Wedding Envelopes

We recently received a question about handwriting guests addresses on our Double Wedding Envelope Sets. Here is the question from Lori.

I purchased your Imperial Ecru Chocolate Lined Double Wedding Envelope Set for my wedding invitations. Can you please tell me which type of pen will work best on them?

- by Lori G.

Most envelopes are best suited for ball-point pens, as they are much less likely to bleed through the paper than felt tip pens. Consider trying our Gelly Roll pens, they are available in a wide variety of colors, write consistently and do not smear when dry!

Addressing Wedding Envelopes: Traditional Guidelines Chart

The chart below lists the general, traditional guidelines for formally addressing envelopes for each of your wedding guests.

Download full envelope addressing guideline chart

Note: The guidelines listed in this chart target the most common circumstances, and are merely suggestions of etiquette, not rules set in stone. When addressing envelopes, it is important to address guests as you see fit, and in a manner you are comfortable with.

Invitation Tissues are not included with wedding envelopes. But fortunately, we do stock a selection of invitation tissues that can be purchased separately.

There are different perspectives on this issue. Some people would not address their envelopes using labels because they feel that the look is not befitting of a wedding invitation. If your envelopes are a dark paper color where regular printing would not be legible, and you did not want to use labels, we would suggest handwriting addresses using a white or light color pen.

Alternatively, labels can be an easy and convenient option for printing addresses on dark colored or heavy textured envelopes, where inkjet or laser printing cannot produce a legible imprint.

There is no right or wrong answer, just personal opinion. Choose what looks best, but also consider practicality, budget, and aesthetics.

Color & Finish

In terms of paper color and finish, without comparing both items in person, it's hard to say whether your wedding invitations will be a perfect match to our Wedding Envelopes, but we can describe our Wedding Envelopes quite precisely:

• Our Radiant White Wedding Envelopes are made with our own house brand of brilliant white, uncoated, smooth, matte finish, 70lb text weight paper that carries a 98.0 brightness rating.
• Our Ecru Wedding Envelopes are also made with our own house brand of creamy, warm, muted, mellow white, uncoated, smooth, matte finish, 70lb text weight paper that carries a 74.0 brightness rating.

Will either our Radiant White or Ecru Wedding Envelopes perfectly match your invitations? To make absolutely sure, we offer the ability to order individual samples of all our Wedding Envelopes. That way you compare your invitations and our envelopes with your own eyes.

You can also contact us with more details about your invitation and we can tell you more about our Wedding Envelopes. We'll give you our best advice with the information at hand, but we strongly recommended that you order a sample and see our envelopes next to your invitations in person. If any event is worthy of the extra reassurance of having samples in hand, surely it's a wedding.

Sizing

In terms of matching your invitation card to the properly sized envelope(s), the general rule is that the envelope containing the invitation should be 1/8" to 1/4" larger than the invitation card. Watch our video to learn more about finding the right envelope size. You can also contact us with the measurements of your card. We will be happy to direct you to the best envelope fit, whether you're interested in Double Wedding Envelopes or perhaps Single Lined Envelopes.

Invitations should reflect the personalities of the bride and groom, and color can be an important component of an invitation ensemble. Since color is very subjective, each of us has different color schemes that we're fond of. A simple "yes" or" no" answer to this question is probably the wrong answer. Instead, here is our best advice:

One thought is to remain consistent, so the ink color you choose for your invitations and your response cards would be the same color that you'd print on your envelopes.

Black ink seems to be the most popular color for white wedding envelopes, but another popular color is brown ink, especially when printing on Ecru (cream) colored envelopes.

If your wedding colors adapt well to your invitations and you can incorporate one of those colors in your printing, by all means, go for it.

Although all of LCI Paper's envelopes are not traditional wedding envelopes, they are all wedding quality envelopes, meaning they are made of premium papers, designed with the beauty of wedding invitations in mind.

LCI has an extensive collection of envelopes in a wide range of shapes, sizes, colors, textures, and finishes. From traditional white or ivory double wedding envelopes to a modern array of colorful invitation envelopes and everything in between, LCI has an envelope to match your personal invitation style.

Not all of LCI Paper's wedding envelopes are double envelopes. To suit a variety of customer needs, LCI Paper offers all types of quality envelopes in different paper textures, finishes and sizes, each suitable for wedding invitations.

If you are mailing traditional style wedding invitations you should probably consider sending them inside double envelopes, however if your invitation style is contemporary then you may find a better match with other types of specialty envelopes.

LCI Paper Company is an online company based in Marlborough, Massachusetts. We do not have a physical store front in which we sell our wedding envelopes, as we are simply a large warehouse and distribution center. Although there may be stores that carry our papers our distribution model is warehouse direct to consumer and businesses.

We understand that when shopping online, it is sometimes hard to get a true feel for the appearance of an item, especially when ordering paper products. This is why we offer the option to order paper samples prior to purchase. If you are interested in any of our wedding envelopes, ordering samples will allow you to see an envelope in person, and determine if its lining color, paper, and size is a good fit for your wedding invitation.

When using two envelopes, there is no etiquette rule that dictates that you have to line your inner envelope. However liners do add elegance as well as help to color coordinate your invitation package therefore many people choose to have their inner envelope lined.

As with most traditional wedding invitations if you are including two envelopes, then etiquette suggests using an envelope liner on the inner envelope, not the outer. The inner envelope is considered to be the real envelope. The outer envelope serves to protect the invitation ensemble from the rigors of mail delivery and postal markings.

Centuries ago Wedding invitations were traditionally hand delivered, with an outer envelope and inner envelope. It was then anothers job to remove the outer envelope and hand deliver the inner envelope to the appropriate family members. Although most invitations are no longer delivered in this manner, the tradition of leaving the inner envelope unsealed so that it is easily accessible remains. Therefore when you order the double wedding envelope set, the inner envelope from the set is un-gummed.

Take a moment to watch this video to learn what exactly are double wedding envelopes

First, the total number of guests does not equate to the number of wedding envelopes needed. The number of envelopes needed for your event is typically half of the guest list plus a percentage for those who are invited as single guests (not couples). To allow for mistakes in addressing or those last minute additions to your guest list you should plan on ordering at least 25 extra envelopes.

Also keep in mind we strongly suggest having the post office hand cancel the invitation envelopes, it can help protect them from the rigors of the automated sorting equipment