Post # 1

Member
99 posts
Worker bee
I just starting putting my address list together and I am already overwhelmed lol. Google doesn’t help. How do you address wedding invitations to the following:
Engaged couple
Married couple
Unmarried couple with kids
Unmarried couple
There will just be one envelope. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!
Post # 3

Member
99 posts
Worker bee
Also what about a single mom with kids?
Post # 4

Member
2944 posts
Sugar bee
From TheKnot, How to Address…
That takes care of the categories you listed.
Post # 5

Member
1893 posts
Buzzing bee
Don’t forget : husband and wife but wife kept her surname! I ran into the problem!
Post # 6

Member
99 posts
Worker bee
@HisMoon: Thanks! It helps, but I guess it gets tricky when you are invitaing kids but only using one envelope. Is there a way to get away with addressing it to the family as a whole?
Post # 7

Member
2944 posts
Sugar bee
@purple_orchid: Maybe “…and Family” after the parents’ names. If you would prefer to be more formal, you can list them out but use only first initials rather than names. For John and Jane with different last names with their kids Joe and Jim, it would look like:
Mr. John Smith and Mrs. Jane Jones
Mr. J. Smith and Mr. J. Smith
Post # 8

Member
1692 posts
Bumble bee
Just one envelope is fine, as long as you have a write-in line on the invitation. Or a belly-band that you can write names on. Or some way, other than the discarded outer envelope, where you have indicated who is invited. Because every guest is entitled to be addressed by name, even little Miss Who who is only just two; and children’s names should, for safety’s sake, never be exposed on the outside of envelopes that may end up propped up in the common “oversize mail” section of a community mailbox, to be memorized by the neighbourhood paedophile. If necessary, you hand-write a note on the invitation or slip a note in with the invitation, stating that the children are invited.
If you have taken care of that, the rest is easy — especially if you lived in the English-speaking world outside the USA.* Since you do live in the States, however:
Engaged couple (not cohabiting)
- Ms. Jane Brown (sent to her home address)
- inside write-in line, inner envelope or belly-band: Ms. Brown
Mr. John Black (sent to his home address)
- inside write-in line, inner envelope or belly-band: Mr. Black
Married couple
- Mr. John Black and Ms. Jane Brown, (if she has kept her own name)
- inside write-in line, inner envelope or belly-band: Mr. Black and Ms. Brown
- Mr. John Black and Ms. Jane Black, (if she has kept her given name but taken John’s surname)
- inside write-in line, inner envelope or belly-band: Mr. Black and Ms. Brown
- Mr. and Mrs. John Black, (if she has taken her husband’s name in the traditional manner)
- inside write-in line, inner envelope or belly-band: Mr. and Mrs. Brown
Engaged couple (cohabiting)
- Mr. John Black and Ms. Jane Brown, (note this is identical to a married couple. That is because it is prurient to speculate about whether are not they are married. If they live like a married couple you treat them that way.)
Un-Engaged couple (cohabiting)
- Mr. John Black and Ms. Jane Brown, (ditto.)
Unmarried couple with kids
- Mr. John Black and Ms. Jane Brown, (children to be named on the inside ONLY.)
- inside write-in line, inner envelope or belly-band:
Mr. Black and Ms. Brown
Miss Black, Master Black, Miss Brown, Miss Susan
Single mother with kids
- Ms. Jane Brown, (children to be named on the inside ONLY.)
Post # 9

Member
11517 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
@purple_orchid: I went less formal than is ‘proper’.
Mine were addressed
Married Couple same name: Jane and John Smith (I put the name of the friend first and spouse second – John wouldn’t be invited without Jane…)
ALL couples with different names: John Smith and Jane Doe – sent to the home of the person being invited – in this case I know John & Jane is the partner who would not otherwise be invited…
Married couple with kids: John, Jane and jimmy Smith
Married couple with kids and different names: Jane, John and Jimmy – I didn’t use last names, too much space
it might not be ‘proper’ but it’s what I did…
Post # 10

Member
631 posts
Busy bee
I like the Knot’s answer to the married couple w/ same last name: “Mr. John and Mrs. Samantha Holt”
Some people will tell you that you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO address such a couple as “Mr and Mrs. John Holt” and that’s just not true. It’s a choice, and it’s one that a lot of hosts today do not make, since there are a lot of women today that don’t care for this form of address.
You can also do a less formal invitation without the titles: “John and Samantha Holt”