The envelope is the first thing a household sees, and it is also the instruction to the mail. One outer envelope goes to each address. The people named on it are the people invited. Everyone else is not.

Flat 5 by 7 inch invitations include an envelope. A 5 by 7 card uses an A7 envelope. The paper reply card is paired with an A2 envelope. Both are listed with invitations and RSVP cards and inserts. How many outer envelopes to order is the household count in how many invitations to order.

The US outer envelope

A photograph of an outer envelope with a US street, city, state, and ZIP, and the return address on the flap.

Write, from top to bottom:

  1. The names of the people invited at that address.
  2. The street, including an apartment or unit on that line or on the line above the city.
  3. The city, the state, and the ZIP code.
  4. The country, on its own line, only when the envelope is leaving the United States.

A sample for a domestic household:

Priya Shah and Arjun Mehta
184 Maple Avenue, Apt 4
Edison, NJ 08817

A sample going to family in India:

Meera and Raj Shah
12 Residency Road
Bengaluru, Karnataka 560025
India

The return address sits on the flap or in the upper left. Use an address where a misdirected piece can actually come back, which is often a parent's house if the couple is between apartments.

Handwriting is readable when the name and the street are on separate lines and the ink is dark. You can also print labels. On a ShaadiPrints guest list, each guest can store a street, a second line, a city, a state, a ZIP, and a country, and those fields are what the address labels use. Start the list at the RSVP page. The plans on that page, including Basic at $39 and Premium at $79, are explained in RSVP and guest management.

Whose name goes on the front

Name the people who are invited. Leave everyone else off.

  • Two adults who live together and are both invited: both names. Order does not need to make a point. Pick one order and keep it.
  • One person invited, no plus-one: that person's name only. "And guest" means there is a seat for someone you have not named. Do not write it out of habit.
  • Parents: ask how they want to be addressed. "Mr. Raj Shah and Mrs. Meera Shah," "Raj Shah and Meera Shah," and "The Shah Family" are different invitations. "The Shah Family" is vague. If three named adults and two children are invited, the names are kinder than a guess about who counts as family.
  • Children who live at home and are invited: add their names. If they are not invited, do not add "and family" and hope the parents understand.
  • A doctor or a judge who uses a title: use the title they use on their own mail. When you do not know, ask. A wrong title is louder than no title.
  • A household invited to the reception and not the ceremony: the names are the same, and the card inside is only the reception card. The envelope does not fix a wrong insert. Matching cards to lists is in invitations for mehndi, sangeet, and the reception.

The inner envelope

A photograph of an inner envelope with only the names of the invited guests and no street address.

An inner envelope has no street address. It carries the names again, often in a shorter form, and it stays inside the outer envelope. It is optional. It is useful when one outer envelope holds cards for a house and you want "Raj, Meera, and Anika" repeated where the cards are pulled out. It is not useful if you are already naming those people clearly on the outer envelope and you would rather not buy a second envelope.

Skip the inner envelope before you skip the outer names. The mail carrier needs the outer one. The guest needs to see their own name somewhere.

A last pass before you stamp

Read every envelope against the household list once, out loud if you can. Check the apartment number, the ZIP, and the country line. Check that nobody who was left off the mehndi is named on a mehndi card inside. Then mail.

Ceremony invitations are listed as sent six to eight weeks before the wedding. Leave enough of that window for this pass. The rest of the countdown is in the stationery timeline.