Envelope Etiquette

When you are organizing a wedding or a formal dinner party, you need to follow the proper etiquette of addressing the envelopes while sending out your invites. If you fail to do so, you might end up alienating your guests who might not accept your invitation. If you are hosting a business party then you should make sure that you address all the guests in the official invite in the correct way to avoid any unpleasantness later. Here are some important guidelines that you should follow for addressing envelopes.

How to Address a Wedding Envelope?

A wedding is a very joyous and life changing event in every person's life and it is very taxing to organize a wedding. If you are using the services of a professional wedding planner, it is best that you give her the list of guests who are to be invited to the wedding reception well in advance. Discuss with the wedding planner the way you want the guests to be addressed in the invitations, if you want to avoid any mishaps. If, on the other hand, you are handling the invitations part yourself then you should keep some things in mind.

The wedding invitation generally consists of an inner envelope and an outer envelope. The outer envelope should be handwritten. You can write them out yourself if you have a fine penmanship or you can get it written in calligraphy. The address should be centered neatly with the full name of the guest. Avoid using abbreviations and initials and write out the full name of the guest. The return address should not be printed on this side of the envelope but should be printed on the flap side of the envelope. Always address your guests with their formal names and avoid using nicknames. For example do not use Alex for Alexandria and Bob for Robert. For the title use the proper one like Ms., Mr., Mrs., and Dr. In case you are sending the invite to a judge, clergymen, political figure or a military person use the full and appropriate titles like Honorable, Reverend, Senator, Lieutenant etc.

Envelope Etiquette for Addressing Couples

When addressing a couple, you need to follow the envelope addressing etiquette given below.

Couples	Envelope Address
Married Couples	Mr. and Mrs. John Baker
Unmarried couples who don't live together	Miss Alexandra Jones
Unmarried couple who live together	Miss Alexandra Baker Mr. Gerald Wilson
Married Couple she kept maiden name	Mrs. Amanda Baker and Mr. Gerald Wilson
Married Couple both are doctors	Doctor Amanda Baker and Doctor Gerald Wilson
Married Couple she has a professional title, he does not	Doctor Amanda Wilson and Mr. Gerald Wilson
Same-sex couples list them in alphabetical order by last name	Mr. George Davis Mr. Robert Madison

Envelope Etiquette for Addressing Single Guests

Given below are some guidelines on envelope addressing etiquette for single guests.

Single Guest	Envelope Address
Unmarried Female	Ms. Alexandra Baker
Divorced Female kept married name	Ms. Alexandra Wilson
Widowed Female	Mrs. Alexandra Wilson
Unmarried Male	Mr. Gerald Wilson

Business Envelope Etiquette

You should address the business envelope in the correct way if you want to make a favorable impression. The name of the recipient should be handwritten in a neat handwriting and the address should be printed in a professional font. Make sure that you have addressed the recipient with the appropriate title and double check the recipient's name for spelling. You should also include the return address at the upper left hand side of the envelope.

These were some guidelines for addressing envelopes for a wedding or business event. When you follow these envelope addressing etiquette you are sure to get acceptances for your event.