In a digital world, a physical card shows effort, care, and permanence. Holding a physical invitation or reading a handwritten note creates a memorable, emotional experience that an email or text simply cannot replicate. As personal communication by regular mail has become a special occasion rather than an everyday practice, let's take a quick look at the conventions of addresses and honorifics.
Addresses
While the address of the recipient (addressee address) goes on the front and center of the envelope, the address of the sender (return address) may go on the top left of the front of the envelope or on the envelope flap. Ephemera Events Co. almost always has the return address printed on the envelope flap and will print addresses as you have entered them at the time of purchase.
While less formal communication allows for the use of abbreviations when addressing envelopes, formal communication forgoes abbreviations with very few exceptions. These exceptions include D.C., cardinal directions, and most honorifics.
Honorifics
An honorific is a title of address, such as Mr. or Mrs. While some honorifics are based on age and marital status, other honorifics are based on a professional title or profession. Honorifics are never omitted in formal correspondence. (You may even hear these in face-to-face communication in the South - and without inentional sarcasm!)
Mr. and Master
The honorific of Mr. can be used for any adult male not using another honorific based on profession or academic degree, such as Rev. or Dr. Young men under the age of eighteen are still traditionally addressed as Master in the South.
Mrs. and Ms. and Miss
Traditionally, the honorific of Mrs. is used for any married or widowed woman, and the honorific of Miss is used for any unmarried woman. A more recent, but not-so-recent, convention is to use Ms. in doubt of marital status and for unmarried women over the age of eighteen. A maiden name is the name a woman was given at birth and can be used with the honorifics of Miss or Ms. The more traditional use of Mrs. dictates the use of a husband's name, such as Mrs. John Doe, but may also be used with a woman's married name, such as Mrs. Jane Doe, as a more up-to-date convention as some women may prefer to receive mail addressed to Mrs. Jane Doe and Mr. John Doe instead of the very traditional Mr. and Mrs. John Doe.
Related Reading
- The Art of Correspondence: A Letter is Practically a Gift on Amazon.com
- The Art of Beautiful Letters on Amazon.com
- A Modern Guide to Writing Thank You Notes on Amazon.com
