How to address wedding envelopes

A handy guide to wedding envelope etiquette

Once you’ve decided on your wedding invitation wording and it’s time to slide your beautiful invitation safely inside its envelope, there’s still the matter of what to write on the front. But deciding how to address envelopes for everyone on your guest list isn’t as simple as it sounds. With different scenarios to consider (married couples, unmarried couples, singletons, those with plus ones and so on) and titles to get right (Ms. Mr. Dr. etc), it’s easy to forget where to start. So to offer a helping hand when you’ve got a million other things to prep and plan, we’ve put together this quick, simple guide to wedding envelope addressing.

To a single male

Use ‘Mr’ if the person is over 18. Otherwise omit.

Contemporary: Joel Harrison

Traditional: Mr Joel Harrison or Mr Harrison

To a single female

Traditionally, ‘Ms’ is used by women regardless of their marital status and ‘Miss’ for unmarried women, usually those under 18. Of course, these are old-fashioned rules, and today you can go with whatever you like!

Contemporary: Yasmin Lin

Traditional: Ms Yasmin Lin or Ms Lin

To a single person with a plus one

The envelope should only feature the name of the person you know, and the invitation should include their name ‘and guest.’

Contemporary: Lillie Ellis

Traditional: Miss Lillie Ellis or Miss Ellis

To an unmarried couple

For unmarried couples who live at the same address, include both names on one line, listing the person closest to you first. If you know the couple equally well, place the names in alphabetical order.

Contemporary: Ed and Kara

Traditional: Mr Ed Parsons and Ms Kara Porter

To a married couple

Contemporary: Carlos and Maria or Mr Carlos & Maria Hamilton

Traditional: Mr and Mrs Hamilton or Mr & Mrs Carlos Hamilton

To a married couple with different surnames

Once again, list the person you're closest with first. If you know both guests equally well, it’s tradition to open with female’s name.

Contemporary: Georgina Evans and Simon Khan or Mr Khan & Mrs Evans

Traditional: Mrs Georgina Evans and Mr Simon Khan

To a family with children

Contemporary: The Underwoods

Traditional: Mr and Mrs Simon Underwood, Lola, Charles and Eva.

To children of friends/family 18 and older

The children of friends and family who are over 18 and no longer live with their parents should receive their own invitation

Contemporary: Rachel or Miss Thompson

Traditional: Ms. Rachel Thompson

To a single person with a title

Contemporary: Dr Smiles

Traditional: Doctor Erica Smiles

To a married person with a title

Contemporary: Dr Isabelle and Mr Josh Steele (if the woman takes her husband’s name day-to-day)

Traditional: Professor Andrew Jackson and Mrs Angela Johnson


Our envelope addressing options

At Papier, we offer recipient addressing and return envelope addressing. Upload your guests’ addresses and a return address, special date or initials to the reverse of your envelopes, and we’ll print each one neatly for you. It’ll add a beautiful finishing touch to your Papier post and save you tons of handwriting, freeing up precious time so you can get on with planning the rest of your big day.

Recipient addressing – 25p per envelope

You can upload your recipient addresses by downloading and completing our handy spreadsheet, or add them manually one by one.

Add your return address - 25p per envelope

Include a return address or add your name, initials or a special date for a sophisticated touch. Whatever you write will show across the back of all your envelopes.