Inscriber
Letter writing is a dying art. When we at Inscriber were young you were taught the formal conventions of titles, envelope addressing and the finer point to handwriting a letter. Nowadays many people don’t write letters at all and if they do more often than not it is done by way of a computer template and printed out.
To hark back to the years of old here is our guide to the conventions of the hand written art form.
Proper Titles of Address
The title designation of letters and correspondence varies according to the relationship of your recipient.
Letters to close friends can vary in their address depending on the closeness of that relationship. Appropriate examples include:
- My dear Wife
- My dear Husband
- My dear Friend
- My darling Mother
- My dearest Love
- Dear Aunt
- Dear Uncle
- Dear George
Those more formal associates can be addressed in some of the following ways depending upon social conventions and titles of their social standing:
- Dear Sir
- Dear Mr. Smith
- Dear Madam
- Dear Dr. Johnson
- Dear Sirs
- To Whom It May Concern
The closing or subscription of letters includes a term of respect or affection and your signature. Once again the relationship to the recipient determines the closing that is suitable.
Letter of love and close friendship close with expressions of:
- Yours lovingly
- Yours affectionately
- Devotedly yours
- Ever yours
More formal and business appropriate expressions of closing are:
- Yours sincerely
- Yours truly
- Respectfully yours
- Very sincerely yours
- Very respectfully yours
- With deep respect yours
Etiquette denotes that of equal importance is making your sex and marital status known with your signature. You should write your full name plainly to indicate sex:
- Yours truly
Tom Roberts
Rather than T. Roberts, which may indicate Trish Roberts. Conservative etiquette dictates that women should prefix their name with Mrs.:
- Yours sincerely
Mrs. Trish Roberts
This is not as common or expected practice nowadays as the art of letter writing becomes less common. It is one of those very traditional etiquette conventions.
Envelope Addressing
Common postal services have letter-addressing conventions that do comply with both mailing standards and stationery etiquette. It is lovely to handwrite or use a calligraphy service for addressing invitations and personal correspondence.
Envelopes should be addressed as following:
*Top line: recipient
Second line: company name or attention of
Third line: number and name of street or PO Box number
Last line: Suburb, Place or Post Office and State and Postcode
International destinations should be placed on the bottom if required
An example:
- Mr. and Mrs. Tom Roberts
100 Longview Road
Longview, Victoria 3000
Please note that for invitations and special events Post Office Box, Street, Avenue, Drive, etc. and East, West, North and South should be spelled out as well as the name of the city and state. Single digit street numbers should be spelled out (i.e. One, Two, Three… etc.).
Your return address should be printed on the flap side at the top in the centre. For any of these addresses it is not polite etiquette to use address labels.
Letter Conventions
The formal way to assemble letters and invitations is to start with the main invitation or the letter facing upward. Layer your map, reception card, hotel information and any other items other than the RSVP card on the invitation face up. Place the RSVP card face up under the flap of its corresponding stamped envelope and place this, with the flap side facing upward atop the other small items.
A lovely touch to handwritten or formal invitations is to include tissue paper around the invitation. This harks back to the age when all invitations were handwritten and this would prevent the ink smudging. A lovely tactile experience for the recipient.