By Hand . . . or By Label

[Whitewater]

Ok, somebody posted this on a Yahoo group and I reacted with 'er, what?' because I'd never heard of it even being a question, but I suppose I ought to ask.

Originally, the term 'By Hand' meant that the note or whatever was delivered by the hand of the delivery boy or whatever, not the post office. Over the centuries, it has come to mean that the invitation addresses on the outer-outer envelope are written out and that no artificial means (computer printer, labels, whatever) were used on them.

The question posed was this: "Can wedding invitations be addressed via another method than by hand?"

I say, HECK YAH, otherwise you'll get writer's cramp from doing them all. I mean, there's the outer-outer envelope, the RSVP cards, the inner envelopes, and all the rest of it, who wouldn't do it via an easier (if mass produced) method? I think doing it via laser printer and label will also mean less mistakes too, which means less envelopes wasted and less time wasted.

It appears that it's proper etiquette to address ALL your invitations by hand, one at a time, individually, but what if your handwriting sucks? Or what if you have carpal tunnel and can't do it? What if you just can't write 250 or more invitations?

I don't think it's bad or wrong to use an easier, less labor-intensive method. I'll be using the same font on my invitations that I am on my webpage as I am on my place cards, etc, so it shouldn't be too jarring -- and for my invites, I'll be using labels that I bought at the store and printed at home, using various mail merge techniques. I don't have the time to hand-address and my handwriting is terrible, and practically illegible.


What do you guys think about hand-addressing versus labels or pre-printed?



Whitewater

[WebLady]

I think the by hand thing is usually meant for the thank you notes because it is more personal. Even with that, I printed mine on the computer and just signed them :sweatdrop:

I don't think there is anything wrong with printing addresses for your invitations. I sure wouldn't want to hand write out all those addresses. Some people pay to have it done in caligraphy, that would pass for "by hand" ;)

But then again, when it comes down to it, I'd rather get a printed TY than none at all. So as with everything else, do what you feel is best for you in your situation.

[PGDesigns]

I will be printing out address labels for our invitations and use the same font as the invitations themselves. I don't see anything wrong with printing labels. However, I will write the thank you notes myself.

[Kirby]

There is no way I am hand addressing all of my invitations! Almost every invitation I have gotten in the past few years have had printed labels so I don't think anyone will think anything bad about it. I think it looks better when the addresses are printed directly onto the envelopes though. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to do that.

[Danielle9608]

I ran all of my envelopes through the printer, I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

[neebelung]

It is actually considered "bad form" to use labels to address your wedding invites. It's one of those things that while it's more convenient and saves time, is considered impersonal. *shrug* (I agree it's silly, but overwhelmingly I've heard it's considered tacky to use labels).

I ran all of my envelopes through the printer, I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

If you're going to do it, this is by far the better way to do it (as opposed to using labels) as it can look very professional when done right (and with a pretty font).

[Jenna5366]

I never even considered hand writing my addresses. LOL.

[Jenna5366]

I ran all of my envelopes through the printer, I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

Ooh, I should see if I can figure that out! :D

[uptowngirl]

I am running all mine through the printer too - it was a little complicated to figure out, but looks so much prettier than my handwriting would!

[Danielle9608]

I am running all mine through the printer too - it was a little complicated to figure out, but looks so much prettier than my handwriting would!

I totally hear you there - I must have ruined at least 6 envelopes :purplex: But the end results were worth it.

[brendalin]

I have not recieved an invitation in the last several years that was hand written, and with how many invites we are sending out, and how bad my hand writing is I would have to start now! I think that i will stick to printing them!

[Brian's Bride]

I ran my envelopes through a printer. And while it was a pain (no, literally, I cut my knuckle doing it) it looked a lot better than my handwriting. My printer wouldn't line up the envelopes, my parents wouldn't feed them 'cuz the paper was too slippery, so I ended up using my brother's. And HIS would drop excess toner so I had to wipe the inside of the printer down after every SIX envelopes. It totally sucked.

[mindi_lynn]

I addressed all 165 by hand. I only had outer envelopes. The envelopes I used wouldn't run through our printer because of their weight (or that is my guess because it just didn't work).

[lizardbnorton]

I also ran my envelopes through the printer. I have nasty handrwriting and can't afford a calligrapher. I don't like the idea of using labels, because then they look really unprofessional.

I used the envelope wizard in Word. It was really easy

[sweetvenus]

I'm not a fan of labels either. They scream "mass marketing" to me. But I think running them through the printer is fine. I'll be doing mine by hand, though. I have black envelopes, so I can't exactly print them off in white ink, haha.

[EarlyBird]

I have never received an invitation that was on a label,its probably a demographic thing too though. We will either hire a calligrapher or we will go ahead and figure out how to run them through the printer with double thick ink invidividually

[princessbridezilla]

calligraphy isn't difficult. if you can write you can do calligraphy. it just takes a bit of practice (writing out the alphabet and numbers 1-9 over and over) to make it look nice.

i got a calligraphy set for $20 (comes with 3 nibs and 6 ink cartriges)and a practise (artists sketch book) pad for $8. i looked up some fonts on the internet and printed them off to give me ideas, but i'm developing my own style of letters that are comfortable and easy for me. no big swirly letters- just neat printing that looks nice because of the shape of the nib and the way the ink deposits on the paper.

not trying to knock the professional calligraphers. they're expensive but for a reason- they can do numerous complicated fonts and probably use the traditional dip-in-ink method.

[cassiopeia]

One of my maids of honor who has very nice handwriting VERY graciously offered to hand address all my inner AND outer envelopes.

She did them while I assembled the invitations. We were so hungover and miserable, but the end result was worth it I think. I had been planning to run them through the printer but my laser at work wouldn't accept the inner envelopes and the only inkjet printer I could find was so old it took literally 5 minutes per envelope so hand writing was WAY faster.

[firespirit]

My handwriting is horrible, even when I try it comes out looking like a child wrote it.

I opted for printing.

I plan on printing the thank-you's too, but make sure to personalize each one.