so printed address lables on TY envelopes is NOT tacky?

SunAndRain · July 2012

I actually believe this to be considered tacky as it is impersonal so am suprised that several women responded that it is NOT OK have guests address their own lables but that they saved time by printing two sets of address lables.

FWIW, given the era of email and facebook and all the TYs I've received via these two media, I'm not at all concerned with who addresses or how my envelopes are addressed. But I do find it interesting how we pick and choose our etiquette.

I'm sure we've all seen much worse!

BallSox · July 2012

I said I judged them far less, I didn't say they escaped the side eye.

dreammomma · July 2012

I dont' think printed labels are tacky at all especially if your handwriting is not the best, like me. It shows the sender is organized and careful IMO. Hey, I rather see a real mail in the mail than a thank you email - take that any day.

sowingseasons · July 2012

If I had printed address labels I would have used them. I have horrible handwriting that is very embarrassing at times when sending letters, notes and in this case thank you cards to people outside my family.

AprilAngie · July 2012

I don't think a printed label for something is tacky at all.

Jessica Swanlake · July 2012

Personally, I hand address everything. And it is total PITA, but I just can't get over it. It is a compulsion- I love getting handwritten mail in the post and figure other people might as well.

I guess it depends on you. How many people do you have to thank? If it is going to be excessive and hold up them getting sent out then go ahead and print them. A less "mailing list" route might be just to run the envelopes through your printer instead of using mailing labels.

knitsandgiggles · July 2012

SunAndRain:
I actually believe this to be considered tacky as it is impersonal so am surprised that several women responded that it is NOT OK have guests address their own lables but that they saved time by printing two sets of address labels.

I agree - it feels rather impersonal in both instances so I'll be writing out all of my envelopes by hand. With all of the mail (junk mail, bills, etc) it's nice to find something among all of that written by a person instead of from a word processor.

cwm11985 · July 2012

I just don't understand all the laziness surrounding thank you notes. It is NOT THAT HARD to write out a note and an address. I did it for 3 showers and OMG!! I still have full use of my right hand!

esthergreenwood14 · July 2012

I personally hand address everything. I have a thing about it. Is it the most egregious breach of etiquette ever? Of course not, but I think printed labels are tacky.

dufferoo · July 2012

christie522:
I personally hand address everything. I have a thing about it. Is it the most egregious breach of etiquette ever? Of course not, but I think printed labels are tacky.

Agreed. I'd rather get a handwritten thank you note with an address label than a pre-printed thank you card that's hand-addressed, but it still just looks lazy and sloppy.

MidwestGidget · July 2012

MTB handwritten addresses> pre-printed labels>guest's handwriting on their own thank you>depersonalized photo postcards.

It's the scale of tacky that's the trick.

rhubarb123 · July 2012

It this it is tacky to have guests address their own envelopes and I feel it is much more personable for the MTB to hand address the thank you envelope. I do think it is rather tacky to use pre-printed address labels (except return labels) on thank you (or any) envelopes.

eav2c · July 2012

I'd rather get an TY with a printed envelope than on facebook or via email.

MelleTX · July 2012

The insides of thank you notes should ALWAYS be handwritten, but I support and prefer printed address labels on the outside or running the envelopes themselves through a printer.

However, my perspective is different in that I worked in the Marketing and Direct Mail industry for over 12 years. I am more than well versed in postal guidelines and I know how much mail goers undelivered because it is hand addressed and unreadable. Everything at the Post Office is automated. If the scanners cannot read the address, city, state and zip then it gets kicked out. IF they have time, they do hand sort some items (when you see those orange or red bar codes sprayed at the bottom of your envelopes) but most of the time they go undelivered.

MiddleNameGrace · July 2012

I don't think tacky is quite the right word... lazy might be better. Now, if you want lazy and tacky (tazy?) then you send out e-mail thank you's. But I definitely agree on not having guests address their own envelopes. That's just atrocious.

sowingseasons · July 2012

I wrote out all my thank yous for this first shower. I just wish I had address labels so at least the outside looked nice. I really have horrid penmanship, no matter how slow or how much I concentrate on writing well.

I will say that I do not like pre-typed letters with generic messages, BUT I have typed out personal letters to family members and friends that know I have pretty horrid penmanship and they expressed that they appreciate it because they can read it lol.

mama&baby · July 2012

I know this sounds wierd, but I think if you use a cursive font it is perfectly fine. Some of the fonts almost even look handwritten.

My handwriting is OK.... but honestly I had SO many people to thank between my shower and people sending gifts that by the time I was done some people would have gotten horrible looking envelopes.

PunkyBooster · July 2012

BallSox:
I said I judged them far less, I didn't say they escaped the side eye.

I agree 100%

PunkyBooster · July 2012

MelRC117:
I admit I'm guilty of using address labels for my envelopes for my thank you cards which were handwritten.
The thank you I side eye, which seem to be the norm now, are from weddings where they send a photo from the wedding day with something along the lines of "thank you for celebrating our special day with us!" printed on it that you can make at Walgreens or target and no personal message at all on the back.

Ew.

Even our photo xmas cards this past year (which was a pic of DS and the dog) had a short hand written message to each family on the back!

esthergreenwood14 · July 2012

MidwestGidget:
MTB handwritten addresses> pre-printed labels>guest's handwriting on their own thank you>depersonalized photo postcards.

It's the scale of tacky that's the trick.

The photo postcards go up my butt a mile. I got one for a bday party once and stopped sending the kid gifts after that. In hindsight, I'm probably a douche as it's not really the toddler's fault the parents suck.

kacelle · July 2012

I've never seen this done, but I'm not sure I'd care--and I'm pretty sensitive to rules of etiquette.

Pokedot · July 2012

I used printed address labels because they kept me organized and they looked nicer than handwriting on the envelope! I don't think they are tacky at all. Having a guest write their own name on an envelope is lazy IMO. I hate when people do that at showers because then I get an envelope in the mail with my writing on it. To me it's almost like writing my own thank you. It doesn't really help the mom-to-be write the thank you's it just prevents her from having to do one more step. Preprinted labels I think look nice and don't make the guests do any work for their gift in the first place.

misspunky · July 2012

dreammomma:
I dont' think printed labels are tacky at all especially if your handwriting is not the best, like me. It shows the sender is organized and careful IMO. Hey, I rather see a real mail in the mail than a thank you email - take that any day.

This. They still took the time to personally hand write a thank you note, and that is the most important part.

Kasi80 · July 2012

I hand addressed the send to and used a label for the return address. I handmade the damn cards so I put a lot of work into them before even writing the thank yous in each. So what if I added a pre-printed return label? Actually I have no clue if it's tacky or not. I don't care.

SeptemberBride'08 · July 2012

I had pregnancy carpel tunnel in my writing hand and couldn't write for 5 months. I had to type my thank yous then attached them inside the cards. I had people reach to tell me how my senitments and thanks to them were the nicest they had ever received. I also received compliments on my thank you cards I wrote (by hand) from our wedding. The message inside the card is what really matters. Not whether or not you used a label.

Also I'm throwing a shower for a good friend and had matching thank you cards, return address labels and mailing labels for mom to be. I know she will appericate that as she also is having issues writing.

BallSox · July 2012

SeptemberBride'08:
I had pregnancy carpel tunnel in my writing hand and couldn't write for 5 months. I had to type my thank yous then attached them inside the cards. I had people reach to tell me how my senitments and thanks to them were the nicest they had ever received. I also received compliments on my thank you cards I wrote (by hand) from our wedding. The message inside the card is what really matters. Not whether or not you used a label.
Also I'm throwing a shower for a good friend and had matching thank you cards, return address labels and mailing labels for mom to be. I know she will appericate that as she also is having issues writing.

Truly severe carpal tunnel is rare and if that is the case, you shouldn't have invited anyone that doesn't already know about your issue. This would be an exception. However, being lazy is not (which is quite often the real excuse given).

Liz4444 · July 2012

I prefer a hand written address, no matter how bad your handwriting is (and mine is pretty horrific). When I see a pre-printed label, no matter what the font, I assume that it is junk mail and throw it out.

mommabear17 · July 2012

SeptemberBride'08:
I had pregnancy carpel tunnel in my writing hand and couldn't write for 5 months. I had to type my thank yous then attached them inside the cards. I had people reach to tell me how my senitments and thanks to them were the nicest they had ever received. I also received compliments on my thank you cards I wrote (by hand) from our wedding. The message inside the card is what really matters. Not whether or not you used a label.
Also I'm throwing a shower for a good friend and had matching thank you cards, return address labels and mailing labels for mom to be. I know she will appericate that as she also is having issues writing.

Why couldn't your husband write them? And if you can't write, how can you type?

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