Addressing invitations

[AustenNut]

I've got several questions:

1) The husband is a minister (reverend). The wife is a PhD. What order do I put them in on the invite?

2) I read that medical doctors have their title spelled out (Doctor) whereas PhDs get the abbreviation (Dr.). Correct?

3) For married couples is it best to put both names on the same line (when it's not just Mr. and Mrs. but a combo of maiden names or different professional titles or a gay married couple with different last names...) or should I do the and at the end of the first name and then put the second name on the second line?

4) For apartment or suite numbers, does it go on its own line or on the same line as the main address?

5) Someone lives at # SW 2nd Court....should I spell it out as Southwest Second Court or will that cause problems at the post office?

6) I think the correct form for a foreign ambassador and his wife is His Excellency and Mrs. Hisfirst Hislast but I'd love confirmation.

If it makes a difference I'm having a fairly informal wedding, and am not having inner envelopes. So in the case of an invitee having children living at home there will already be a line underneath for children's names.

 

[TooPatient]

Good questions. I've wondered about some of these too as I make my mental (and Excell) list of things to do.

Any luck finding answers to these?

 

[AustenNut]

Good questions. I've wondered about some of these too as I make my mental (and Excell) list of things to do.

Any luck finding answers to these?

Here's the best I've been able to find out:

1) The husband is a minister (reverend). The wife is a PhD. What order do I put them in on the invite?

If both have professional titles, then the wife goes first.
2) I read that medical doctors have their title spelled out (Doctor) whereas PhDs get the abbreviation (Dr.). Correct?
There's some conflict on this. There are those who say that the PhD is a professional advancement and that they should be referred to as Mr. or Mrs. in a social setting. Then there are those who say everyone should addressed as "doctor" if that's how they're normally referred to in life. But if someone's being referred to as a doctor (MD or PhD) then it should be spelled out.

3) For married couples is it best to put both names on the same line (when it's not just Mr. and Mrs. but a combo of maiden names or different professional titles or a gay married couple with different last names...) or should I do the and at the end of the first name and then put the second name on the second line?
Consensus seems to be to keep it to one line, if possible

4) For apartment or suite numbers, does it go on its own line or on the same line as the main address?
This one people seem to indicate it should go on the same line unless it's super long.

5) Someone lives at # SW 2nd Court....should I spell it out as Southwest Second Court or will that cause problems at the post office? Was advised to spell this one all the way out though I'm not too sure about it.

6) I think the correct form for a foreign ambassador and his wife is His Excellency and Mrs. Hisfirst Hislast but I'd love confirmation.

I've seen this form online, but I haven't had 100% confirmation.

Hope this helps!

 

[amc80]

I think this site is pretty useful:
http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-plan ... uette.aspx

It answers your question as to how to address the Doctor and her Reverend husband:
Q. What if the woman is a doctor and the man is not? Does the woman's name come first because of her title?
A. Yes, the spouse with the professional title is listed first. Outer envelope: "Dr. Kate Randolph Mr. Brian Randolph." Or, "Dr. Kate Randolph and Mr. Brian Randolph" (if it fits on one line). The inner envelope would read: "Dr. Randolph and Mr. Randolph" or "Dr. and Mr. Randolph."

 

[ts44]

3) For married couples is it best to put both names on the same line (when it's not just Mr. and Mrs. but a combo of maiden names or different professional titles or a gay married couple with different last names...) or should I do the and at the end of the first name and then put the second name on the second line?
Consensus seems to be to keep it to one line, if possible

Yeah I agree with this - same line if you can. I had a number of married couples with extremely long names (hyphenation, titles, etc) and they had to go on separate lines. If anybody was offended, I didn't hear about it.

5) Someone lives at # SW 2nd Court....should I spell it out as Southwest Second Court or will that cause problems at the post office? Was advised to spell this one all the way out though I'm not too sure about it.

I had this same problem, and I did spell it all out. I didn't have any of them returned, so I think it will be ok. I even used a cursivy, calligraphic font. Actually, I think the address was probably clearer all spelled out given the font I used!