A wedding couple in Houston, Texas, mailed their wedding invitations on Presidents Day. A month and a half later, only six invitations had been delivered. Same thing for a couple near Atlanta, Georgia. Wedding invitation mail problems are a concern this year, and the USPS acknowledges that recent reforms have led to an “unacceptable level of service.”
The Houston couple had to scramble when RSVPs failed to come in. They got on the phone with guests and were shocked to learn that they never arrived, necessitating the use of virtual invitations.
Same thing for the Atlanta couple. The bride-to-be’s mom canvassed guests and learned that their very expensive invitations had not be delivered. She quickly printed more, causing delays and increasing expense, and shipped them to her aunt in Des Moines, Iowa to mail, in case the issue was an Atlanta issue.
The aunt took them to her neighborhood post office, where the postal worker said they were too fat to mail. (The invitation used a ribbon to tie enclosures together, which plumped up the thickness of the envelope. And it had a lovely gold, wax seal.) However, she then took them to another post office where the clerk mailed them without comment.
Go figure.
Mail delivery times are slower
So is there a problem with the U.S. Postal Service? In fact, yes. The USPS acknowledges delivery has been slower this year. Only 83% of First-Class mail is being delivered on time, its worst rate in three years.
Why? The USPS is working out the bugs from recent reforms which has decentralized mail delivery. Specifically, mail now sits overnight and 60 mega centers sprinkled throughout the country do the sorting rather than local cities and towns.
What should you do? Perhaps you’d be wise to mail your wedding invitations out a week earlier than originally planned.
Be sure to know mailing protocols. As of this writing, a First-Class stamp costs 68¢ if your piece weighs one ounce or less.
Each additional ounce is 24¢ for letters up to 3.5 ounces (and large envelopes up to 13 ounces).
Regarding lumpy or other non machinable items, like the one referred to above, add 44¢ more.
If your invitation envelope is square, oversized, or unusually shaped, postage rates start at $1.12.
Rates increase on an annual basis. To reduce the possibility of wedding invitation mail problems, take them to your local postmaster to review size, weight, AND thickness specs in detail.
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