Elevate Your Envelopes with Vintage Stamps for your Wedding

Originally published February 12, 2021. Updated July 22, 2022 with new postage prices.

Your invitations are tucked into beautifully calligraphy addressed envelopes that are all enclosed with a wax seal. They’re ready to be mailed to your loved ones across the country, where you expect to get texts and messages about how much people loved the envelopes and how can’t wait for your party.

But wait. There’s one more important detail before you drop those envelopes in the mail. STAMPS!

In today’s blog post, I share all about vintage stamps and how can they can elevate your envelopes. I also share my favorite tip on how to control costs.

Most importantly, AC Letters Calligraphy can find the perfect vintage stamps for your wedding or event and apply them to your envelopes, saving you countless hours searching the internet or sticky fingers from trying to activate the adhesive. And time is money!

Let’s dive in!

Nature themed vintage postage collage on a calligraphy addressed envelope

What are Vintage Stamps?

A little known fact is that USPS stamps don’t expire. Any unused stamp issued in or after 1860 can be used to mail letters. We in the business call these vintage stamps or vintage postage. You just need to use enough stamps to equal the current price of postage.

Vintage stamps can be a beautiful way to complete your calligraphy addressed wedding envelope. Like with the present day stamps, there are a ton of different stamp styles and designs. You can find large rectangular stamps, small square stamps, or even circular stamps. There are stamp designs for probably everything you can think of - animals, places in America, celebrities, people who made an impact to the world, sports, food, nature, and more. And of course, there are stamps in every color of the rainbow.

And because stamp prices have changed over time, you can use different priced stamps to create an artistic collage of different designs and styles on the front your envelope. This is where the fun comes in!

Wedding envelopes with vintage postage

Vintage Stamp Aesthetic

For example, at the time of this blog post, the price of first-class stamp to mail a letter is 60 cents. Imagine you are sending invitations for a California seaside wedding. You can use 4 stamps - 10 cent, 10 cent, 15 cent, and 20 cent - to get to the required 60 cents. Perhaps you pick one stamp of the California Poppy flower, one stamp of a beach scene, one stamp of a seashell, and finally one stamp that says “Love”. You have now set the stage for your wedding and told a story about your day before your guests even opened the envelope. How cool is that?

You can also use vintage postage stamps to tell the story of your relationship. Let’s say you are from California and your partner is from New York and you met at a basketball game. You could use three stamps - the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, and a basketball player - to share the story of your history just through stamps!

Cost of Vintage Stamps

Now you might be gung-ho to use vintage stamps on your calligraphy wedding envelopes (or every day life!). But, there’s a very important consideration and that’s cost (ugh).

Vintage stamps, while perhaps only worth 3 cents to USPS, cost more to buy than their marked denomination. You can’t actually buy vintage stamps directly from USPS, you have to purchase these from stamp collectors and curators. And vintage stamps can be hard to find. I mean, maybe you’ve found some old stamps lying around your grandma’s house, but to create an elegantly themed artistic vintage stamp collage for 50 wedding invites, you need a lot of the exact same stamps. This is where stamp curators come in. They search far and wide for unused vintage stamps and sell them at a markup (to cover their business expenses, make a profit, etc.).

It's that markup that can make vintage stamps costs add up. Depending on how many stamps you use, it might cost $1 - $2 to actually mail a 60 cent letter. Perhaps that’s fine for your budget but maybe you want something more cost effective.

Calligraphy envelope addressing feauturing a mixture of vintage postage and a Forever stamp

Enter my favorite solution - using 1 high denomination stamp and then 1 or 2 lower denomination stamps. This works especially well when you’re mailing a letter that’s over 60 cents - say your invitation suite and envelope weighs 2 ounces, so now you need 80 cents worth of postage. You can use a current Forever USPS stamp equal to 60 cents, which you’d pay face value for, and then get a 5 cent and 15 cent stamp to get you all the way to 80 at a fraction of the cost of going full vintage. Charming and unique, yet more affordable! The perfect combo.

One final word on vintage stamps before we wrap up. Most of them are not self-stick like the stamps we use today. They have a glue adhesive on them that is activated with water. It can be tedious and a bit sticky to activate a bunch of stamps for a lot of envelopes. As mentioned at the top, this where I can save you time and prevent headaches! AC Letters Calligraphy can not only find you great vintage stamps, but I can also apply them to each envelope for you before I mail them back to you or off to your guests.

Vintage stamps can be the perfect way to tell a story and showcase more of your personality. I love scouring the internet to find my clients the perfect vintage stamps to compliment their calligraphy envelopes and would love to do so for your next event! Contact me below to learn more or visit my Envelope Addressing page. While I’m a San Diego calligrapher, I love working with couples and people all over the country!

Do You Need Inner Envelopes for Wedding Invitations?

You are faced with a lot of questions as you plan your wedding. There are plenty of obvious ones, like “how many guests?” “What flowers should be in the bouquet?” “What will we eat?”

But there are lots of unexpected questions that will arise as you plan, such as “do I need inner envelopes for my wedding invitations?” or even, “what the heck are wedding inner envelopes?”

What are Wedding Inner Envelopes?

To answer that second question first, inner envelopes are, you guessed it, an envelope inside your mailing envelope. The full invitation suite (invite, RSVP card, extra details) is placed inside the inner envelope. The inner envelope lists the guests’ names on the front and then is placed into an outer, mailing envelope with the guests’ address, stamps, and your return address (and maybe sealed with a wax seal!).

Benefits to using Inner Envelopes

What’s the point of inner envelopes for wedding invitations? Well, inner envelopes for wedding invitations date back to olden days when mail was delivered via horse and carriage. Mail got really beat up in those days and the inner envelope protected the invite from the damages seen on the outer envelope.

In today’s modern age, mail is treated more nicely so many forgo the inner envelope. But we have all received damaged mail, so using an inner envelope still adds an extra level of protection to your beautiful invitation suite - especially if you don’t plan on hand-cancelling your envelopes (more on that later!).

On top of that, though, inner envelopes provide clarity as to who is actually invited to your wedding. We all know forming the guest list is one of the hardest parts of wedding planning. The inner envelope helps alleviate that stress by making it clear to the recipients exactly who from that household is invited to the wedding in a non-confrontational way.

Outer envelopes are typically addressed to the heads of the household (in a more formal manner, such as “Mr. and Mrs. Wagner”), whereas the inner envelope lists everyone from that household is invited (in a more informal manner, such as “Justin, Maxine, Rob, & Faye”).

As an example, say you are having an adult-only wedding and one family you are inviting has both teenagers and young kids. While the outer envelope would be addressed to the heads of the household, the inner envelope can then specify which of the kids are invited to the wedding.

On the flip side, say you are inviting a single friend to your wedding and want them to know they can bring a guest. The more the merrier! The outer envelope would be addressed to your single friend (“Catherine Sims”) and the inner envelope would state “Catherine and guest” so your friend knows to crack open that address book!

Outer envelope addressed to head of households and inner envelope addressed to the specific family members who are invited to the event

Outer envelope addressed to single person and inner envelope addressed to indicate a guest is also invited to the event.

That all being said, back to the original question - do you need inner envelopes for your wedding invitations? Of course not! There are many ways to address an outer envelope to make it clear who is invited or this can be dealt with on the invite itself. Working with a calligrapher (like me!) to address your wedding envelopes can help make this process easier. I’ll help guide you every step of the way so you can be confident your envelopes are addressed appropriately and make it to their destination safely.

Like with all aspects of wedding planning, whether or not you use inner envelopes comes down to your preference and your budget. Interested in calligraphy envelope addressing me? Visit my Envelope services page and fill out the quick form to begin the inquiry process. While I’m a Southern California calligrapher, I love working with couples and individuals all over the country!

4 Ways to Use Calligraphy Envelope Addressing (that's NOT wedding invitations!)

Think calligraphy envelope addressing is only reserved for wedding invitations? Think again! Any mail you send can be elevated with beautiful, modern calligraphy. Except maybe bills…but hey, it’s not a bad idea!

Here are 4 ways to use calligraphy envelope addressing beyond wedding invitations.

Holiday Cards

As the calendar reaches December, we all know what’s coming - an influx of holiday cards! Holiday cards are a great way to spread holiday cheer, especially if you live far away from your loved ones. But, the holidays are stressful and the thought of hand addressing envelopes may seem daunting! Or perhaps the thought of figuring out how to print everyone’s addresses onto labels makes you run to the nearest wine bottle. Consider outsourcing that task to a calligrapher like me who can jazz up your holiday cards with gorgeous calligraphy and help you cross one thing off your to-do list! Silver or gold metallic ink on dark envelopes is a great look for the holiday season, especially when paired with wintery stamps.

Any Important Event or Party

Throwing a baby shower? Celebrating a graduation? Hosting an epic retirement party? If you are inviting people through mailed invitations, then calligraphy envelope addressing can be used to really show the importance of the event. This isn’t just some random dinner party, this is a special event and should be treated as such! Calligraphy can help show that to your guests before they even open their invite. They’ll see their name in calligraphy and know something special is coming!

Christmas card calligraphy envelope addressing

Calligraphy envelopes with gold ink

Birthday Cards, Mother’s Day Cards, Father’s Day Cards, etc.

Like clockwork, the same events happen every year. Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day. If you live far away from loved ones that you mail cards to regularly, consider ordering a set of calligraphy addressed envelopes to last you all year! This will make your recipient feel extra special on their special day, because not only are you mailing them a card (yay mail!), but you also took the time to have a calligrapher hand address the envelope for them. This also saves you time because you know you have all the envelopes ready to go when the time comes!

Bridal Shower

Okay, so this one is still wedding related but hear me out. Maybe you are having a large wedding and can’t afford calligraphy envelope addressing for all of your guests. But calligraphy envelope addressing can still be perfect for a smaller event like a bridal shower! Thanks to a smaller guest list, this still adds class and elegance to your wedding, without having to break the bank.

These are just some examples of ways to incorporate calligraphy envelope addressing into your life - and your mail - outside of a wedding day. At the end of the day, if it’s going in the mail, it can have calligraphy on it! I’ve been known to address some bills with calligraphy just to keep things interesting ;)

If you are interested in calligraphy envelope addressing for any event or occasion, please contact me here to get started!

The Beauty of Calligraphy on Wedding Envelopes

As the world becomes more and more digital, I think it’s safe to say we all love receiving snail mail in our mailbox (and not bills or junk!). I know I get a smile on my face when I get a letter from a friend in the mail. As you plan your wedding or event, consider adding calligraphy envelope addressing to add an elegant, personalized touch to your event and really wow your guests - and save yourself the trouble of having to address the envelopes yourself!

Invitations, and more specifically, the envelope the invitations arrive in, are the first thing your guests see when invited to your wedding or event. Through envelope color, ink color, and calligraphy style, you can really set the tone for your day before your guests even open their invite. Imagine how excited your guests will feel when they see their name handwritten in elegant modern calligraphy peeking through their mailbox. Getting guest addresses printed onto an envelope may be as simple, but will that convey the same excitement?

Plus, the styles are endless. Planning a rustic, outdoor wedding? Consider kraft envelopes with white ink, with the guests name in calligraphy and the address in clear block letters (such as my Daisy style). Going for a vibe as glamorous as you are? Consider navy metallic envelopes with gold ink, with an angled calligraphy address layout like on my Poppy style. There are many mix and match opportunities and a calligrapher (like me!) will work with you to find the perfect combination for your personality and event. Add-ons such as hand poured wax seals and vintage postage can elevate your envelopes even further.

Calligraphy may seem like an old school tradition, but it’s truly an elegant detail that impresses people. The addition of calligraphy for your wedding envelopes can also make people feel really special, especially in today’s fast paced world. Upon receiving a calligraphy addressed envelope, your recipients will know someone sat down and took multiple minutes to carefully and elegantly handwrite their name and address in beautiful modern calligraphy. And they will know that they are important to you because you chose this extra detail to your event!

Calligraphy addressed envelopes with vintage postage

Gold calligraphy on black wedding envelopes

What’s especially great about calligraphy envelope addressing is that it can be done no matter how you procure your envelopes. A simple invitation from Minted or Vistaprint can be enhanced when placed into a calligraphy addressed envelope. Or, if you’re working with a custom stationer, a calligraphy envelope can be the final detail that ties the invitation suite together.

Calligraphy on wedding envelopes may seem like an expensive, luxury add-on, but I believe that’s a misconception! For a 100-person wedding, you may only be sending out 50 invitations as guests may live together, bring a plus one, etc. That means you only need 50 calligraphy addressed envelopes, and not 100!

I’d love to discuss with you ways to incorporate calligraphy for your wedding envelopes - or even holiday cards! Contact me to get started! While I’m based in San Diego, CA, I can and would love to work with you wherever you may be located.