‘I had no idea’: USPS customer issues warning to people sending letters with a wax seal

For many, planning a wedding can be stressful. This includes who to invite, where to have the wedding, and what to eat, among many tiny details—not to mention the cost. But, once you send the wedding invitations, you can check that off the list and breathe for a minute. Most go to the post office, drop it off, and are on their way. Easy enough. 

But Lindsay Adkison, a social media micro-influencer, had a different experience. 

Adkison took to her TikTok account to share why she can’t mail her wedding invites yet and warns others against making the same mistake. In her video, she says that because she used a wax stamp to seal the back of her invitations, she was unable to mail them to guests without an additional stamp. 

Wax seals don’t go through the machine at the post office unless you have a special stamp, Adkison explains. 

She was open to purchasing the extra stamp—until she saw it was an “ugly little fox stamp.” 

“No shot, I’m not putting that on my wedding invite,” Adkison says. 

USPS’s website notes that customers can alternatively have their letters “hand-canceled” to avoid sending them through processing machines. Hand canceling simply means the USPS worker processes the mail by hand, which is often recommended for bulkier mail, like those with wax seals. However, this can incur additional costs.

Adkison says in a follow-up video that the ordeal forced her to spend an additional $80 on her wedding invitations. “Weddings are expensive and you have to budget,” she concludes. 

Commenter’s response to the wax seal invitation situation 

One user felt she was being a little dramatic about the fox stamp. “I know it’s your wedding and vision but no one will think about the ‘ugly’ stamp in fact most ppl will immediately throw away the envelope and care more about your actual pretty invites,” the comment read. 

But, another user understood why she was upset about the fox stamp.“The way i would dedicate a day to hand delivering them into everyone’s mailbox,” they wrote.

Like Adkison, several users commenting on the video didn’t realize they needed an additional stamp for wax seals either. 

One said, “Omg no I just put 150 wax seals on and already did the stamps.”

Another commented, “My wedding invites ended up with a fox on them haha! I just laugh whenever I think of it.”

Adkison concluded that wax seals are a “pain in the butt” and aren’t worth it. 

Others agreed with her. 

As one user commented, “I could never understand why anyone cared what the envelope for the invite looked like. It’s literally gonna get filthy nasty from being handled in the mail.” 

Adkison made a follow-up video addressing some comments. In the clip, she notes that she made the initial TikTok to make fun of herself and hoped it would steer others away from the same mistake. She also responds to some solutions commenters had for her. 

How to mail letters with wax seals 

One idea was to put the wax-sealed envelopes into a bigger envelope to mail. Adkison says she didn’t want to pay for a whole new set of stamps and envelopes when the envelopes were already addressed and stamped. 

USPS’s website also advises against sending exposed letters with embellishments like wax seals, strings, ribbons, etc. Putting them inside another envelope is an easy solution to avoid sending exposed envelopes.  

Another idea commenters suggested was to take the wax seal off. Adkison avoided that solution because that would require her to rip the envelope open. She wanted her guests to be the first to do it. 

The Daily Dot reached out to Adkison via TikTok direct message and USPS via email.

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