Are you addressing your christmas cards correctly?

Yesterday while looking through my post I saw a Christmas card addressed to my husband ‘Paul Chapman’, I debated whether to open and thought no better not, it might be a Dream Occasions Hire client sending a card to him. I left it on the side until he opened it later on.

I was shocked therefore to see the card was from his sister, we have been together for over 12 years and married for 10 so really the proper way to write the envelope should have been Mr. & Mrs Paul Chapman or informally Paul and Bernadette Chapman. I guess most people wouldn’t even notice the way an envelope is addressed but because I frequently send invitations out for my clients,  I’m a bit of a stickler for details. Don’t worry my name was inside the Christmas card!

It made me wonder how many people could get stuck with the correct etiquette. From time to time I like to pop onto the Debretts website even though I have their book on modern manners.  I often find some form of etiquette I was unaware of. For example I just discovered that traditionally an invitation to a social event would be addressed just to the wife, but with both christian names inside the invitation.

*Note that, traditionally, invitations to a married couple, when sent to their home address, are addressed to the wife alone, with both names being inscribed on the invitation card. It has become increasingly acceptable, however, to address the envelope with both names.

So have I been addressing envelopes wrong all these years I wonder?! I’d love to know your views on the above or whether there is a form of etiquette you just wish people would comply with!

I do love Debretts, I don’t necessarily agree with all the advice, like most things I cherry pick the advice I want to follow! In the New Year I plan on sharing my favourite bits of advice from them on a regular basis.