Stamp Price Hike

On Tuesday, October 18th, the U.S. Postal Service announced that on January 22, 2012, the cost of a first-class mail postage stamp would increase from 44 cents to 45 cents.  Now while a one penny increase may not seem a lot, when you are mailing hundreds of STD's, wedding invitations, and thank you cards, it could have an impact.

When I created my wedding invites, I knew from the start that my postage would be more expensive due to the 6 x 6 size I chose.  Mailing a square envelope costs more.  What I didn't think about was that the gorgeous card stock we used was a little heavier than most invitations.  Put those two together and you have one heavy and oddly sized invite.

When I took an invite in for a preliminary weigh-in, the postman had a yikes look on his face when he saw how much it would be.  I honestly think he was scared to tell me!  I told him I knew it would be pricey due to the size but I was not expecting over $1.00 a piece!  Thankfully I have saved a ton of money in other areas of the wedding so this isn't going to hurt aour budget, but I still don't like the idea of having to pay that much either!  Oh the price of fabulous invites.

I can't wait to share the finished product with you all!  They should be on their merry way on Monday.

For you 2012 brides, you may have no clue what your invitations will even look like, let alone weigh, but maybe pre-buying forever stamps before the price hike would be a fiscally smart strategy.  Heck, even if you used them just for thank-you's and STD's, it might be worth it.

The Garden of Love stamp is quite popular for wedding mailings and is a forever stamp so there would be no need for additional postage after January 22nd.

Image via usps.com

There is also the traditional wedding roses:

Image via usps.com

Interestingly enough, the wedding (rings) stamp is not listed as a forever stamp so additional postage would be needed if you used it after the deadline.  Neither is the LOVE: Pansies in a Basket stamp.

Image via usps.com

Image via usps.com

You could always go a non-traditional route and use something fun like the celebration stamp!

Image via usps.com

A part of me sort of wishes I had found this stamp before we finished our invites, but it really doesn't go with the formal look of what we are doing.

So anyone planning pre-buying stamps to hoard before you need them?  I'm sure I'll pick up several books of everyday forever stamps to have on hand when needed.