The Journal

This is part fifteen 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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Oh, the wonderful world of envelope sizes! I won’t bore you with listing all the many, MANY different sizes of envelopes, because there’s no way you’re as obsessed with envelopes as I am – because I’m REALLY obsessed!  If you are, a quick google search will show you the dozens of different sizes and their uses that are out in the world. As a wedding stationer there are a few envelope sizes that I use quite often and are widely recognized as good sizes for invites.

A7 envelopes are your standard 5 ¼ x 7 ¼” size envelopes. These are probably the most popular size for invitations, whether horizontally or vertically oriented.

A7.5 are the outer envelopes that are used with A7 – they are slightly larger than the inner A7 envelope. You guessed it, they are 5 ½ x 7 ½”.

A9 envelopes are slightly larger, 5 ¾ x 8 ⅞” but still require the same postage at smaller envelopes given that they are under 1 ounce. This size accommodates an 8 ½ x 11” piece of paper cut exactly in half. Just FYI.

A2 is my favorite size for Save the Date and thank you card envelopes – it measures 4 ⅜  x 5 ¾” and is perfect for a 4 ¼ x 5 ½” card.

4Bar or A1 envelopes are the standard size to accommodate your reply card. 3 ⅝ x 5 ⅛”

Square envelopes, commonly either 5 ½” or 6 ½”, are a beautiful option as well but they do require additional postage because the sorting machines cannot tell which direction the envelope is intended to be read.

So there is a quick explanation of a few common invitation sizes, there are others out there and custom options as well but these are the foundation for most designers when they’re working on sizing your invites.