Your wedding invitations have arrived and it’s time to get them to your guests! Don’t let the process of mailing overwhelm you – this is the fun part! It’s time to let your people see that first glimpse of your big day and make sure they have all the details on how to get to your wedding. (And get ready for lots of compliments, because that paper is oh-so-pretty!)
When to Mail
This post goes into detail on the timeline around mailing your invitations. The short version of it is: For most weddings, mailing invitations 6-8 weeks prior to the big day is perfect. This timeline can adjust whether you did or didn’t send save the dates, have a lot of out of town guests, are doing a destination wedding, or saying I Do on a holiday weekend.
Where to Buy Postage
If you’re thinking, “I’ll buy my stamps at the post office, duh!” you’re definitely not wrong. However, I recommend ordering stamps online through USPS rather than hitting up your local post office or grocery store for a couple reasons. Mainly convenience – you can order any amount of stamps through USPS.com and pay only $1.85 in shipping. No post office visit, no waiting in line! In my experience (yep, I’ve ordered a lot of stamps!) they usually arrive in about a week, give or take.
Another reason I always tell couples to order online is because it guarantees the availability of pretty stamps. You don’t want to ruin your gorgeous envelope with a stamp of a hippopotamus because the local post office didn’t have enough (or any) pretty stamps. On second thought, hippopotamus stamps could actually be really cute… but you get the point. Depending on the time of year, stamp selection can be hit or miss but there’s usually some type of wedding or floral option available.
If you’re looking for something more unique, vintage stamps are always a win! I love buying vintage stamps on Etsy and Verde Studio is one of my favorite shops – you can even order by color palette, sure to add a gorgeous finishing detail to your invitation suite!
How Much Postage to Buy
Although I recommended skipping the post office for stamps, I do suggest making at least one visit there before mailing. Take one, fully assembled invitation suite to have them weigh it for you and give the final word on postage. In the past, I’ve had different post office locations give different decisions on postage which is why I encourage you to visit the actual location you’ll use for mailing.
If your invitation is under 1 oz, you can mail with the single forever stamp (which is $0.55 at the time of this post.) My “standard” invitation suite, with an insert card, should be under the mark, however as I mention – let your local USPS give you the final word! If you add double envelopes, a liner, upgraded paper, more than one insert card, ribbon, etc – there’s a good chance you’ll need a stamp for over one ounce. You can read more about the size and weight regulations from USPS here on their website.
Mail an Invitation to Yourself
Before putting all your guests’ invitations in the mail, send one to yourself. Drop it at the same post office or mailbox you plan to mail the rest. Make sure it gets to you in a reasonable amount of time (no more than 3 days) and doesn’t have any issues – either with the postage amount or addressing. If USPS has a problem with delivery, there will be a note on the envelope. If it arrives without, you should be good to go! This is an easy way to confirm that your invitations will arrive to guests without issue.
Overall, it’s better safe than sorry – cause sorry would look like all your invitations being delivered back to you with an ugly note scratched across that beautiful envelope. Checking in with your local post office will allow any worry to be gone as you prepare to mail your pretty, pretty paper.
If you have any other tips for mailing wedding invitations, please share in the comments!
