Have you picked out your wedding invitation design and ordered your invitations? Here’s what you need to know to get your Mississippi wedding invitations packaged, addressed and in the mail from theknot.com.

1. Stuff your invitation envelopes.

Leave yourself enough time to assemble,  address and stuff all those envelopes. Your planner can handle this task for you  (or your stationer may do it for an extra fee), but if you (and the lucky  friends you’ve recruited) are doing the stuffing, here’s the traditional order  for assembling your invitations:

• The invite goes on the bottom; then stack your enclosures on top in order of  largest to smallest (the smallest goes on the very top of the pile).
• The RSVP card should be tucked into the flap of the reply envelope (so the  flap covers part of the text).
• Place everything in the inner envelope so the text is facing outward — that  way guests can read the invitation as they take it out.
• Put the unsealed inner envelope inside the outer envelope with the guests’  names facing outward.

Note: Inner envelopes aren’t required and are usually reserved for  traditional invitations.

2. Stamp  the RSVP envelopes.

You don’t want your guests to pop their envelopes in the  mail without a stamp or to make them pay for postage to RSVP to your event. Make it easy for them to send back their RSVPs: By putting postage (and a  return address) on the RSVP envelopes, you’ll ensure they get back to you (or  whoever is in charge of the guest list) without a hitch. A standard stamp will do for these smaller cards that  don’t weigh much.

3. Have your invitations hand-canceled.

After you have paid for beautiful invitations, calligraphy and custom stamps, the last thing you want to worry about is having them damaged by the processing machines at the post office.  Consider having them hand-canceled (just a stamp that says your mail is processed).  Not all Mississippi post offices will hand-cancel your invitations and especially the busier ones, but it doesn’t hurt to politely ask.

4. Weigh  a complete invitation.

Before you pop your invitations in the mail, ask the  post office to weigh a complete invite so you know exactly how much postage each  one requires. This step may sound tedious, but the alternative may mean  invitations returned for insufficient postage, which could throw your entire  wedding planning timeline for a loop. Enclosures will increase your postage, so  keep that in mind when you’re deciding on extras like maps or reception cards.

5. Put  a stamp on it.

After all the work you’ve put into your envelopes and  invitations, don’t ruin the cohesive look by sticking any regular stamp on it.  Work with your stationer to design custom  postage that matches your invitation design or colors.  Once you have the stamp design you can order the stamps from Stamps.com.  Or you can order wedding stamps from zazzle.com.  And don’t forget to order  enough for your RSVP envelopes too!

6. Mail  them out.

You’re done! Send out your invitations six to eight weeks before  the wedding — or 10 to 12 weeks in advance if you’re having a destination  wedding.