Wedding invitations offer your guests the first glimpse of the special day you have planned to celebrate your wedding. The U.S. Postal Service has several tips for mailing your invitations and for making them as unique as your wedding.
Since wedding invitations often are oversized and bulkier than regular mail, it's a good idea to take them to a Postal Service branch office, with all of the enclosures, to be weighed before you choose the stamps. Most wedding invitations weigh more than one ounce and will need additional postage -- 37 cents for the first ounce and 23 cents for each additional ounce.
If your invitations weigh more than an ounce, instead of buying a non-matching 23-cent stamp, you may want to go with a 60-cent stamp.
"These stamps were designed specially for wedding invitations, eliminating the need for an additional stamp on invitations that weigh two ounces," said Francia Smith, vice president and consumer advocate for the U.S. Postal Service.
For an added touch of individuality, you may want to forgo the wedding-themed stamps altogether and instead use stamps that illustrate special interests of the bride or groom.
"And you'll really wow potential guests by having your invitations postmarked in a city with a love-themed name," Smith said. There are several cities to choose from, including Loveland, CO 80538; Loveville, MD 20656; or Romance, AR 72136.
To get these postmarks, invitations should be stamped, addressed and sealed, placed in a larger envelope or box and mailed to the Post Office of choice with instructions to be postmarked. Address the package to "Postmaster" of the appropriate city, state and ZIP Code. Smith says you should allow an extra week for the invitations to reach the Post Office, be postmarked and mailed to each invitee.
Some other things to keep in mind when sending out invitations:
Use complete and current addresses, with standardized abbreviations. Keep in mind that phone books are not the best source for addresses because they do not include apartment numbers or Post Office boxes.
Use the correct ZIP Code, which can be found at www.usps.com or by calling 1-800-ASK-USPS.
