Envelope Addressing Instructions
Save hours and impress your guests with digital calligraphy! Addressed envelopes look amazing, and save you tons of time. For your convenience, I’ve created a pre-formatted example spreadsheet to your computer that you can edit in Excel.
Click the button below to download (it will most likely go to your Downloads Folder):
Spreadsheet format: 5 Columns
Column 1: Names
Column 2: Address
(include address and apartment on same line: 123 Main Street, Apt. 1)
Column 3: City
Column 4: State
Column 5: Zip code
I require City, State, and Zip code to be separate columns so I can format them differently. Thank you!
International Addresses
If you have more than 5 international addresses, please put them in a separate spreadsheet with separate columns for each line of the address (some UK addresses have up to 5 or 6 lines of addressing!)
If you don't have many international addresses, add them to your main spreadsheet the best you can and I will look up the correct format.
How to format names
Make sure that the way that you have the name in the "names" column is the same way you want it to appear on the envelope. Examples:
Couple Traditional:
"Mr. & Mrs. Paul Brodeur" OR "Ms. Jenna Smith & Mr. Paul Brodeur"
Couple Contemporary:
"Jenna & Paul Brodeur" OR "Jenna Smith & Paul Brodeur"
Family Traditional:
"Mr. & Mrs. Paul Brodeur
Anna, John, & Jerry"
(Please put everyone in the same cell on the spreadsheet)
or " & Family" if you don't know the kid's names
Family Contemporary:
"The Brodeur Family" OR "The Brodeur-Smith Family"
Unmarried, or two different last names?
When addressing to a couple with two different names, I recommend putting the person you know best first, even though traditionally you'd put the woman's name first.
Married AND unmarried people with different last names are addressed as "Mr." or "Ms." (not "Mrs.") if you're including formal titles.
If the invitee has a long term partner, try to find out their name instead of putting "& Guest".
How to format Street Addresses
Make sure that the way that you have the address in the "Address" column is the same way you want it to appear on the envelope. Examples:
Street Abbreviations
Please spell out abbreviations, for example "Street" instead of "St." and "New York" instead of "NY" (you can use Edit>Find>Replace to do it quickly). The only one I’d keep is “Apt” instead of “Apartment”.
Apartments
The postal service recommends all apartments be written as "Apt " then the number.
recommended format, all one line :
123 NW Main Street, Apt 6
State Abbreviations
Please spell out the states for calligraphy/cursive addresses. Use "Edit>find & replace" (make sure to select “Whole Words” and “Match Case”) to do this quickly - "Massachusetts" instead of "MA" for example.
Zip Codes
Format the Zip Code column as "Text" instead of "Number" so that it doesn't make the first zero disappear. Use the 5 digit zip code "12354" instead of the long-format one "12345-1234".
Let me know if you have any formatting or envelope etiquette questions. I have addressed literally thousands of envelopes, so I bet I know the answer, and if not, I'll find it out!