Correct Way to Address an Envelope

With the rapid strides technology has made in the recent years, more and more people have switched to emails to communicate with their friends and acquaintances. There is certainly some etiquette involved while sending an email but these are not as strict as communicating with someone through postal mails. Many times the most important documents like the business letters are sent through post, so it becomes very important that one knows the appropriate way to address an envelope. Also, if you wish that your envelope reaches your destination on time, you have to fill in all the details very carefully.

While sending a letter, you have to make sure that you follow the basic rules, like avoiding spelling mistakes, writing the address in a proper way etc. It is not only a part of the etiquette, but it also ensures that your letters are delivered to the location quickly.

Addressing an Envelope to a Family

Most of the people seem to get in a fix while addressing an envelope to a family. For example, if you are sending an invitation card to the Richardson family, should you address the envelope as Richardson's or Richardsons? The correct way is by writing Richardsons as here you are referring to a plural, i.e. the entire family. Also, if you are not sure about some of the last names like Vixes, Scorseses etc., you can make it simpler by addressing them as The Scorsese family.

To a Business

There are some established standards as far as writing an envelope to a business is concerned. These standards are in place so that there is uniformity in the letters and to make the work of the postal services a bit easier. The important thing that you need to remember while addressing an envelope to a business is that you need to write the name of the person/designation and below that you have to write the name of the company. Some of the tips for addressing an envelope to a business are

• The business address should be written at the center of the envelope.
• The business address should be written in a particular individual's name or that of the name of the company. There is a lot of correspondence that is addressed to large corporations and addressing an envelope to a particular individual enhances the chances of a quick delivery.
• Large organizations have a lot of departments and sub-sections, so you should try to mention the name of that particular department.

While we may think that addressing an envelope to someone is an easy job and doesn't need too much of attention, reports from the United States Postal Service point out to the fact that a large number of letters, envelopes, correspondence etc., are undelivered or returned to the sender due to incorrect information. So, it becomes more important that we are well acquainted with the correct way to address an envelope as not only does it reflect a good etiquette, but also ensures speedy and correct delivery.