Invite Question-No Inner Envelope?

[labbielove]

ONe of the invites we are considering is from a UK vendor.

They don''t have matching inner envelopes available but say many of their US customers use an extra sheet of their paper folded over the invite as an alternative and/or go without.

My question is, if I don''t have an inner envelope, which I''m fine with I guess, how do I specify who''s included on the invite?

For folks with 2 people it''s easier ( X and Y) would look fine on the outside envelope.
but I have a few that I either don''t know who their guest will be, and I can''t see (X and guest on the outer envelope) and some where I''m inviting X, Y and their 3 children,

I just think it will look odd with all those names on the outside, but not sure how I feel about putting names on a sheet of paper folded over the invite either-

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance
I haven''t yet investigated if I can get the right size envelopes anywhere else, but even if I could they''d be in different paper.

 

[So_happy]

Of course you can always get the "and guest"''s name and put that on the outer envelope but I know that sometimes that isn''t possible. You can also handwrite a little note on the rsvp card saying "Please feel welcome to bring a guest!" to those you need to. I''ve heard of this being done before. In the case of inviting the family with children, I think you write "The Smith Family" on the outside and I guess that makes it clear that they can bring thier kids?

Lots of people forgoe the inner envelope these days but still invited "and guests" and children so I''m sure you will recieve plenty of additional ideas on how to handle this one

 

[Pandora II]

Just out of interest, who is the UK vendor?

I don''t think we have inner and outer envelopes here - at least I''ve never had and invitation come in two envelopes. Can you find different outer or inner envelopes - maybe coloured or something?

 

[kcoursolle]

Meh, you don''t need an outer envelope. You can put their names on the outside of the outer envelope or on the flap thing that''s included.

 

[cara]

If the envelopes with your set are sized correctly, you will not be able to separately buy inner envelopes and have everything fit. You could buy larger outer envelopes, but presumably the ones that come with your set would have your return address printed on them and that is for the outer envelope.

I am fairly certain that inner and outer envelopes are traditional for formal wedding invitations in the UK and US. The outer envelope is the "delivery" envelope used for mailing and (in days past) removed by the mail-opening servant. The inner envelope is the "presentation" envelope and the one first seen by the intended recipient(s).

I think you have two choices:

1) List all proper invitees on the outer envelope. There are guidelines for how to do this even for hordes of children. But there is no proper way to list an "and guest" on a mailing envelope. So if you only have a few of these, you could include a small note inside the invite telling the person they are welcome to bring a guest and please reply with their name.

2) Come up with some fake inner envelope on which to list the invitees'' names. While pocketfolds are trendy, you would run into the same size issues as for buying separate inner envelopes. But you could do a decorative paper "sash". Basically a band of paper wrapped around the invite and associated items and, for this purpose, attached to itself in the back with double-sided sticky tape or a sticker of some kind. Then on the front of the sash, you could list the names of the invitees.

 

[labbielove]

Pandora,
The vendor is Olivia Stationery and I adore their work.
They do vintage invites of various styles,
and we're looking at the Victorian style (Lorien/autumn)
design.
They will create a sketch of your venue for the front cover if wanted
and they were very timely with the sample delivery, and responsive to my questions via email..

Our wedding is at a 19th century country village museum,so the style would be quite fitting.
Here is the link to their website
Olivia Stationery

But I'm torn between something like theirs, and then these beauties (partial DIY) from a California Company
Carmine Starfold Invite

I love the handmade paper and their sample was pretty too.


Olivia's must get this question a lot because they cover it in the FAQ section of their site

Whichever I decide, I have the same issue because Carmine has no inner env. either, but we were going to attach a tag of some sort to the ribbon and have our calligrapher put the names on that- I may have just answered my own question-

 

[cara]

The proper way to invite everyone is to specify their name. Even "and guest" is not technically proper, while it is kind to whomever you allow to bring a date. While you can write "The Smith Family" you then can''t complain if they bring the whole Smith Family, grandma and Cousin Bill included.

To do a nuclear family on the outer envelope, with titles, it would look like:

Mr. and Mrs. Williams Smith
Misses Jane and Mary Smith
Master Jason Smith
631 Cherry Place
Beverly Hills, California 90210

 

[labbielove]

Date: 5/6/2007 1:34:12 PM
Author: cara

2) Come up with some fake inner envelope on which to list the invitees'' names. While pocketfolds are trendy, you would run into the same size issues as for buying separate inner envelopes. But you could do a decorative paper ''sash''. Basically a band of paper wrapped around the invite and associated items and, for this purpose, attached to itself in the back with double-sided sticky tape or a sticker of some kind. Then on the front of the sash, you could list the names of the invitees.

Cara, this is a great idea, as we would want a way to secure the contents (our inserts,etc.) anyway.
Also thought of the pocketfold idea, but the sizing issue arises.

Thanks for the ideas!