Now that you have your beautiful wedding invitations selected you may be wondering to yourself, what is the proper way to address them? There are some traditional formal guidelines that will help you put your address list together properly.

Although theses are the traditional guidelines in addressing wedding invitations, they are just guidelines, which means by no mean that they have to be followed. You should feel free to deviate from these guidelines if you prefer to make your invitations more personal or more casual. On the outer and inner envelope there are a few suggestions that you may want to follow with the different type of guest you invited.

When you guest is a single unmarried female you will want to use Miss or Ms. followed by their name. For a divorced female you will want to use their married name such as Mrs. Victoria Franklin. If the guest is a divorced female, then you may want to use their maiden name as well, such as Miss Victoria Ford. For an unmarried male, then simply use the title and first and last name, such as Mr. Thomas Franklin.

When you are preparing your invitations and are inviting a married couple then use something like, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Freemon. If you are inviting a married couple, but the wife has kept her maiden name, then it should be like Mr. Paul Freemon and Mrs. Lisa Michaels. For unmarried couples that do not live together, then send to the closest friend such as Miss or Ms. Michelle Wright in care of Mr. Jeffrey Lewis.

When sending your invitation to an unmarried couple who live together, then you would alphabetical by last name such as Miss Rose Abbott and Mr. Timothy Brown. For a children under the age of sixteen you would not put their name on the outer envelope, but on the inner envelope only listed under the name of the parents in alphabetical order using only the first names. If the children are older than the age of eighteen, then they should receive their own invitation even if they are still living at home. When sending an invitation to a judge and his wife, then it should be sent to The Honorable and Mrs. Dylan Matthews. For a clergy your invitation should be sent to The Reverend Dawson Phillips and Mrs. Dawson Phillips.

There is nothing more frustrating than having a beautifully addressed invitation being returned to sender with postage markings all over it because of an incorrect address. These are guidelines to help you put your address list together properly. Although these are the traditional formal guidelines in addressing wedding invitations, feel free to add your own style.

Nicknames or abbreviations should be avoided when possible except for Mr., Mrs., and Jr. You may use an initial if you do not know the full name, or if the person never uses his given name. Cities, states, and numbered streets are written out in full with the exception of D.C. In regards to addresses, the only optional abbreviations are for Saint use St. or Mount use Mt., which can be written either way.