The Global Wedding Invitation

Many brides and grooms have family and friends who live across an ocean or a US border. To get that wedding invitation from AnyTown, USA, to AnyCiudad, SomewhereElse, not only takes wings and jet fuel, but a correctly addressed envelope, as well.

Not quite sure of the right way to address an invitation for, say, Botswana, Taiwan, or Norway? Well, you could start with the US Postal Service's Addressing International Mail for tips about address placement and general addressing rules. This site will help you with the basics.

But I stumbled upon a site for International Address Formats that proved a huge help during a recent wedding invitation project where 50% of the guests had addresses overseas. What I like about this site is that it gives a country by country listing of addressing protocols, important since there are so many variables, country to country.

Sometimes the street number comes before the street name, sometimes after. Sometimes the postal code should be on a line by itself, sometimes right after (or before) the city name. Knowing the specifics will ensure your invitations arrive in a culturally-correct, timely fashion.

So if you have one or two or a slew of overseas folks on your guest list, double-check your addressing protocols with a trusted source, like USPS or the International Address Format site. That jet fuel needs all the help it can get!