Watch our video to learn how to use Microsoft Word’s Mail Merge feature to print envelopes all at once instead of typing in your guests’ information and printing one at a time. We’ll show you how to create a template, enter addresses, set up the printer driver, and finally, print the envelopes.

For this example, we’ll use our popular Radiant White 6 a half inch square envelope. You can easily replace references to this envelope with your envelope dimensions. Our software is Microsoft Office Word 2003 on a PC running Windows 7 and our printer is a recent model Epson inkjet.

Start Mail Merge:

Open Word with a blank document. Click Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge.

The Mail Merge workflow interface opens, guiding you through the rest of the process in 6 steps.

Step 1: Select a Document Type

You’re asked what type of document you’re working on.

Select Envelopes, then continue by clicking Next.

Step 2: Select a Starting Document

Step 2 asks “How do you want to set up your envelopes?” Choose Change document layout. Under that, click Envelope options.

A new window will open where you can choose from a list of common envelope sizes. 6 and a half square is not listed, but scroll down and click Custom, then type in the dimensions in inches. Click Ok a couple times.

Now we’re back to the document. You might have to change the zoom percentage to 100 or even less to see the entire square envelope template onscreen.

Click Next and proceed to step 3.

Step 3: Select Recipients

If you’ve already prepared a list of names and addresses in a database program like Excel, you can use that. Or you can enter all your recipients’ information within Mail Merge. We’ll show you both methods, starting with a database file that we’ve already populated.

• If your recipient information is already in a database:
  Under “Select Recipients,” click Use an Existing List.

  Click Browse, navigate to the database file, and double click on it. Based on how the database file was set up, choose the appropriate options on the “Select Table box” and click OK.

  A new window, “Mail Merge Recipients,” appears where you can verify the formatting and remove certain recipients. Click OK to move on. Then click Next.

• If you do not already have a database populated with guests’ names and addresses:

  In Step 3, under “Select Recipients,” instead of choosing Use an Existing List, click Type a New List, then Create.

  A “New Address List” window opens where you’ll type your recipients’ information, one recipient at a time. Enter the information exactly as you’d like it to appear on your envelopes.

  Continue to create and populate new entries for as many recipients as needed. When all the recipients are entered, click Close. You’re prompted to save your recipients list so type a file name and click Save.

Once the recipients list is in order, click Next to move on.

Step 4: Arrange Your Envelope

In Step 4, you’ll actually lay out the recipient information on the envelope template.

Under “Arrange Your Envelopes,” click Address Block.

The address block is a placeholder for the names and addresses that you insert into the template.

The “Insert Address Block” window will open where you can tweak the way the information will be presented. Click OK to move on. The Address Block has been placed on the document template. Click Next to move on to step 5.

Step 5: Preview Your Envelopes

Immediately, the address block changes to actual recipient information.

This is the opportunity to convey the mood of the event on your envelope, which is the first correspondence your guests will receive about the event.

Change the font, font size, the vertical placement on the template. Finish by centering the address.

Take the time to scroll through the recipients to verify that all of the names and addresses fit nicely on the template. Once you’re satisfied, move on to step 6 by clicking Next.

Step 6: Complete the Merge

You’ve reached the final Mail Merge step, and you’re closer to printing your envelopes.

Click Print.
A “Merge to Printer” window appears.

This is the appropriate time to print one envelope, or even a sheet of copy paper that you’ve cut to 6 and a half square, as a test.

Click Current Record.
This prints just the record on the screen, not the entire recipients list.

Click OK.

A print window appears. Select your printer from the drop down list, then click Properties.

This brings up your printer’s driver where you can communicate to the printer that you are printing on a 6 and a half square envelope—not an 8 and a half x 11 sheet of copy paper. Every printer’s software will vary, so just poke around and try to find paper size, then the area to enter custom dimensions.

Enter 6.5 inches, 650 hundredths of an inch, or whatever unit the printer driver calls for.

Now that the printer is set to recognize the envelope size, you’re ready to print on a test sheet or envelope.

After printing the test, if the recipient’s address is properly positioned, go ahead and print the entire list.

We suggest that you load 20 envelopes into your printer at a time. When you print the first batch of 20, the printer will pause so you can load more.