Address Christmas Card Envelopes

Sending Christmas cards is a cordial way of extending holiday wishes and greetings to friends, family, and colleagues. When it comes to addressing the envelopes of your Christmas cards, you may want to follow and practice specific guidelines to demonstrate proper etiquette and respect; especially to those with honorable titles or to people you have lost touch with over the past year. Here are some guidelines to follow when addressing Christmas card envelopes to your friends and family.

Steps

  1. Address the envelopes in writing by hand. Your handwriting will help your Christmas cards appear more personal; whereas using computer-generated labels may seem impersonal to some.
    • You may use labels with a Christmas theme to display your return address. Christmas return-address labels may be purchased from your post office or from retailers who specialize in stationery.
  2. Address Christmas cards to colleagues or business associates to their place of business. This will help maintain a professional relationship with them, while demonstrating cordiality during the holidays.
    • If you interact with colleagues or business associates socially, you may send the Christmas card to their home and address the envelope to their spouse as well.
  3. Write the titles and names of the Christmas card recipients on one line.
    • If the husband's title and name are too long to include the wife's name on the first line, you must write the wife's name on the second line, preceded by an indention.
  4. Address envelopes to single, unmarried men or women by their title and full name. For example, if a man's name is John Smith, address the envelope to "Mr. John Smith."
    • Single, unmarried or divorced women using their maiden name can be addressed as either Miss or Ms.
    • If the recipient is a divorced women who still uses her married surname, you may address her as either Mrs. or Ms.
  5. Address married couples who share the same surname by the appropriate titles with the husband's name. For example, if the husband's name is John Smith, address the envelope to "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith."
    • If a woman is married, but still uses her maiden name, address each person by their titles and full names. For example, address the envelope to "Ms. Jane Doe and Mr. John Smith."
    • If a couple lives together, but are not officially married, arrange their titles and names on separate lines, arranged alphabetically by the surname of each. For example, address the envelope to "Miss" or "Ms. Jane Doe" on the first line, followed by "Mr. John Smith" on the second line.
  6. Address Christmas cards to couples with children using the extension of "and Family." For example, address an envelope to a married couple with children as "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith and Family."
  7. Address widows by their married title and late husband's name. For example, the widow of John Smith should be addressed as "Mrs. John Smith."
  8. Address military unmarried men and women by their military titles and branch. For example, if Jane Doe is a sergeant in the Marines, address her as "Sergeant Jane Doe, United States Marines."
  9. Address envelopes to married military couples defining the title of each spouse.
    • The spouse with the higher rank should precede the military rank and title of the other spouse.
    • If the husband is military, but the wife is not, address the envelope as "Sergeant and Mrs. John Smith."
    • If the wife is military but the husband is not, address the envelope listing the wife's military title and name, followed by the husband's name.
  10. Address medical doctors by their full names and title. "Doctor" should be spelled out completely and not abbreviated, such as "Doctor John Smith."
    • If a person has a doctorate, or PhD, abbreviate doctor to read "Dr." For example, address Jane Doe as "Dr. Jane Doe."
    • If a married couple are both doctors, address both parties as doctors, beginning with the man's name first; for example, "Doctors John and Jane Smith."
  11. Address judges and clergy members by their respective titles and full names. For example, a judge should be addressed as "The Honorable John Smith," whereas a reverend should be "The Reverend Jane Doe."
    • For married couples in which one person has a judge or clergy title, address the title of the position first, followed by the spouse's title, such as "The Honorable and Mrs. John Smith."

Tips

  • If you plan on decorating your Christmas card envelopes with stickers or other embellishments, use decorations that respect the traditions and ethnic background of the recipient without offending them. Examples of appropriate embellishments are "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" stickers as opposed to "Merry Christmas."

Warnings

  • If you are sending a Christmas card envelope decorated with stickers and embellishments to another country, your mail may be delayed arriving to the recipient depending on that country's postal laws and requirements.

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Sources and Citations

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