The Journal

This is part thirteen of a series called One a Day in May, where we will review one wedding stationery term every day in May!

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Once upon a time, wedding invitations, and other mail, were delivered by hand or via horse and buggy. Envelopes got very, very dirty in transport, and upon arrival at your house, were removed from the outer envelope by your servants, before being delivered to you. The outer envelope was too dirty for you to touch, so you only ever handled the pristine inner envelope. Because the envelope had already arrived at its destination, thanks to the address on the outer envelope, the inner envelope only needed to contain the name of the guests that are invited to the wedding.

I would say this isn’t a concern these days, but just the other day I received an envelope in the mail that looked like it had been hand-delivered to my house, after being stored in a bag of french fries. The outer envelope ensures that the inner envelope, which could have a gorgeous envelope liner, stays pristine. It also makes sure that if your outer envelope was in fact stored in a greasy bag, that your wedding invitations don’t get greasy as well.

The inner envelope also has a second purpose – which is still quite useful, even in these modern times. While an outer envelope is used to dictate the family name and address, the inner envelope is used to address the exact persons you are inviting. So if the outer envelope says “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and their address, the inner envelope will say “Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Tommy and Sally” (indicating the couple and their children are all invited) or “Mr. Harold Smith and Mrs. Kathleen Smith” (indicating only the adults are invited). It’s definitely considered the classiest way to communicate a “no kids” policy and it proves really helpful in households of more than just one or two people.