How to Address Wedding Invitation Envelopes

Today on the blog I am sharing tips for how to address your wedding invitations. If you’re new here, HI! It's great to have you, my name is Karen and I am a Wedding Stationer and Calligrapher in Central FL. As a Wedding Stationer for couples for the past 4 years, I’ve been asked dozens of questions related to the proper way of addressing their guests! Read along for some easy tips.

Our society is using social media, emails, and other “modern” forms of communication more and more. This is making it harder to remember what proper etiquette is for addressing an important piece of mail, like your wedding invitation. In addition, as our world is becoming more inclusive of all types of couples (yay!), it’s important to know how to address your guests based on their unique relationships and titles. Here are some tips for how to navigate those unique titles of your wedding guests. 

Addressing wedding envelopes for married guests

Opposite Sex Marriages: 

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith

Same Sex Marriages with shared last name:

Mr. James Smith and Mr. John Smith 

Marriages with different last name:

Mrs. Jane Doe and Mrs. Jenny Smith

or

Mr. John Smith and Mrs. Jane Doe 

Formal etiquette requires the male guest to be listed first. However, here at Fioribelle we encourage our couples to bend the rules a bit if they feel like it - For the order of your guest names, we recommend you go with the person you know best first. 

As always, remember to do what feels right to you and your partner, it is your wedding day after all!  

Addressing envelopes for single, divorced and widowed guests

For single guests: use Mr. for men, Ms. for women or Mx. for non-binary guests.

For unmarried couples: If you know both names, use both of their names:

Mr. John Smith and Ms. Jane Doe 

If you do not know your the name of your guest’s significant other, include the words "and guest":

Mr. John Smith and Guest

or

Ms. Jane Doe and Guest

While a man’s title does not change if they are widowed or divorced, a woman’s does. For divorced women: If a woman is divorced and kept her married name, use Mrs. Jane Doe. If she did not keep her married name and changed it to her maiden name, use Ms. Jane Smith. 

A widow traditionally retains her married last name and her Mrs. title. For example, Mrs. Jane Doe, otherwise, use Ms. Jane Smith

Addressing wedding invitation envelopes to include family members

For guests where the family is included (i.e. a couple and their children) You will add the children’s first names only on the second line from oldest to youngest:

Addressing wedding invitations to include your guests' formal and professional titles

Whoever has a formal title like “Doctor” or “Honorable” will be listed first regardless of gender. 

Dr. Jane Doe and Mr. John Doe

or

Dr. John Smith and Mrs. Smith

If both have the same formal title and last name use: 

The Doctors Smith

Again, the tips today are just a general rule of thumb for addressing your formal wedding invitation envelopes. Always do what feels right to you and your partner. If you have any questions about how to address your wedding invitation envelopes, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to help! of if you’d be interested in working together to create a one-of-a-kind invite for your wedding day and have someone to help you with these and any other questions, inquire about my Custom Wedding Invitations here.