(www.mitzvahmarket.com) Our child’s bar/bat mitzvah invitation sets the tone for the type of party we will have. We sometimes spend many hours debating over the perfect colors, font style and envelope liner for these creations. Once the decision is made, and the invitations are ordered, we are faced with yet another dilemma…the stamp!
We all say we aren’t going to do it! It seems ridiculous to spend extra money (almost double!) on a custom stamp, but soon we find ourselves placing the order anyway.
Before making the decision to order a custom stamp, make sure you check with the USPS to see what regular stamps with different themes they are offering. These non-custom stamps could be used on the outside of your bar/bat mitzvah invitation envelope or can be used for the RSVP and/or thank you notes and can save you lots of money!
If you are going to order a customized stamp, here is the first important step: visit a few post offices in your area with your finished invitation. Make sure it is loaded with all items you will be mailing (i.e. direction card, RSVP etc.). Speak to a post office worker and ask them to check the size, weight and shape of the envelope. Sometimes more postage is needed for
odd-shaped envelopes. Ask them how much postage would be needed, but don’t be surprised if you get different stamp amounts from different post offices.
Tip: Go with the higher postage, it’s not worth the risk of the invitations being returned.
Knowing the amount of postage for the outside of your envelope might make it easier to decide which service to use. We checked out three that are authorized licensed vendors of the U.S. Postal Service: Stamps.com, Zazzle.com and Picture It Postage by Endicia.
We found they are all basically offering the same pricing, within a few dollars of each other. The main differences were in two areas: 1. The postage amounts each sells and 2. The flexiblity in the size of the stamp.
You will have the opportunity to design your own stamps from scratch at Zazzle. Here are the options:
1. Upload an image.
2. Create a stamp just using text and colors.
3. Upload an image, and do online customization with text.
We found some great examples of bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah postage stamps from JaclinArt’s Zazzle.com store. These templates make it very easy to customize your own information on these stamp designs. Zazzle also offers three stamp sizes (small, medium and large) and each stamp size can be designed in either a vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape) format.
You will find many similarities between these sites. All are relatively easy to use and allow you to upload your own photographs and graphics. A custom stamp does put a finishing touch on your bar/bat mitzvah invitation, but expect to pay almost double for that special touch!
