Wedding Addressing by Aktivart and Design

Addressing Envelopes

In preparing your invitation mailing list consider the following:
  • It is more elegant (and formal) to use titles Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Miss
  • "Mr. & Mrs. Man and Woman" is correct, when they are a married couple
  • "Mr. Man & Mrs. Woman" for a married couple is not the best form
  • Miss does not have a period at the end
  • Miss is used for girls under the age of 18
  • Ms. is for adult women, and for common law/married women who have not taken their husband's surname
  • A woman is not "Mrs. Samantha Maiden-Name" in a common law union
  • Divorced women, remarried, are Mrs. New-Husband's-Surname, if she has taken his name only
  • Divorced women, remarried, kept her old name is Ms. Surname
  • Divorced women, not remarried, usually go by Ms.
  • If a divorced woman has gone back to her maiden name she is Ms. Maiden-Name
  • Streets, cities and provinces should be written out in full words
  • Foreign countries are always the last line of the address block


Examples:
Married couple only:

Mr. & Mrs. John and Sonia Smith
10 Tall Palms Drive
Mississauga, Ontario L5V 2E1


If you prefer a more casual style, no titles are used, woman goes first:

Clara and Mark Holden
address


Married couple with small school-aged kids invited:
(you can name each child too if you prefer)

Mr. & Mrs. John and Sonia Smith and Family
Address


Married couple with older kids (teens, not dating yet) invited:

Mr. & Mrs. John and Sonia Smith
Luke, Sara, and Anthony
Address


Married couple with adult kids living at home:
Each adult child living at home should receive their own invitation with the option of bringing a date

Ms. Sara Smith & Guest Address

Mr. Domenic Sarrano & Guest
Address


Adult woman or man, friend or relative of bride or groom,
who can bring her special person (it's in good taste to find out that guest's name), whose name you know (the person you know goes first):

Ms. Diane Jones and Mr. Frank De Souza
Address


Mr. Derek Kowalski and Ms. Emily Brown
Address


Adult invited, known to you as single, should have the option to bring a guest:

Ms. Frances Powell & Guest
Address


Widow invited (traditionally she still carries the title "Mrs."):

Mrs. Alina Almeida
Address


Teen girl who has a steady boyfriend and you know his name:
("Mr." not traditionally used under the age of 18)

Miss Jane Stevens and Nathan Grace

Married common law couple:
(The woman is not "Mrs." in this union when she goes by her maiden name)

Mr. David Freeman and Ms. Sandy Wilde
Address


Inviting Doctors
The title "Doctor" always out-ranks Mr., Mrs. or Ms.

A married couple:

Dr. & Mrs. Mike and Debrah Ho

Dr. Jessica Darcy and Mr. Don Darcy
(Yes, she goes first!)


Both are Doctors:

The Doctors William and Sabrina Goode

A common law/married couple with different last names, or two single people
(woman goes first because she is the doctor):

Dr. Lucy Williams and Mr. Sam Bell

Both are doctors, married to each other, different surnames
(man goes first if he is a doctor too):

Dr. Ken Bolton and Dr. Melissa Smith