Personally, I think that creating intentional envelopes is a lost art. We spend hours and hours picking or designing the perfect wedding invitation, all to stick it in a default generic white envelope {no offense, of course, to any white envelopes. You are beautiful as well when you are used appropriately} and then we scratch an address on it, stick an american flag stamp {no offense to the american flag either} in the corner, and then send her on her merry way. It’s so strange to me.
The envelope is the very first impression. Before the recipient reads the letter, the save the date, the announcement… whatever it is, he or she sees the envelope first. And, if I may, in the same way that we do in fact judge a book by it’s cover, we also {maybe without even knowing it} judge mail by it’s envelope.
There are lots of ways to finesse an envelope–choosing a coordinating color, a fun envelope liner, thematic handwriting when addressing, custom printing, a pretty seal, an intentional postage stamp, an endearing nickname instead of a given name in the address line… the options {are not quite, but kind of} endless.
And so, here is my pledge to all the to-be-mailed paper goods that make their way into my life: I promise to do you justice. I promise that the ensemble I choose to dress you in before I ship you out will be an accurate best-foot-forward. That it will represent you simply and beautifully and well. It is a responsibility I will not take lightly, and for that it is my hope that our world {and our mailboxes} will be just a little bit prettier. xo, linds