Mailing Wedding Invitations Before The Wedding Party

The day you mail your wedding invitations will be both exciting and anxious. The moment you send those invitations out into the world you'll know that you only have between six to eight more weeks to wait before exchanging vows. You'll also start feeling the pressure of all your planning and last minute details pushing down on you like never before. It's inevitable to feel that way but it's worth the stress for that wonderful day.

Before you can reach that moment, however, there are some important things you need to keep in mind about mailing invitations.

Mailing Deadlines

As mentioned above, you should mail your invitations about six to eight weeks before the actual wedding. This provides guests with enough time to return their response cards and for you to make the final arrangements based on the number of people who will actually be attending.

While almost two months is usually plenty of time for guests to make the necessary arrangements, there are some times when you may need to send out Save the Date cards. Save the Date cards are basically little notes which let people know about your wedding early so they can start planning ahead. These are necessary if your wedding is going to take place during the summer, over a holiday period, or is going to be held out of town. You should mail Save the Date cards at least four months before the wedding day.

Invitations & the Post Office

While you might be tempted to just place your invitations in the closest mailbox since you're busy with all of the wedding preparations, you should definitely NOT do this. For one, you need to know exactly how much postage those invitations are going to need. To find out, bring one of your finished invitations to the post office and ask an employee to weigh it for you. That way you'll be sure to have sufficient postage.

Speaking of postage, another reason to visit the post office is to purchase special stamps. Every year, the post office issues one Love Stamp that is usually released around February – in time for Valentine's Day. These stamps add a nice touch to your invitations. Of course, if they don't match well, you can look at the other stamps the post office has available. There's a lot more to choose from than what you can find in those automatic machines.

A third reason to visit the post office in order to mail your invitations is to request that they hand cancel them. Normally, all of the mail is canceled by going through a machine. Sometimes invitations – which are larger and bulkier than ordinary envelopes – can get damaged or stuck in the equipment. Plus, those automatic markings can mark the elegant look of your invitation and you don't want that.

Finally, you might want to think about having your invitations hand-canceled in a romantic-sounding city, such as Loveland, Colorado. No, you won't have to move there. You simply contact that city's postmaster and ask if they could hand cancel your invitations. If they agree, send all of them in a bulk package to the postmaster. It's a cute touch that adds something extra to your invitations.

Putting the Invitation Together

Of course, before you can mail those invitations, you have to assemble them. Depending on how busy you are, this can take one to two weeks.

When assembled, the front of the invitation should be facing forward so as soon as the envelope is opened the recipient will see it. The reception card and other enclosures, except for the response card, sit on top of the invitation. Tuck the response card under the flap of its return envelope then slide everything into the inner envelope. Now slide the inner envelope into the outer envelope so that the recipient's name will be facing them when they open it.

To seal the envelopes, use either a damp sponge or an envelope moisturizer (available in most office supply stores).

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