As a professional calligrapher who has addressed thousands of invitations, I have a few tips for addressing your invitations in our age of women’s equality. Many couples want to include the wife’s name in the address, instead of the old-fashioned & sexist “Mr. & Mrs. John Doe”. I would suggest two possible ways of doing this.
One way is to place their names in the same line, like this:
Mr. John & Mrs. Jane Doe
123 Main Street
Anytown
Anystate 12345
Or you could put the names in two lines, like this:
Mr. John Doe
Mrs. Jane Doe
123 Main Street
Anytown
Anystate 12345
Also, remember that many women who are married use the prefix “Ms”, so don’t assume that Jane Doe is a “Mrs.” just because she is married to John. The prefix “Ms” was created solely for the purpose of NOT signifying whether a woman is married or is not married, contrary to popular misconception that “Ms” means a single woman. If there is some question of a woman’s preference, it is best to ask, as many women are offended by the titles “Mrs.” & “Miss”. Also, note that “Ms” does not have a period after it, as it is not an abbreviation for anything.
