Advice From A Letter Carrier

[JoannaBanana]

Cross post from a thread I found on Reddit. I thought it might be useful information.

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/weddingplanning/comments/2zl6pf/a_message_to_those_about_to_send_out_their/.compact

 

First of all, congratulations on your future wedding!

 

I'm a postal carrier and as such, I get a lot of save-the-dates and wedding invitations this time of year. It's super exciting to see my customers going off to be happily married couples. Each addressed envelope is unique and beautiful! It makes me think of my wedding and what led up to it.

 

Unfortunately, not all of these envelopes are created equal. Some are a bit too big or small for the machines at the plant to run them, in which case they sometimes need to be hand-stamped. Some have a bit too much frill, in which case they're torn to pieces in the machines. I've even had one invitation weigh so much that it was considered a parcel!

 

In these cases, additional postage is required. In most instances, these envelopes are returned to the sender, usually with a stamp on them saying additional postage required. :/ Sometimes, but not always, the envelope that needs extra postage reaches its destination before anyone catches it. Then the recipient has to pay the extra postage in order to even get it!

 

I wanted to tell you this to save you any embarrassment. It's absolutely dreadful when I have to knock on a customer's door, sender or receiver, to ask for a few cents in order to get their mail. It seems petty, I'm sure, asking for a few cents for an envelope you put a stamp on, but some mail does require extra attention.

 

Just this week, I received an invitation to deliver to my route that was so torn up (there was a lot of twine and beads involved here) that I had to return it to the sender because I couldn't read the address.

 

You're going to make your perfect invitations for your perfect wedding. They're going to be super freaking awesome!!! Big or small, light or heavy, frilly or no.

 

My advice to you is this: before you even think about licking that stamp and giving your invites a big ol' kiss goodbye, take your envelope to your local PO (with all the fru-fru stuff inside) and have it measured and weighed. They'll be happy to help you.

 

Good luck, and I wish you the best!

 

Edit: Holy crap! I didn't think this post would get this much attention but after reading all of your posts, I'm glad it helped all of you!

 

Edit 2: I'm getting a LOT of questions about wax-sealed envelopes. I can almost guarantee you that these will NOT go through the machines at the plant. My recommendation: take them to your local PO and talk to the clerks. They'll be more than happy to help you! I'd definitely recommend getting these types of envelopes hand-stamped. It costs a bit extra, but at least they won't get mangled.

 

 

[acw271011]

Good information to share. A lot of people don't think about what happens to the finished product after they kiss it goodbye!

[MissMeg]

Thanks for sharing, this is great information!

[excpomelo]

That's useful information  ... 7m

 

tks u so much !!!

[dailamjsc]

great thank for sharing.

[kelbiiztd]

Thanks for information!!!

very helpful

[jordanj]

This is super helpful. Thanks for the insight!

[Brandii]

This is great advice!

 

For my invitations, I looked up the weight allowed for 1 stamp and weighed the completed invitation using a digital kitchen scale before I sent them (to make sure). I didn't use a wax seal or anything but I did have passport invitations which has twine wrapped around the middle and a little charm and I still only needed 1 stamp (surprisingly... and barely LOL).

[Moni240]

Thanks for posting that Brandii. I am planning passport invites as well and wondered about additional postage...

 

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