Why do we use two envelopes for wedding invitations?

The postal service wasn’t dependable or even readily available until the 20th century. Traditionally, nearly all wedding invitations were delivered by hand. They were generally sent by courier or a family servant either by foot or on horseback. Because the journey wasn’t always a tidy one, the double envelope protected the invitation from getting soiled en route to its recipient. Once the invitation arrived at its destination, the butler or housemaid removed the outer envelope and handed the inner one to the mistress or master of the house.Your wedding invitations will probably be sent through the mail, but just in case and in keeping with tradition, Wedding Paper Divas offers beautiful double envelope options.

Why is there tissue paper inside wedding invitations?

The first written wedding invitations were handcrafted during the Middle Ages in Europe by monks who were expert calligraphers. Commissioning monks to create your wedding invitations was incredibly expensive; therefore, only royalty or the wealthiest families could afford it. By the 1600s, metal plate engraving was invented and affordable, decorative, engraved invitations became available. To keep the engraving from smudging, a sheet of tissue paper was placed on top of it. Today tissue is generally used in wedding invitations for decorative purposes.

Tags: envelopes, history of invitations, Invitations & Stationery, tissue paper

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 4:38 pm and is filed under General Information, Invitations & Stationery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.