do is draw very light pencil lines to keep things straight, and then erase them with a white artist’s eraser. That said, the label examples are a great alternative and I love the idea of an oval, which could be quite elegant!

6/22/11 @ 12:01 pm (reply)

19.