Stationery 101, Volume 24: 4 Tips for Invitation Postage

Something many brides forget to include in their invitation budget is the cost of postage. It's an annoying fee that has the potential to add up if you aren't being careful about the size and weight of your invitations.

Here are my top FOUR tips for invitation postage:

1 - DON'T FORGET POSTAGE FOR THE REPLY CARDS. A standard forever stamp usually does the trick here.

2 - KEEP WEIGHT IN MIND. Invitations weighing over one ounce will require additional postage. I always weigh final invitations for my clients, but if you're adding any DIY elements, it's important to take on fully assembled suite to the post office to get weighed so you know the exact required postage.

3 - KEEP SIZE AND SHAPE IN MIND. Square envelopes ALWAYS require additional postage, as do envelopes larger than 6"x11" and .25" thick. So, even if you have an invitation that weighs less than one ounce, if you add a bow to that invitation, you may end up thicker than .25" and will still require additional postage.

4 - BUDGET FOR POSTAGE. The average invitation will require at least $0.98 (one $0.49 on both the invitation and reply envelope). So, at a minimum, if you're mailing 100 invitations you need to budget an additional $100 in postage. Heavier invitations will require at least $1.30 ($0.71 for the invitation, and $0.49 for the reply envelope).

Thank you for joining me in another Stationery 101 post! Don't forget to catch up on past Stationery 101 topics here, such as Letterpress 101, Foil Stamping 101, and Engraving 101.

Sincerely,