Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

Hi ladies! A day or two ago, I read a post (I'm sorry I don't remember who from)...that even if you go to the Post Office and hand cancel your invitations, they will eventually end up going through a machine anyway... this concerned me. Just in case my invitations are a little bulky, I don't want to take any chances of them getting ripped apart in a postage machine. I work for the Post Office and today I asked my Postmaster about this. He said that when wedding invitations, or any invitations for that matter come in and the person dropping them off requests they be hand cancelled, they will in NO WAY go through a machine. They are placed in a special bin for bypassing machine mail. Once they are hand cancelled, they will make it to their destinations with that one marking and nothing else. I sure hope this eases some of your minds...I know it does for me!!!

Re: Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

Thanks! That's a relief.

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My Post Office said that they would not hand cancel. I guess that's what I get for living in the city.

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but don't they need the zip code barcode put on at soem point? & how do they know they won't go threw a machinw at some post office beetween you & your guest?

Re: Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

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Posted by tourist

but don't they need the zip code barcode put on at soem point? & how do they know they won't go threw a machinw at some post office beetween you & your guest?

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I will ask him about the barcode thing and get back to you, but they WILL NOT go through a machine if you request they be hand cancelled. From your post office, they are put in a special bin that totally bypasses being put into a machine. That bin is then taken to the USPS processing plant (like Mid-Island). When the plant receives that bin, they hand sort it to the post office it's going to so it's not sorted by a machine. If it's going to another state or to another processing center, they are again placed in a non-machinable bin until the invitation reaches its destination.

Re: Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

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Posted by tourist

but don't they need the zip code barcode put on at soem point? & how do they know they won't go threw a machinw at some post office beetween you & your guest?

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Actually, it seems that once they leave YOUR post office for delivery, it's questionable. My post office hand cancelled my invites, and the invites that went to Staten Island residents did not receive any other markings...

HOWEVER, my Brooklyn friends in work today showed me the envelopes that had the BAR CODING & DEFINITELY did go through the machine....

So, I guess once they go through the other post offices, they may send it through a machine anyway...

Re: Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

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Posted by heidla

My Post Office said that they would not hand cancel. I guess that's what I get for living in the city.

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I went to the post office in Rockefeller center and they hand cancelled mine . Actually the 1st 50 were free and anything after that was .5 cents a letter. And they have a special line for prepaid bulk mail there too

Re: Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

Does it really ruin the invitation though? Or just make the envelope messy looking?

Re: Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

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Posted by nov2004bride

Does it really ruin the invitation though? Or just make the envelope messy looking?

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It didn't ruin the envelope, but they obviously looked so much nicer without the BIG BLACK BAR CODE on the bottom

I'm sure no one notices...just me. It's what is inside that really counts anyway. I'm just a pain in the ***!

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I think it is true that while you may hand cancel the invites at your post office you do not know what will happen in between there. I am noticing on my friends invitations I have been receiving recently that almost all of them have the barcode on the back side. At least it is on the back side?? But I am a little concerned because my invites are very thick and I am afraid they may get ruined.

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I was the one who posted that they do go through a machine because my dad is a mailman and I asked him. He said they are air shot through sorting machines and the zipcode also has to be printed on them.

I don't know what other people in the post office are saying, but I asked Dad and if he is wrong, then he really should retire after my wedding!

Re: Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

Thank you so much for posting that and clearing my mind!

Re: Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

In reference to the hand canceling. Someone on the board wrote that had to pay .5 cnts or something. When I asked Levittown PO, where I work, they said they never heard of that. I guess it depends on who wants to follow the rules.

Re: Hand cancelling your invitations at the Post Office...

ok...now i understand why they counted my invites!
I was able to get hand cancellation in the city, I went to the GPO on Sunday evening, also took a few to Gracie.