The new year means wedding planning, and I feel lucky to be part of the process, meeting the newly engaged and hearing all about their ideas for decor, floral, how they met, and, of course, what they are looking for in an invitation. What can be hard for brides and grooms are the options: There are as many invitation choices as there are flowers in the world. Once you decide where your invitations are coming from, and you meet with your designer, you then start to narrow down what works best for you and your wedding. One of the details: What is an inner envelope, and do I need one? An inner envelope is second large envelope, just slightly smaller than your main envelope, slipped inside of the main outer envelope. Inside is the invitation, response card and response envelope, and any other inserts you may have. An inner envelope stems from the victorian era. The roads were incredibly dirty, and when mail was delivered, the envelopes were pretty awful looking. So, the house staff would throw away the dirty outer envelope and place the pristine inner envelope on a silver tray for the lady of house.
So, do you need one? Here are some reasons you may need an inner envelope: 1. You are having a formal wedding and would like to stick to tradition. 2. The outer envelope will get dirty and scrunched in the mail. If this bothers you, ask your stationer for an inner envelope. 3. You are inviting a lot of people from one household. The inner is the place to write all your guests' names. For example, the outer would be addressed: The Ronan Family, and the inner would say: Mr and Mrs. Frederick Ronan, Master Charles Ronan, and Miss June Ronan. 4. If you are not inviting children, this is a way to reiterate that they are not invited- sorry kids! If their names are not on the inner, their parents should know they are not invited (of course, this is not always a fool proof method. Some response cards can include "____ seats have been reserved in your honor" and the bride will fill in the number invited from each household if seating is limited.
You may not need an inner envelope if 1. You are having a non-traditional wedding. 2. The idea of extra paper in the invite seems wasteful. In this case you may want a response postcard - you can then omit the response envelope too! See the invitations that went with these envelopes here!
That’s very interesting about the origin of the inner envelope practice. It’s funny how many things we keep doing without knowing the reason why…thanks for sharing! Oh, and I think I’m still a fan of the inner envelope. I have the dubious distinction of living in what was ranked as the neighborhood with the worst mail service (Wicker Park) in the worst mail-service city (Chicago). So, yes…many invitations come to us looking like they’ve been through the ringer!