{"id":3241,"date":"2017-07-06T11:45:53","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T10:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/?p=3241"},"modified":"2017-07-06T11:45:53","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T10:45:53","slug":"how-to-address-an-envelope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/writing\/letter-writing\/how-to-address-an-envelope\/","title":{"rendered":"How to address an envelope"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_3242\" style=\"width: 714px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3242\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-3242\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-Light-Pink-Tulips-Bouquet-And-184696906.jpg\" alt=\"Envelope with tulips on a table\" width=\"704\" height=\"470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-Light-Pink-Tulips-Bouquet-And-184696906.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-Light-Pink-Tulips-Bouquet-And-184696906-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-Light-Pink-Tulips-Bouquet-And-184696906-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-Light-Pink-Tulips-Bouquet-And-184696906-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3242\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image credit: LightField Studios\/Bigstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Having been writing and posting letters since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I assumed I had writing an address on an envelope all figured out. Well, how wrong I was! Having looked it up recently, out of pure curiosity, it turns out I\u2019ve been doing it incorrectly all this time. Not drastically so, but enough for me to now make an effort to change my ways and give my mail a better chance of arriving in a timely manner (or arriving at all!) In fact,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-133085\/500-000-letters-week-missing-post.html\"> it has been estimated that\u00a0500,000 letters go missing per week<\/a> in the UK alone\u00a0\u2013 a figure which has been blamed mainly on illegible handwriting and incomplete addresses.<\/p>\n<p>According to the official Royal Mail guidelines, this is how you should be addressing your UK-bound envelopes:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3243\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/addressed-envelope-uk.jpg\" alt=\"Addressed envelope for UK post\" width=\"657\" height=\"377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/addressed-envelope-uk.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/addressed-envelope-uk-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/addressed-envelope-uk-768x441.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/addressed-envelope-uk-150x86.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px\" \/><\/p>\n<h1>Addressing an envelope<\/h1>\n<p>Follow the below tips to help the Royal Mail staff and machines process your post as quickly and easily as possible:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Write the address clearly (or select an easy-to-read font, if printing)<\/li>\n<li>Write the name and address of the recipient in the bottom left corner of the envelope<\/li>\n<li>The town and postcode should be written in capital letters<\/li>\n<li>There is no need to add the county<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t use any commas or full stops<\/li>\n<li>Left-align the name and address<\/li>\n<li>Leave a generous margin around the name and address<\/li>\n<li>Ensure the pen or ink used for the name and address contrasts clearly against the colour of the envelope. A white address label and black ink is the best combination (but there are plenty of other, more fun options too!)<\/li>\n<li>Add the correct postage to the top right of your envelope. Use the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.royalmail.com\/price-finder\">Royal Mail price finder<\/a> to check your postage, or pop into a branch.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t forget to add a return address on the back of the envelope: just write \u2018Return address\u2019 followed by your address.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Sending mail abroad<\/h1>\n<p>If you are sending a letter abroad, the address on the envelope should look like this:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3244\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Addressed-envelope-abroad.jpg\" alt=\"Addressed envelope for abroad\" width=\"675\" height=\"385\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Addressed-envelope-abroad.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Addressed-envelope-abroad-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Addressed-envelope-abroad-768x438.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Addressed-envelope-abroad-150x86.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The destination country needs to be written in capitals on the last line of the address.<\/li>\n<li>If your letter is heading to Europe, the postcode should be written to the left of the town, for example: 13437 BERLIN.<\/li>\n<li>Add an Air Mail sticker to the top left of your envelope, unless you\u2019re using the International Economy service (which doesn\u2019t travel by air).<\/li>\n<li>If it\u2019s a parcel you are sending and it\u2019s going outside the EU, you will need a customs label from the Post Office.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Puzzles for Postpeople<\/h1>\n<p>Of course, you could get creative with your mail; as long as the destination name and address is on the front of the envelope and legible, it should arrive.<\/p>\n<p>Artist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jamesaddison.co.uk\/#\/puzzles-for-postmen\/\">James Addison is fascinated by the UK mail service<\/a>, and how a letter can be sent from one side of the country to the other for such a small price. \u00a0This interest has led to an art project whereby Addison sends letters through the Royal Mail service featuring cryptic addresses \u2013 be that a drawing featuring the address, a wordsearch, or a written dialogue with the address hidden within. I love this idea, and also love the fact that many postmen and women have really entered into the spirit of the challenge!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/93400363\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having been writing and posting letters since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I assumed I had writing an address on an envelope all figured out. Well, how wrong I was! Having looked it up recently, out of pure curiosity, it turns out I\u2019ve been doing it incorrectly all this time. Not drastically so, but&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to address an envelope - The Pen Company Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out how to properly address an envelope to make sure it gets to its destination, in the UK or abroad, in this The Pen Company blog post. 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