Oh hey. So I was all ready to post a bit about our invites, how I spent obnoxious amounts of time on the envelopes alone, how I asked to have them hand canceled, be all helpful, and such.
And then I got this in the mail:
Yes, that is a stack of invites. No, I did not mail myself 7 invitations. Those are ones that were returned to us, with this stamped on the back of them:
Basically saying I need 20 more cents of postage.
Um. Excuse me, post office. NO. You know why? Because I had our envelopes weighed, and was told they would be 65 cents each. However, once I saw the amazing cherry blossom stamps that Miss Mink recently posted about, I decided to overpay by 25 cents on each invitation so that I could have the complete cherry blossom vista (I’m kind of obsessed with them.. recall my tattoo?). I know for a fact that several people in Maryland and Pennsylvania have already received their invites, no problem. And all those invites that were returned to me? They are addresses in either New York or New Jersey.. including my mom.
So, yes, I’m pissed. Upset. Annoyed. Confounded that someone(s) clearly can’t see that there are not one, but two Forever stamps on each invite. Because there is no other explanation, except for the notion that certain people just didn’t pay attention. What’s to say that when I mail them out again, I don’t wind up with them back in my mailbox the second time around?
Ugh. Ok. ::breathing::
Anyway…part of the point of the original post I was going to write was about hand cancelling envelopes. A lot of us late spring/early summer brides have been writing posts including invitation reveals and the mailing process of said invites as of late (Unicycle, Boa, Mink, Wizard, Doe, Hawk), and I wanted to join in on the fun.
See, this all started when I brought my invites to the post office last week to be hand canceled. All this means is that, instead of running the envelopes through a standardized machine to sort the envelopes and “cancel” the stamps, someone physically sorts and cancels. This is a good idea for larger or oddly shaped envelopes and packages, as you’ll end up with a lower chance of something getting mangled a la Miss Doe’s invite.
Alas, the first post office I went to said “we don’t hand cancel envelopes.” Weirdos. So I went to another, bigger post office, where the clerk looked at me all fishy like and had to reassure me several times that yes, I can just leave my box of invites with him and they will all be hand canceled. Cue slight panic and distrust on my end, because yes, I’m a crazy person. Of course I sent one invite (not seven) to myself so I would know how they would look when they arrived…so if they weren’t hand canceled for some reason, I would know. (I swear I’m not a bridezilla. Just really anal.)
To date, I know of at least four different people who have received their invites, and so far there have been three variations on all this hand cancelling nonsense.
First variation: nothing.
Two people have received their invites like this. The folks above actually asked if we just dropped it off in their mailbox, because the envelope was so pristine looking. I mean…the stamps aren’t even canceled. It’s like a gift of 90 cents that they can use again. You’re welcome, friends.
Variation two: we’re in kindergarten and need to scribble over a perfectly nice envelope and ruin it.
This was how ours came. That’s the lamest hand cancelling ever. (Mind you, we live no more than 3 miles from the people with the lack of hand cancelling.) I think they knew it was us and wanted to spite me for being so nuts at the post office. I seriously hope other people don’t get theirs like this. It just makes me a bit sad.
Variation three: oh hey, we actually know what hand cancelling means.
This was brideslady M’s invite. Clearly hand canceled. Looks good. Crazy Miss Fox approves.
Needless to say, I’m (not so) eagerly awaiting to see what other variations undoubtedly pop up; I may have also asked several people to send me a picture of the envelope as soon as they get it. Like I said… #anal.
Can you tell I’m in a snarky mood today? Some things just irk me, especially when it deals with something that I worked on for countless hours to make as close to perfect as I could manage. I also just want these invites to be out and delivered so that I can finally reveal them to you all!
Has anyone else encountered issue with the post office lately? Did it affect your invite timeline at all?
Hell hath no fury like me walking into the Post Office with an invite returned to me for having too little postage with too much postage on it.
Luckily my post office people were super nice about helping me return my $0.64 stamps and get $0.65 ones (oops), and I just trusted them to the machine.
I am pretty low on RSVP’s though… now I’m worried.
Oh no! Thanks for sharing as a heads-up, but I feel bad for you and totally understand being annoyed! So sorry this happened.
What did you do with the 7 that were returned – can you put them back in the mail or do you have to use new envelopes and postage?
Wow, that not enough stamps business would infuriate me. I may even have felt inclined to cry a little. What will you do?
As for the hand canceling fiasco, if it weren’t so frustrating, it would be ridiculously funny how such a simple task can end up so wrong and with such an impressive number of variations.
WHOA! I’m shocked!
At a time when traditional mail is down, you’d think the post office would make it clear that all branches need to be stepping up their game. This kind of inconsistency is horrible!
Let me know what happens when you take those back to the post office. I would be irate and give them a piece of my mind!
This makes me so mad for you! Are you going to take the returned invites back to the post office? Grrr this frustrates me. We didn’t hand cancel ours and luckily we didn’t have any problems and most traveled all the way to California from NY. I”m so sorry you’re having to deal with this and I hope it all works out!
Aww, Miss Fox, you poor thing. After all that time and effort to make them beyond right, and then you have to deal with this! I’m sorry. However, I do appreciate the sarcasm and one-liners in your post. I did have a chuckle a couple times. Hopefully down the road you’ll be able to smile at this pain-in-the-butt occurance too.
Ugh! I don’t think you’re being overly anal or bridezilla-y at all. I would be *SO* angry if I were you. Honestly I am shocked at how horrible your experience was! I’m hoping they can do something to at least cover their error with the returned invites.
Oh, I would be so pissed at the stamp situation, they are so clearly two stamps! I hope they fixed their mistake!
Oh my gosh!! I don’t think you’re being anal at all, I would be PISSED about all that nonsense (or maybe we’re just both anal). I had nightmares about our invitations all being returned to us, that was one of my biggest fears when we sent them out. I would take your returned ones to the post office and point out the EXTRA stamps and ask them to explain exactly why you need to pay an extra 20¢ on top of that. Omg. I’m getting pissed *for* you hahaha.
That is SO frustrating! Especially since you overpaid! What a mess. All of our “hand cancelled” envelopes got the pen-scribble treatment.
ooo how infuriating! I went to the post office to mail my STDs, where the semi-helpful man at the desk told me I could hand cancel myself. I was happy to do so, even though the stamp was running out of ink and I had to stamp so hard my hand hurt…badly.
Anyway, I got mine in the mail a couple of days later, and they had run it through the machine anyway!
This happened to me at work recently. I weighed the envelope and made sure to put extra postage on it, but it was returned TWICE for lack of postage. I am convinced the postal people in the neighborhood just hate me. There might have been some teary eyes the second time it was returned and my boss looked at me like I was an idiot.
I am so sorry about that AND your hand cancelling. I would be so upset about the scribble!
I have hd problms with the post office. I went down nd hd my invittions weighed nd mesured to check wht the postge would be. They sid, 45 cents. The vst mjority of my invitations were delivered with no problems but one invitation came back to us postage due, and another ws delivered postge due. My mother went down to her post office with the returned letter to ask if we could send it with the same stamp and that post office said, yes we could but although that letter was returned saying 45 cents due it was actully 1.50. This is because my square envelopes were 1/4 of an inch to large but square envelopes do not qualify for large envelope rates, they count as packages, Too bad the post office down here in Ne Orleans didn’t notice that.
This posts make so glad I’m able to hand deliver 98% of my invites. The post office sounds so complicated!
So sorry! That stinks : (
Side note: I live in Narberth -like Brideslady M : )
I was so excited when I saw that.
I took our invites several times, and ours were also $0.65. Luckily, we didn’t have to deal with the drama of hand cancelling. But we received several RSVPs with no stamp cancel mark. Weird.
I am soo frustrated for you and having flashbacks to when I sent mine out last year! It is unbelievable that there is such inconsistency between branches. I’m from NJ, however, am living in RI. Before I sent mine out, I went to 2 separate offices to weigh them and figure out postage. Thankfully BOTH said they fit with one stamp. The problem however was I used glassine envelopes on the outside so people could see a beautiful peacock feather laying on top of the suite with a piece of lace used as a belly band. Anyway, I noticed that the invitation I sent to people within 10 minutes of my parents home (NJ) got returned to me for lack of postage. This was because the people were idiots and thought they weighed too much (uh hello post office people- I had them weighed twice and they were fine. What is your deal?!) and didnt do their research and went to hand cancel them even though they could get put through the machine (which they did EVERYWHERE ELSE!) It seems that various locations make up their own stupid rules. I for one think that this is outrageous, especially considering what Miss Mink said regarding the downward trend in sending snail mail- Dear post offices across the states- get your shit together!!
Anyway, other than ranting, I did want to say that no matter what, it will be ok! As someone who survived it, I know first hand that the invitations will get to where they are going and no matter what people are going to be so proud of you and happy to receive your labor of love- and more importantly, they will be excited to be invited to your day of love which no squiggle line or extra postage will detract from! Hang in there sister. And worst comes to worse, there is always wine =P hehe
I personally HATE the postal service. 10% of my wedding invitations never arrived at their destination, which resulted in several of my friends not being able to attend. Seems like spending $1 to send a small envelope should mean it gets delivered in a timely fashion and without being totally torn up. SO GRRR…I’m sorry to hear you’re having issues too.
Mrs. Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MD Age and Occupation: 26, Massage Therapist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support Engineer Engagement Date: April 18, 2010 Wedding Date: June 2012 Venue: Vandiver Inn About Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
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