Pro edition
Envelope brief.
Every addressing job that went wrong in fourteen years went wrong in one of three places: the list, the stock, or the count. This is the sheet that settles all three before a date is held, and it is the reason I have never re-written a batch at my own cost.
The list, in five columns
One column per line, in the order it appears on the envelope. I retype nothing and normalise nothing — a guessed surname is worse than a copied one, and the couple is the only person who knows which spelling is the right one.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| A — Line 1 | Exactly as it should appear. “Dr and Mrs Whitfield Ames”, not “ames, w”. Whatever is in this cell is what goes on the envelope. |
| B — Line 2 | Street, or “and family”, or blank. Blank cells are honoured, not filled in. |
| C — Line 3 | City, state, ZIP as one line. Two if your stock is narrow — tell me which and it stays consistent across all two hundred. |
| D — Line 4 | Country, for the six international ones. Left blank domestically rather than written “USA”. |
| E — Notes | Anything I must not normalise: a title that looks wrong and is right, a spelling that is theirs. |
Eight lines to settle
| Line | How it is decided |
|---|---|
| Guest count | From the list, not from memory |
| Envelopes to order | Guest count + 15%, rounded up to the pack |
| Stock | Named, and one sent for testing |
| Hand | Chosen against the invitation, not against a mood board |
| Ink | Set by the test, not by preference |
| Return addresses | Yes or no — decided now, done in the same pass |
| In-hand date | A date; the mail date is not the same date |
| Deposit | 50%, and it holds the week |
The arithmetic
| Hand | Pace | Rate applied |
|---|---|---|
| Foundational | 14 envelopes an hour | $4.50 each |
| Italic | 18 envelopes an hour | $4.50 each |
| Uncial | 9 envelopes an hour | $4.50 each |
| Textura | 7 envelopes an hour | $4.50 each |
| Copperplate | 10 envelopes an hour | $6.50 each |
The test, in five minutes
One envelope, both inks, both nibs, written and left for an hour. What it tells you:
- — Laser-printed or coated envelopes: ink beads and will not dry → Gouache, or a different envelope. The toner is plastic and nothing water-based sticks to it.
- — Cotton and handmade paper: feathers along the fibre → A less free-flowing ink, a finer nib, and a test on the spare sheet before the first real one. Beautiful stock, and it is the reason spares exist.
- — Dark or black stock: ink disappears into it → White gouache mixed to single cream, remixed every twenty minutes because it settles. Costs about a third more in time and I quote it that way.
- — Vellum, glassine, translucent: rejects water-based ink entirely → Gouache again, or an entirely different plan. Test first — this is the one that surprises people who have chosen a beautiful vellum wrap.
- — Metallic and pearlescent finishes: ink sits on the coating and rubs off → Sand the coating (no), or accept a slightly heavier gouache line. Always tested, never assumed.