As an ex-graphic designer, my wedding invitations were extremely important to me. I put a lot of time and love in to packaging, addressing and even stamping my invitations. I wanted my guests to receive my beautiful envelope in exactly the shape that it left my hand.
Thanks to a knowledgeable wedding vendor, I was saved the trauma of having my invitations arrive at their destinations bent and smeared, which is what would have happened had I allowed my envelopes to be run through a post office canceling machine.
In a normal mailing situation, all envelopes are sent through a machine to cancel the stamp and show that it has been used, producing that little postmark with the city and date that shows when/where the mail was sent. However, with delicate mail, you can actually have each piece hand canceled. Some post offices will do this for you, but, being a control-freak, I asked for the stamp and did it myself at the post office counter, assuring that all of my invitations would arrive in pristine condition.
Don’t be afraid to walk up to the counter and ask to hand cancel your envelopes. Most post offices are used to this, especially with wedding invitations, and shouldn’t even blink an eye. It’s a small detail that doesn’t occur to everyone, but aren’t those the ones that matter most?
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October 16th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
That is a really great tip that wouldn’t have crossed my mind. Attention to detail, especially for wedding planning, is key! Thanks for the idea!
October 17th, 2008 at 7:01 am
I own a custom design invitation business and often hand stamp the invitations,particularly if they are sent in an unusual format-which they often are-this includes actual plastic fish and of course wax stamps which MUST be hand stamped. Be sure to send one to yourself just to make sure that nothing went amiss and if possible go back to the same post office to deal with one particular person , so you can pass on the information(if the bride is local)to your customer In addition to my own business,I work as a consultant for Papyrus(a national stationery store)in Tucson as a consultant/contractor and advise them of the same steps