Calligraphy Addressing: Wedding Envelope Etiquette

Calligraphy for Inner and Outer Envelopes, $2.50

I recently had a bride ask for best places to look for how to address her envelopes, because she wanted to keep them as formal as possible. Tired of trying to figure out how to address your envelopes to that same sex couple? Don't want to offend your recently widowed aunt?

The uncertainty stops here: stop second guessing and take a look below at this easy to read chart to help you put together your wedding invitation addresses! I've described nearly every situation you can have below: how to address to children under 18, unmarried couples who live together, etc. Hope this helps :)

	OUTER ENVELOPES	INNER ENVELOPES
	Single Guests
Unmarried Female	Miss Jayne Jones or Ms. Jayne Jones	Miss Jones and Guest or Ms. Jones and Guest
Divorced Female-kept married name (Smith)	Mrs. Jayne Smith or Ms. Jayne Smith	Mrs. Smith and Guest or Ms. Smith and Guest
Divorced Female-back to married name (Jones)	Ms. Jayne Jones	Ms. Jones and Guest
Widowed Female	Mrs. Jayne Smith or Mrs. John Smith	Mrs. Smith (and Guest) *never use 'and guest' if recently widowed.
	CHILDREN
Children under 18	*Do not put on outer envelope Only list parents.	(1 child) And Eva (2+children) Eva and Lukas *List by age-oldest first.
Child 18 and over	Miss Emily Jones	Miss Jones and Guest
	COUPLES
Unmarried couples who do not live together	Miss Jayne Jones *the only name on the outer should be the person who lives at the address.	Miss Jones Mr. Davis
Unmarried couples who live together	Miss Jayne Jones Mr. Richard Davis	Miss Jones Mr. Davis
Married couples-*notice the use of 'and' to signify marriage in the following:	Mr. And Mrs. Richard Davis	Mr. and Mrs. Davis
Married Couple-She kept maiden name	Mrs. Jayne Jones and Mr. Richard Davis	Mrs. Jones and Mr. Davis
Married Couple-She has hyphenated last name	Mrs. Jayne Jones-Davis and Mr. Richard Davis	Mrs. Jones-Davis and Mr. Davis
Married Couple-She has a professional title and he does not.	Doctor Jayne Davis and Mr. Richard Davis	Doctor Davis and Mr. Davis
Married Couple-both are doctors	Doctor Jayne Davis and Doctor Richard Davis or The Doctors Davis	The Doctors Davis
Married Couple-both are doctors with different last names	Doctor Jayne Jones and Doctor Richard Davis	Doctor Jones and Doctor Davis
Same sex Couples-list in alphabetical order by last name	Mr. Dan Smith Mr. Thomas Jones	Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones
	MILITARY
He is a commissioned officer	Colonel and Mrs. Richard Davis	Colonel and Mrs. Davis
He is a non-commissioned officer or enlisted man	Mr. And Mrs. Richard Davis	Mr. and Mrs. Davis
He is a retired commissioned officer	Colonel and Mrs. Richard Davis	Mr. and Mrs. Davis
She is a commissioned officer, he is not	Mr. and Mrs. Richard Davis or Captain Jane Davis and Mr. Carl Davis	Mr. and Mrs. Davis or Captain Davis and Mr. Davis
	MISC.
Judge	The Honorable and Mrs. Richard Davis	Judge and Mrs. Davis
Reverend	Reverend and Mrs. Richard Davis	Reverend and Mrs. Davis

Now that you've put together your wedding invitation list in the most formal way possible, do you need a wedding calligrapher to help give your invitations that personal touch? Contact Ash Tree Calligraphy to get started on your wedding calligraphy project today!