
I get the question “How to Address A Wedding Invitation” a lot from my clients, so I wanted to “address” it here for everyone’s reference! Addressing envelopes can be confusing since there are several different scenarios where different rules apply, but here are a few hard and fast rules that apply to every envelope that you address:
- Spell out the word “and.”
- Do not use initials
- Example: “R. Reid Frankenberg” should be “Robert Reid Frankenberg”
- Use numbers only when writing house numbers and zip codes.
- Write out the words
- Example: Street, Court, Avenue
- Do not abbreviate state names
- Example: use Illinois, vs. IL
Now to the nitty gritty. There are several unique scenarios when addressing an envelope that raise questions. I tried to outline the most common ones below. A few fun facts before you dive:
- In the old-in-days “and” use to signify marriage, which is not necessarily the case any more.
- If the woman’s professional title outranks her husbands, her name should be listed first.
- In the case of same-sex married couples, the same rules apply as male and female marries couples #lovewins.
- And for a final fun fact, The first commercially made envelope was made in 1845 🙂
Here is a handy guide for most unique envelope addressing situations. If I did not list one you are curious about, please do ask me in the comments!
Married Couples With
|
Married CouplesMr. Marshall and Mrs. Lily Erikson |
Unmarried Couple Living Togetherformal:Mr. Jim Halbert Ms. Pam Beesly modern*: Mr. Jim Halbert and Ms. Pam Beesly |
Married Woman DoctorDr. Meredith Gray and Mr. Derek Shepherd |
Two Married DoctorsDoctors Meredith and Derek Shepherd |
Married Woman Doctor Who Uses
|
To Families and ChildrenMr. and Mrs. Phil Dunphy Luke, Miss Haley and Miss Alex |
Single WomanMs Carrie Bradshaw |
Married Couple Where Woman
|
Married Couple Where Man
|
Married Couple Where Man is a JudgeThe Honorable Phillip Banks and Mrs. Walter |
Married Couple Where Woman is a Judgethe Honorable Brenda Hale and Mr. Jo Hale |