We have an awesome Q&A from our wonderful Vintage Stamp Collector, Loly from Little Postage House! She is absolutely fabulous at matching stamps for my custom invitations and I always head to her page to watch her to some printing on IG! She knows all things stamps and postage, so we picked her brain and got some answers!
Carol: I absolutely love your backstory! Can you please introduce yourself and tell a few of our readers about how you became to be known for vintage stamps.
Loly: Hi there! My name is Loly Orozco and I am the owner and founder of Little Postage House, where we tell our clients’ unique stories through postage and paper design.
Before Little Postage House even existed, I worked professionally as an attorney in New York City for a “big” law firm. My practice specialized in financial restructuring (which is just a fancy way of saying corporate bankruptcy) and I maintained a strong pro-bono practice working with human trafficking victims on their cases. During my time as a lawyer, I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to clerk for two federal judges in the Southern District of New York.
I did not have any plans of leaving my career. It was not until 2016 that my life started taking a different path and I stumbled into the stationery world. I remember that I was at the post office one day and saw a bride with beautiful invitations that had handwritten calligraphy. I wondered what postage stamp she would choose and realized that none of the options complemented her invitations. It was at that moment that Little Postage House was born,
Today, Little Postage House is a one stop shop and resource for brides. We do everything from wedding invitation design to vintage postage curation. With vintage postage, we work with couples to curate custom postage collections that reflect their wedding themes and stories.
Carol: Aren't Vintage Stamps “vintage”?! How are we able to use them now?
Loly: Vintage postage stamps can be really old! I have curated designs for brides that have included postage stamps from the early 1900s. Postage stamps never expire (think of them as currency, you can still use money even if it is super old). As long as the postage stamps are unused, you should all be set and can use them to mail wedding invitations! The one big thing to keep in mind (regardless of whether you are using modern or vintage postage stamps) is that the stamps on the envelope need to add up to the right postage amount!
Carol: Walk us through the amount of postage you need per a Save the Date vs an Invitation?
Loly: The first thing to keep in mind is that the amount of postage that you need to mail out any letter (regardless of whether it is a fancy wedding invitation or a regular piece of mail) will depend on the weight and the shape of the mailing. If you are sending out a regular, rectangular envelope with a standard card inside (think your average birthday, holiday card, even Save the Date), you are going to need 55 cents of postage under the 2021 postage rates. Now, if you add a wax seal or ribbon to that same mailing, USPS is going to require extra postage.
Most wedding invitations will require extra postage due to the number of inserts, weight of the paper used, and the embellishments (e.g., silk ribbon, wax seals, etc.) and calculating the specific postage rate for a wedding invitation can be tricky because of all of these factors. As a general rule of thumb, if an invitation uses a heavy cardstock, is square shaped, or has a wax seal (or anything that makes it rigid/lumpy), you’re going to need extra postage (at least 75 cents under the 2021 rates and possibly more depending on the details).
Carol: Do postage rates change?
Loly: Yes, I was just getting to that! At the end of each year, the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) reviews postage rates and determines whether or not to increase (or decrease) their prices. The proposed changes are announced at the end of each calendar year and usually take effect in late January of the next year. So it is important to keep this in mind if you are reading any blogs or articles online about postage rates (because the information could be stale). It is also extremely important to always confirm the postage amount with USPS prior to mailing out your invitations. If you follow me on Instagram or are subscribed to my newsletter, I always send out alerts regarding postage changes!
Carol: Are large quantities ever a problem when you’re using vintage? What if a bride has 200 invitations? Can she still use vintage postage?
Loly: That is not a problem at all! I keep thousands and thousands of vintage postage stamps (and modern postage stamps) in my collection and work with brides, stationers, wedding planners, and calligraphers on all postage things! If you are ever looking for something specific or would like me to curate a postage design for you, just send me a message!
Carol: HANDCANCELing!! Talk to us about it and how to GET IT DONE right :) Sometimes people say the post office won't let them do it.
Loly: Let's start with a basic question - What is handcancelling, anyway? When you drop off your letters at the post office, they need “cancel” out the postage so that it can’t be used again. This just means that they physically leave a mark on the stamps. If you look at any piece of mail that you receive that has postage on it, you will see that the postage has marks through it. Those stamps have been cancelled! Usually, letters are cancelled by machines. However, you can ask to have your mail “hand cancelled” instead. This just means that a postal worker will manually mark the postage stamps using a rubber stamp and ink to “cancel” them.
If you want your invitations handcancelled, I would recommend that you reach out to your local post office (where you plan to take your invitations to mail them out) and ask them whether they will handcancel the invitations. Also, ask them whether they require additional postage for handcancelling. While some post offices will handcancel the postage stamps for free, some post offices will require extra postage (especially if it’s a large number of invitations).
Another tip is to see if the post office will let you borrow their rubber stamp for a few minutes (especially if they’re busy) and let you hand-cancel the postage yourself! In some post offices, they really appreciate this because it saves them work later! However, some post offices are sticklers and will not hand cancel your mail, but they will do it for you.
Carol: Anything else you'd like to share?
Loly: The number one takeaway that I want readers to take away from this is that postage rates are not one size fits all and it all comes down to the details! Always double check postage amounts with your local post office. If you have any questions, you can always email me! I’m always happy to help!
Thank you SO much for sharing your expertise with us. You are so awesome and I LOVE your work and can't wait to collaborate with you more!