I have finally mailed out my custom invites for my July joint birthday party (baby, toddler + dad)! While designing the envelope, I researched my options for postage and addressing. There are so many exciting selections out there!
Custom Postage
Postage is obviously a functional necessity when mailing invites, but it can also be a key part of your invite design. For my birthday party invites, I really wanted to make a custom postage stamp using some of the graphics from the invite. It would have been a neat sneak peek and would have been another great spot to feature graphic designer Grace Bettino‘s beautiful creations. However, I couldn’t justify the extra cost for the custom stamps after I found a USPS stamp that worked perfectly with my party concept. See below for details on personalized postage vs. USPS postage.
Tiny Prints’ Personalized Postage
- options for pre-made stamps, semi-customizable stamps and photo/image stamps
- 49¢ and 71¢ stamp options
- 1 size available: 2.25″ x 1.44″
- horizontal stamp orientation
- pricing based on quantity, for a sheet of 20 stamps: $1.40 /49¢ stamp and $1.80 /71¢ stamp + shipping, etc…
- options for pre-made stamps, semi-customizable stamps and photo/image stamps
- 34¢, 49¢, 71¢, 93¢ and $1.19 stamp options
- 3 sizes available: small 1.8″ x 1.3″, medium 2.1″ x 1.3″ and large 2.5″ x 1.5″
- vertical or horizontal stamp orientations
- pricing based on size of personalized postage and quantity, for a sheet of 20: $1.01 /small 49¢ stamp, $1.19 /medium 49¢ stamp and $1.19 /large 49¢ stamp + shipping, etc…
There are many other great websites that offer custom postage capabilities. The United States Postal Service even has a few links for custom postage providers on their website (including Zazzle). I was surprised that custom shapes were not more prevalent. It must be an efficiency problem, but I sure wish there were more stamps shaped like hearts, stars, circles and diamonds!
USPS Postage
I always order my stamps from the United States Postal Service website. It is easy and quite fast! I stopped buying stamps at post offices, since they usually do not stock all the different kinds available online. For the birthday bash I found the perfect circle shaped stamp, the USPS Global Forever Stamp. It is killer! The shape is unique and it depicts Planet Earth! I wish the sea surface temperatures were not portrayed, but I still love it! The stamp is $1.15, which I was happy about. My invite is heavier, but I have had it weighed and this single stamps is enough.
Can you guess what the concept for my party is, yet!? It might have something to do with space…
Printed Envelopes
In the past I have always printed labels or made hand written labels for my party invites. For this party, I wanted an easier more polished option. I opted to have my addresses printed using Minted. There products are superb and high quality. I do want to point out that their “white” is really an off white as you can see in the stamp image. I used their “gilded type” address label option and love the results!
I still like address labels, it just depends what your party concept is. For example, my Lobster Boil Birthday Party had a rustic, beachy feel that I wanted to capture on my envelope. See below. The stamping I did on the address label actually overlapped and was also on the envelope (you can barely see it). The invite had a hand-made New York Times newspaper enclosure, also stamped. It all worked fabulously together and gave guests a good idea for the feel of the party!
Addressing and postage are just the tip of the iceberg when detailing your envelopes. Need more ideas?
- envelope sizes, shapes, patterns, embellishments – I love string and button envelopes!
- envelope liners – patterns, solid colors or metallics
- return address printing, a plethora of label options, custom stamps and custom embossers
- wax and adhesive seals
- invite enclosures
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