Return Address on Invites?

Its a good idea to have a return address on any mail. What if the adress was wrong? You wont know unless you get the invite back.

Your friendly bride-to-be mail lady here to answer all things postal. I haven't done my invites yet but I don't think it's necessary to put the guests' return addresses on the RSVP but you should definitely put your return address on the outer envelope of the invitation. Return addresses are really only needed if the piece of mail cannot be delivered to the recipient because of bad addresses or additional postage required. I've unfortunately had to return several invitations before because either there was no such number and I couldn't figure out where the recipient actually lived or it was addressed to an apt with no apt number on it or the zip code was wrong and didn't belong to my route at all or if the person had moved over a year ago and their forwarding address was no longer effective. If you put your return address on them then you can get it back should any of these situations happen and you can contact the recipient to confirm their address. It would be awful if you didn't get an RSVP from someone because they never got the invitation. Hope this helps!

Yes. We had them preprinted in the back flap with my parents address since I'll be moving right after the wedding. It's to make sure if it's undeliverable they return it to you, then you'll know you have to contact the guest for a current address

Personally I would have the return address on each individual envelope or at least make the space for your guest to write it on the top right hand corner. It helps you be able to make your "address book" when you begin sending out thank you cards then Christmas cards later on.

Yes do this. I put my return address on the back of my envelopes. I had 4 get returned to me. If I hadn't they'd just be lost in the mail forever.

I'm using a postcard for rsvps and so will not be putting each guests return address on them. For the invite outer envelope I did put a return address on the back flap.

We bought a speciality stamp with our names/address and stamped the back flat. Like others, its best to have a return address in case the post offices messes up or the address is wrong.

Letters that are undeliverable and unreturnable are sent to dead letters along with all the Santa mail so you'd never get it back and wouldn't know it didn't reach the recipient until it was too late. You can get preprinted labels if you don't want to write out your address over and over or don't want to go through the expense of a personalized rubber stamp. If you don't have time to order labels and wait for them you can make your own using a pack of Avery labels from an office supply store and print them yourself.

Sorry, while we're on the subject I have one more thing to add regarding addresses. If you are using a small envelope for RSVP's instead of a post card it is more reliable and will be less likely to get delayed if you put the return address on the front instead of the back flap. Delivering mail for a living, I see all kinds of things and the most common with back flap return addresses is they get missorted. If they look similar to the front address in size and position on the envelope the sorting machine gets confused on which side is which and could direct it back to the return address instead of sending it on. Luckily, when us human carriers get it, we can recognize that it's being sent back by mistake if there's no other indication that it's being returned and we will get it hand sorted instead of machine sorted so it gets to it's final destination. This could cause delays with you getting your RSVP's back. So, long story short, my advice is to make your return address smaller and higher on the envelope if I you're putting it on the back or just put it on the front. One day I suppose they'll make the machines more efficient so all this wouldn't be necessary. Haha. I just want to use my inside knowledge and experience with delivering mail to help us out with giving our invitations and RSVP's the best chance at getting to the right destinations in the shortest amount of time for the least amount of money.

I had my return address printed on the outer envelopes (back flap - sorry Melissa). It cost like $11 extra, but has been totally worth it!

@GameCox No worries. Back flap addressing is not completely undeliverable. As long as it's not centered on the back as the To address is on the front the machine should be able to figure it out. Right after I posted that last post I actually came across a letter that the machine sent the wrong way. I wish I'd taken a photo of it so I could show you what I meant. After delivering mail for so long and seeing the different ways mail can get screwed up, I get cynical and overly cautious with my own mailings. Lol

Melissa - great advice. We have a stamp, but I think we'll be unconventional and put it on the front of the envelope. I'm almost 100% positive that we have the correct addresses for our attendees. I've triple checked - in a most annoying way.

@Melissa...I was planning on putting my return address on the back flap but after a chat with the local mail lady I decided to be safe rather than sorry and put it on the front in the usual return address spot.