How to Address Your Wedding Invitations

Wedding invitations have a long and unique history when it comes to addressing. In days long, long passed, a bride's footman would deliver each invitation individually to her wedding guests' homes. This is where the outer envelope originated, with the address or location of the home listed with the formal name of the guest. The servant would receive the invitation and remove the inner envelope to present to the guest, which only had the guest names written on it because it had already arrived at the address of the home. Talk about a personalized experience!

With the advancement of time and creation of the postal service, many brides opt to forego the inner and outer envelope combination for a more modern approach. However, proper addressing of envelopes is still important – it is one of the most important days of your life, and your wedding invitations are a true investment. You want them to reflect this importance in all aspects, envelopes included!

Here is a breakdown of how to properly address your invitations for a variety of scenarios.

Single Woman
Miss Hannah Worthington
or Ms. Hannah Worthington

Single Woman + Guest
Miss Hannah Worthington and guest
or Ms. Hannah Worthington and guest

Single Man
Mr. Bryce Powers

Single Man + Guest
Mr. Bryce Powers and guest

Unmarried Couple living at same address
Ms. (or Miss) Shannon Green
Mr. Michael Hardwick
Note: if you are inviting a couple that does not live together, they should each receive their own invitation at their respective addresses.

Married Couple with same last name
Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Gillman

Married Couple with children under 18
Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Gillman
Sydney and Noah
or
The Gillman Family
Note: children over 18 that are still living at home should receive their own invitation. If you are inviting only the parents, address as a married couple only, leaving off the children's names.

Married Couple with different last name
Ms. Sarah Browning and Mr. Carter Richmond

Married Couple - wife is a Doctor
Doctor Ashley Gaines and Mr. Matthew Gaines

Married Couple - husband is a Doctor
Doctor and Mrs. Charles Everly

Married Couple - both are Doctors
The Doctors Shultz
or
Doctor Richard Shultz and Doctor Jamie Shultz

Man who is a Junior
Mr. Jackson Ridley, Jr.
or Mr. Jackson Ridley, Junior

Mark Your Calendar

Or, save the date! In designing wedding related paper goods, one of my favorite things to create are Save the Dates. I love the sneak peek of a couple's wedding invitations or sharing those beautiful engagement photos.

I recently created some new designs for Minted, which will launch in a few months. I focused on classic, chic style with elegant and timeless fonts. Here's a look at those upcoming designs.

Winter Citrus Styled Shoot

Recently, I was asked to be part of a beautiful styled shoot along with some crazy talented wedding vendors. Ashley of Photography Anthology dreamed up a fresh and light take on a winter wedding, using cheerful and warm citrus as the inspiration.

I created the invitation suite by mixing vintage illustrations with a modern layout and incorporating a touch of kraft paper for texture.

You can see the whole shoot featured here on Cottage Hill.

Catching Up

I've been doing a lot of behind the scenes designing lately for Minted, and if you follow me on Instagram, you've seen a design or two that I've been working on. Quite a few Minted Design Challenges have transpired lately, and I have some fun creations to share that will be available on Minted.com soon!

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First, Minted has introduced a brand new category of stickers! The five designs above were chosen among over 1,100 entries to be sold. Some coordinate with designs I already have for sale, and some are brand new creations.

Next, came the big wedding challenge, which is one of the biggest of the year. I submitted a varied selection of designs, from uber minimal to over-the-top romantic. Below are just a few of my favorites, and ultimately, sweet and romantic won out. That beauty in the upper left corner got selected by Minted to be sold coming this Spring!

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And while my favorite of the bunch didn't get selected (that modern criss-crossed design on the bottom right), the good news is that I will be launching a group of brand new wedding suites on J. Amber Creative, inspired by these entries. I can't wait for you to see them!

And lastly, I've had baby fever! No, not that kind. I've been creating brand new birth announcements for Minted's annual birth announcement challenge. Voting is still happening now, so if you'd like to vote for these and many many more, head over to Minted and cast your vote on which designs they should sell!

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Minted Joy

The most wonderful time of the year for most is still a few months away. However, here in the studio, it's arrived! Minted has begun to announce the winners of their annual holiday card challenge.

This is the biggest challenge Minted holds each year, and the numbers don't lie! There were a total of 4,103 designs submitted from 481 artists around the world.

Minted is counting down to the top designs, and so far has announced the top 21 - 50 designs. And I have been blessed enough to have TWO designs place.

That's my Snowy Woods design at number 24, and my Family Album design at 42. I can't wait to see what gorgeous designs take spots 1-20 as Minted reveals those winners over the next few weeks.

Stamp On It

FOR THE STAMP GIVEAWAY: Scroll to the bottom of the post to enter via the Rafflecopter widget. And then come back and do some reading!

I'm so excited to add a full collection of return address stamps to the site. I created several stamps for myself for use in the studio, and love the ease and flexibility they bring to my packaging. Not only that, they add that just-right personal touch.

Self-Inking Address Stamp shown above.

Address stamps are available in two options. The wood-mount stamp is a traditional wooden handled stamp. Ink pads are available in 26 vibrant colors to add on to your order. We also offer a convenient self-inking stamp. This option provides a refillable cartridge inside the stamp, you won't need a separate ink pad.

Check out the full collection of stamps, and pick one out for yourself by clicking here, or selecting the drop down menu under "shop" at the top of the page.

And to celebrate the launch of these stamps, I'm giving away one wooden stamp with ink pad or one self-inking stamp to one lucky reader! Just enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Entry is only available to addresses within the United States.

GIVEAWAY NOTE: You can enter using your email address, if you prefer. Just click "log in" below, and you'll have the option to log in with only your email address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway