Addressing the Envelopes of a Wedding Invitations

There are several different etiquette rules for addressing the inner envelope of the wedding invitation, as well as the outer envelope, depending on to whom you are sending the invitation.

The outer envelope is always more formal than the inner envelope, using the full name and title of the addressee(s). Given the usual formality of the outer envelope, how would you address the outer envelope of the wedding invitation for different guests?

Typically, when addressing the outer envelope to a married couple, you would use the husband’s full name with the two titles: Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Doe. On the inner envelope, you can drop the full name down to Mr. and Mrs. Doe.

However, this is still much more formal wedding etiquette for an invitation than you would want for your closest relatives. In that case, wedding envelope etiquette notes that you can address the inner envelope for your close relatives by what you would usually call them, such as Aunt Jane and Uncle Joe or Grandmamma.

What if the couple you are inviting live together but are not married? That’s okay; there is still a format in wedding envelope etiquette to use for addressing the outer and inner envelope of the wedding invitation for the cohabiting couple.

On the outside use Miss for the female instead of the Mrs. that would normally be used. In this case the outer envelope would read Miss Jane Jones and Mr. John Doe.

If you want to address the wedding invitation to not only the couple but also their children, there is yet another format. Leaving the outer envelope as previously mentioned, the only change would be to add the children’s first names underneath the parents’ names on the inner envelope.

Remember, just the first name of the children is proper wedding envelope etiquette for wedding invitations. If you are inviting a single friend, wedding envelope etiquette says for females use Miss Jane Doe or for a male use Mr. John Doe.

On the inner envelope indicate if they can bring a date by adding “and Guest.” If you would rather not have an extra person that you might not even know, then leave the guest part off.

If this single friend is divorced, you should use whichever name she kept after the divorce. If she chose to keep her maiden name, it is okay to put Miss instead of Ms. as her title.

If the guest has a special title such and doctor or military office or judge, use the appropriate title in front of his or her name on the outer envelope. Wedding envelope etiquette dictates just the title and last name on the inner envelope.

It may all seem confusing at first, but addressing wedding envelopes is not as hard as it seems. It may be helpful to arrange your list by groups of married, single, living together, titled, and so on so that you don’t have to switch back and forth between formats as often.