PSA: Hand Cancelling Invitations is FREE at USPS

What's hand canceling?

^ same question

I'm with MountainBride. Idk what that is.

The invites don't go through the machine, instead they are stamped.

Google: Many stationers recommend that brides hand cancel wedding invitations, which means that a postal worker will stamp the envelopes by hand, in an effort to ensure your envelopes are not damaged

Its basically canceling the stamp you used on the envelope so that it wont be used again, but manually NOT through machine.

What is the advantage to having them hand canceled vs going through the machine?

eta: I see

They wont get damaged or torn, esp if you have like decoration on the outside.

I dropped my invitations off at USPS and asked from them to be hand cancelled. I watched the guy start stamping them by hand and it turns out they ran them through the machine anyways. We had one returned to us and I saw my parent's invites, all were hand cancelled and still ran through the machine so they had big black lines through the top. I was not happy but it was free so its not like I can complain. lol

Why does it need to be hand canceled or even go through the machine? Is this something everyone e does?

My FH just took our invites to the post office to have them weighed so we could buy postage; I asked him to ask if they did hand canceling there and they claimed that no one in the country does hand canceling anymore. I rolled my eyes when he called and told me that...

My post office did it for me for free!

Catie- it's so that the stamp wont be reused.

FMG- That's a lie. I've heard some post offices don't like to do it, HOWEVER if you go to a quiet post office at non-peak hours they should be able to do it.

I think some post offices make you hand cancel it yourself standing at the counter. I'm not sure why a customer is allowed to do that but I have seen it being done while I was waiting in line.

I have heard on here that a lot of post offices will try to charge you or tell you hand cancelling isnt done anymore.

is there any reason to do it if your invites are not super fancy/theres no decoration on the envelope? i feel like its just easier to drop them off

You know the mark that goes though a stamp with the post office location? That is done by shooting mail through a machine. Invitations, because of the size, envelope paper, and typically uneven thickness of the envelope can get caught in the machine. FFIL also gave these hints: never mail on Monday or Saturday, or after 4 pm, because those are the peak times when the employees are unmotivated and most likely to "lose" things.

MrsSantamaria2015 - Yeah, I know the lied. They're particularly lazy at this post office...I know from experience. I had a feeling they were going to give us a hard time about hand canceling them. I made sure to tell him to go during a non-peak time too because I'd heard it's easier to get them to help you, but - sure enough! - they still lied. I am torn between confronting them with their lie when we mail the invites, or just going out of our way to go to another post office.

Kelsey its entirely up to you and how you want your guests to receive your invites.

Oops. I had no clue what this was, so I just put mine in the box.

@Kelsey, I just know that when I used to be an office clerk, and I would meter the mail, anything that wasn't perfectly flat would tend to jam the machine in our office. My envelope paper has a slick surface and the contents were not of uniform thickness. So I didn't take the chance.

Fmg- I went to a post office 20 minutes away because its quiet there (lots of elderly people and tourists) and sure enough I got it done.

I want to have the invites hand canceled because they're fairly thick and I do not want them to be damaged. I just want some continuity in answers from post office employees, but I guess we are trying to work with a government entity, aren't we?! OP clearly shows that it's possible to get hand canceling done - and for free! thank you OP! - yet a post office employee clearly lied to FH today when she said no post office in the country does hand canceling anymore...ugh.