How To Mail Wedding Invitations

During the process of wedding planning, you’ll probably be dealing with thousands of little details. An important step to ensuring your guests have all the information they need to attend your perfectly planned event is mailing out your wedding invitations or save the dates. Before you start stuffing, sealing, and stamping those envelopes, it’s important to make sure you know how to mail them properly to ensure that they’ll arrive safely to your guests. We’ll guide you step-by-step on how to mail wedding invitations using USPS so you can check one more thing off your to-do list.

When To Mail Wedding Invitations

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from our clients is “When should we mail our wedding invitations?” Our general rule of thumb is that they should be mailed 8-16 weeks ahead of your wedding date. However, there are many factors to take into consideration for your mailing date, such as: date that your final guest count is due, your RSVP date, whether it’s a destination wedding, if your wedding date coincides with a major holiday, or whether or not the majority of your guests need to travel. We will work with you to figure out the best mailing date, and also ensure that you order your wedding invitations early so that we can stay on track with your mailing deadline.

Finalizing Your Wedding Invitation Address List

Another consideration before we can begin the entire process is to compile your guest address list. This list will dictate the quantity of wedding invitations you need to order, and will also give you an idea of how many extras you may need, in case there are any addressing mistakes, forgotten folks, or lost mail. To be safe, we usually suggest ordering at least 10-15% extra invitations. We offer digital calligraphy for your wedding invitation guest address printing, which will save you the time and energy of handwriting each address – also available in white ink! Our Excel template for envelope addressing should be used for the best formatting.

Order Your Wedding Stationery Early

Depending on the type of wedding invitations you select, we always suggest ordering early. Generally speaking, for digitally printed invitations, you can expect an average turnaround time of about two weeks. For specialty printing processes, such as thermography, letterpress, engraving, or foil, this can range anywhere from three to eight weeks. Additional embellishments, such as acrylic, wax seals, specialty boxes, and more, can further increase your wedding invitation turnaround time. Ordering early will ensure that you have plenty of time to get your wedding invites prepared for mailing.

Assembling Your Wedding Invitations

Once you have your full wedding invitation suite in your hands, you will need to put everything together. Here at Hyegraph Invitations & Calligraphy, we do offer assembly services and stuffing, sealing, stamping and mailing services. If you choose to handle this on your own, make sure you set aside some time as it can be a process. For a simple wedding invitation suite, you’ll only need to stack all of your enclosure cards on top of the main wedding invitation card, and then stuff it into the envelopes. If your wedding invites are more complex, you may need to glue layers together, fold laser cut jackets, adhere wax seals, or fold belly bands. We will discuss assembly options with you when you place your wedding invitation order.

Double Check The Weight And Postage Rate

While we can provide you with an estimate on how much postage will be required to mail your wedding invitations, we will always strongly recommend taking one complete invitation set to the post office you intend to mail your invitations from and get a quote from the postal worker. When bringing your invitation set for a quote, make sure that you have each and every single insert card placed inside the envelope. Additionally, if you have additional embellishments, such as ribbons or wax seals, these should also be present. The postal worker will check your invitation for size, weight, thickness, and rigidity. They will then let you know how much it will cost to mail your invitations domestically, and you can purchase postage stamps on the spot, or purchase the correct dollar amount of stamps online at USPS.com (if the assortment on offer at the physical post office aren’t to your liking). If you have any international guests, bring a list of each country with you to the post office to check the individual postage rates for those destinations, as they will vary.

It should be noted that you may be charged an extra non-machinable fee if your envelopes are square, if the address orientation is portrait rather than landscape, or if your invitations are too thick/rigid to go through the sorting machine. These factors should be brought to the postal worker’s attention to ensure that they are not missed.

If you have a physical RSVP card with return envelopes, don’t forget to purchase postage stamps for those, too! It is traditional and considered formal etiquette to pre-stamp these RSVP envelopes to make it as easy as possible for your guests to return the reply card to you. In the case of international guests, there is no need to stamp the reply envelope, as our postage will not work in their country.

What Is Hand-Canceling?

As you do research on mailing your wedding invitations, you will likely come across a term called “hand-canceling”. Hand-canceling is a rubber stamp mark that is placed on top of your postage stamps to “cancel” them, AKA to mark them as used. This prevents the machine-printed mark from being printed on top of your stamps. This service is not officially published by USPS, nor is it offered by every post office location. You will need to inquire with your specific location to see if this is something they can offer you. Sometimes, the answer will be “No”. Other times, they may do it for you at an additional charge, or may let you step aside and hand-cancel them yourself at the counter.

However, this process does not guarantee that your wedding invitations won’t go through any machinery along the way to their final destination. Be aware that there may still be a machine-printed bar code that goes on your envelopes as they make their way through sorting machines. While there are no guarantees that your invitation envelopes will arrive to your recipients mark-free, it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Sealing Your Wedding Invitation Envelopes

Depending on your wedding invitations and wedding invitation envelopes, there are a few different ways to seal your envelopes. The simplest and most accessible way to seal your envelopes is to simply use water. You can set aside a small dish of water and use your finger tips, or they also sell sponge applicator tools. Keep in mind that you’ll need to use the correct amount of water – too much and the gumline can get washed away, or too little and the adhesive may not adhere correctly.

Another option is to use a glue stick. The classic Elmer’s invisible glue sticks work great for this. We suggest to do this on top of a napkin, silicone mat, or scrap paper, to protect your surface from the inevitable glue residue.

Last, but not least, is to use double stick tape. This is the most secure way to seal your envelopes, and also what we suggest if you have thick envelopes made of cover weight card stock, or if you have a lot of thick cards or 3D invitations. Double stick tape can be hand applied to each envelope, or you can also purchase a dispenser tool to apply it more efficiently.

Whichever method you choose to seal your envelopes, we do recommend putting a heavy weight or stack of books over them when you are done, and leave it overnight. This will make sure your envelopes stay sealed and that the contents are safe and sound throughout their mailing journey.

Drop Off Your Wedding Invitations

Now that you have all your beautiful wedding invitations completely assembled, stuffed, stamped, and sealed, it is time to drop them off to be mailed. The easiest and most accessible way is to drop them off in a blue collection box, which are usually strategically located in many neighborhoods. However, we recommend taking them to the original post office location you went to for the postage estimate, and mailing them at the counter with the clerk instead. This is especially important if you have requested hand-canceling. It is also the last opportunity for any errors or postage mistakes to be caught before all of your invitations are mailed out.

Step-by-Step Guide on How To Mail Your Wedding Invitations

Here are the key takeaways on how to mail your wedding invitations:

• Decide when to mail your wedding invitations, and order them early enough to ensure you have enough time for production, assembly, and mailing.
• Finalize your guest list to determine how many invitations you should order.
• Assemble your wedding invitations, and then bring one complete sample to the post office to double check the postage rate.
• Consider hand-canceling your invitations to avoid a machine-printed mark atop the postage stamps.
• Stuff, stamp, seal, and then drop off your wedding invitations at the post office.

Wedding Invitations Mailing Service in San Francisco

From save the dates to place cards, we can help you with all of your wedding stationery needs. If you are too busy or would prefer for a professional to handle your wedding paper goods, we are here to help you from beginning to end. We can help you design a cohesive wedding stationery suite, and also offer mailing services. Contact us or make a free appointment today!