Should you hand cancel your wedding invitations?

photo by SweetLetter Press

What does it mean to hand cancel and should you send your wedding invitations this way? 

At Calluna Events we've mailed out several wedding invitations for clients this year. Our service includes cleaning up the guest list and preparing addresses in the correct format, coordination of calligraphy, assembly of the invitation, hand-stamping and finally mailing. 

The USPS states that hand cancelling is "a cancellation on postage stamps that is applied manually (rather than mechanically with a canceling machine) on mailpieces that are non machinable or do not meet USPS dimensions."

Each time we go to the post office we request that they hand cancel the invitations to prevent marks, smudges and otherwise damage to the outside of the envelope. The last invitation we sent for a bride included a twine tie around the package and if this had gone through the machines it may have caused an indentation, or worse, ripped the envelope. The last thing you want for your beautiful, hand-calligraphied invitations is for them to arrive damaged and smudged in your guests mailbox. 


Most post offices will do this service however we've found that some of the smaller ones do not. Some even charge for the service, requiring additional postage on the envelope. Luckily my last mailings had the additional postage already included so they took care of it.


Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Calluna Events :: Colorado wedding planner