proper wording etiquette on invite envelopes

is there such a thing

its always:

if married:
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
12-13 Peach Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

(Do I spell out the State???)

If i'm inviting a girlfriend of mine that doesnt live with her bf i just put

Ms. Jane Doe
12-13 Peach Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

if couple living together but not married

Ms. Jane Doe
Mr. John Smith
12-13 Peach Street
Bla Bla

What if its 2 sisters? Do I send 2 invites or

Ms. Jane Doe
Ms. Clare Doe

and..........
what if im inviting the whole family

do I put initials? like

G.K.L.M. Smith
12-13 Peach Street

or Smith Family???
or .............

HELP
Thanks

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Posted by Snick n Nick

Are you doing inner envelopes too? I am so I know the etiquette in that case, but not if you're not haha...

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what do you mean? inner envelopes? the ones that get sent back to me with RSVP?

No, it's like a second envelope inside the outer envelope--all the stuff goes inside it.....guess you're not doing one hehe.....

I'm not sure what family is for just an outer envelope, for inner and outer you just do Mr. & Mrs. John Smith on the outer, and then Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Johnny, Jane on the inner envelope....but I don't know the rules for just an outer!

Do I spell out the State??? YES

For the singles and unmarried couple YOU ARE RIGHT.

For the sisters, if they are over 18 they technically should get 1 invite each. but if you put them on the same invite you are right listing them, with the oldest to the youngest


for the entire family you invite Mr. and Mrs. John Doe & Family.




hope that helps

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Posted by gabbie83

is everyone doing an inner envelope?

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inner envelopes arent needed. i am doing pocketfolds so i definitely wont have 2 envelopes

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Posted by gabbie83

is everyone doing an inner envelope?

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They're not necessary. We're really only doing them b/c FH has a HUUUUGGGGEEEE family with TONS of cousins, and for us doing Mr. & Mrs. John Smith & Family would be too difficult to say who is included in that....so we needed the inner envelope to be able to write out the names of who specifically is included in that invitation.....

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Posted by Snick n Nick

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Posted by gabbie83

is everyone doing an inner envelope?

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They're not necessary. We're really only doing them b/c FH has a HUUUUGGGGEEEE family with TONS of cousins, and for us doing Mr. & Mrs. John Smith & Family would be too difficult to say who is included in that....so we needed the inner envelope to be able to write out the names of who specifically is included in that invitation.....

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ohhh gotchya thanks

Inner Envelopes most often come with traditional style invitations ... the more modern invitation designers & manufacturers have begun to phase them out since they aren't really needed anymore.

Just some history so you know the background:

The originally existed because invitations were delivered by hand (horse & carriage, etc) ... the outer envelope had the name of the Master of the house & the address to bring it to. It would get dirty in travel. Once the invitation was delivered the recipients would throw out the dirty outer envelope, and the inner envelope listed the names of those invited and was used to keep everything together. We live in a much cleaner world with a much faster postal system (most of the time ) , so the outer envelope is just an 'extra' these days

Are you doing inner envelopes? Like the previous posters said, they aren't necessary. If you're using only outer envelopes, just include everyone that would have been listed on the inner envelope on the outer envelope. Yes, spell out the state.

Married and couple has the same last name (no change to the outer format you originally wrote):

Outer:
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
12-13 Peach Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Inner: Mr. and Mrs. John Smith

Married and the couple has different last names. List the woman first and link the names with 'and.' Go to a second line if necessary but indent.

Outer:
Ms. Jane Doe and Mr. John Smith
12-13 Peach Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Inner: Ms. Doe and Mr. Smith


Your friend who doesn't live with her BF (no change to the outer format you originally wrote):

Outer:
Ms. Jane Doe
12-13 Peach Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Inner: Ms. Jane Doe and Mr. John Smith

Unmarried couple living together (no change to outer envelope):

Outer:
Ms. Jane Doe
Mr. John Smith
12-13 Peach Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Inner: Ms. Jane Doe and Mr. John Smith

Two adult siblings sharing the same household each get their own invitations.

Inviting the whole family: You mean two parents and their kids? List the parents on the outer envelope and the whole gang on the inner. If there are multi-generational adults, each adult or adult couple should get his or her own.

Outer:
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
12-13 Peach Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Inner:
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer

The kids may also be listed on the inner envelope as:

Jerry Smith
Elaine Smith
George Smith
Kramer Smith

Good luck!