Ask the Expert: What’s the Best Way to Collect Our Guests’ Mailing Addresses?

Question: I’ll soon have to provide our calligrapher with a list of our guests’ mailing addresses, but I only have a handful of them. What’s the best way to go about collecting addresses from our friends and family?

Answer: Gathering addresses from your guests is one of the most grueling parts of the wedding process, says Meghann Bezdikian of Arch Street Paper Co., but there are plenty of painless ways to knock this task off your to-do list.

Online tools are a great place to start, and Bezdikian often directs her bridal clients to Postable (“They provide an easy step-by-step process to getting those pesky addresses”) or Inkinvite.com—both sites are essentially like sending out a mass email to your guests, but they compile all of the information for you in one convenient place.

Your nearest and dearest can also come in handy when you’re scrounging for addresses, says Bezdikian. “If someone in your family has gotten married recently, borrowing their guest list is the easiest and quickest way to fill up your spreadsheet of addresses.” She also suggests enlisting the help of the person in your life who’s constantly setting up family dinners or a girls’ night out. “Whether it’s your mom, grandmother or college BFF, kindly recruit these social butterflies to help you gather the addresses. If you nominate one person on each side of the family and a friend or two, you’ll have those addresses in no time!”

For more helpful Ask the Expert questions, go here. 

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