When I attend invitation planning meetings with my clients the question about Inner & Outer Envelopes for their wedding invitations often come up. I always like telling them the tradition behind the multiple envelopes. The tradition is as follows. In England during the 19th century wedding invitations were hand delivered on foot or on horseback. The postal system was still forming and the outdoor elements made it very difficult to keep the envelopes clean. The double envelope was for protection. The invitation was placed inside one envelope, then that envelope was placed into a second envelope which was sealed and addressed. When the invitation was delivered, it would be handed to a servant who would remove the actual invitation from the outer envelope in order to bring it to the head of the household.
In modern days, the post office does a great job delivering the mail and keeping the envelopes clean. The green living trend has taken hold and most feel it is unnecessary to have an extra envelope, but
I do still have clients that choose to send outer envelopes with their wedding stationery to ensure that guests receive invitations free from postage marks and other blemishes.
It’s up to you on deciding to use both the inner and outer envelopes but now you know the tradition on why both exist!
Let us know your thoughts…..Are you using both inner and outer envelopes for your wedding invitations?
Crane Invitation
