Postage for Vellum Wraps and Pocket Invitations
Vellum wraps and pocket folds are flat paper, so they do not add the nonmachinable surcharge. They add weight and thickness, and that is where the extra postage comes from.
Your answer
Standard letter
No extra postageRegular letter postage. No surcharge.
- Postage per piece
- $1.40
- 100 invitations
- $140.00
Stamps for each one
1 × Three-Ounce
Why
- This is a standard letter: within 6.125 x 11.5 in, no thicker than 0.25 in, and length divided by height is 1.36 (it must be between 1.3 and 2.5). USPS rule
Rates last verified on
100 invitations: $140.00 in postage ($1.40 each, standard letter)
Vellum is paper, as far as the post office cares
Translucent vellum is a paper product. A vellum jacket, overlay or belly band inside a paper envelope changes nothing about how the piece is classified. It is light, too, so a single wrap seldom moves a suite to the next ounce.
The exception is a vellum or clear outer envelope. If the outside is a plastic material rather than paper, the piece is nonmachinable and pays $0.49. Paper vellum envelopes vary, and addresses can be hard for machines to read through them, so ask at the counter before buying a few hundred.
What holds the vellum closed matters more
A vellum jacket is usually closed with something: a wax seal, a knot of twine, a sticker. The sticker is free. The seal and the knot make a lump, and a lump is $0.49 per invitation.
Pocket folds: the weight problem
A pocket fold is a heavy card-stock folder with the invitation mounted on one panel and a pocket holding the inserts. It is two or three layers of cover stock before you add a single insert, plus the envelope around it.
Pocket suites often land in the 2 oz or 3 oz step, and generous ones go past 3 oz. The prices are $1.11 at 2 oz, $1.40 at 3 oz and $1.69 up to 3.5 oz. Over 3.5 oz the suite pays the large envelope price, $2.56 at 4 oz.
Pocket folds: the thickness problem
A letter can be at most 1/4 in thick. A stuffed pocket fold in a lined envelope gets close, and a thick one goes over. Past 1/4 in the piece is a large envelope whatever it weighs, starting at $1.69.
Press a finished one flat under a book for a moment, then measure the thickest point against a ruler. To slim it: use lighter stock for the inserts, skip the inner envelope, and print details on both sides of one card instead of using two.
Compare the options
| Option | Mail class | Each | For 100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat suite with vellum wrap, 1.8 oz | Standard letter | $1.11 | $111.00 |
| Vellum wrap closed with a wax seal, 1.8 oz | Nonmachinable letter | $1.60 | $160.00 |
| Pocket fold in an A7.5, 2.4 oz | Standard letter | $1.40 | $140.00 |
| Pocket fold over 1/4 in thick, 2.4 oz | Large envelope (flat) | $2.27 | $227.00 |
| Pocket fold, 3.7 oz | Large envelope (flat) | $2.56 | $256.00 |
Questions and answers
Does a vellum wrap need extra postage?
Not by itself. A vellum wrap inside a paper envelope is flat paper and only adds a little weight.
How much postage for a pocket invitation?
Usually $1.11 or $1.40, depending on whether it weighs up to 2 oz or up to 3 oz. Weigh a finished one to be sure.
What if my pocket invitation is more than 1/4 inch thick?
It is priced as a large envelope, starting at $1.69 for 1 oz and $2.27 for 3 oz.
Do clear or vellum envelopes need extra postage?
An outer envelope made of plastic is nonmachinable and adds $0.49. Check a translucent paper envelope at the counter before buying in bulk.