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Envelopes play a significant role in everybody's life, whether it be for personal reasons, such as a wedding invitation or a birthday card, or for business oriented reasons. Perhaps it's a dreaded bill that's arriving in an envelope with a window in the front or maybe it's a small gift, such as a book arriving in a bubble envelope. No matter how you choose to look at it- envelopes make a difference in our busy world. And for that reason the choice of envelope for your document, whatever it may be, is of utmost importance. And remember that some kinds of stationery can be purchased as a set, with envelopes to go with it, while in other cases you have to buy each item separately.

Put thought into the type of envelope you need to purchase and the particular function it must play. For seasonal stationery look for envelopes with a festive slant, such as vibrant red, silver, green or even envelopes with drawings of brightly decorated Christmas trees or wreaths. Wedding invitations in envelopes with a sleek feel to them and gold or silver embossing on the inside are always the desirable way to go and should appeal to wedding guests as well as the bride and groom themselves.

A business size envelope is what we talk about when we say regular or standard size envelope. These envelopes are available in letter size and also the longer version, the legal sized envelope. Letter size is just that, most often used for casual, personal communication, for example among family and friends while the legal envelope is employed by businesses for sending everything from promotions to proposals to invoices. The legal size envelope to be found in most offices is the # 10 envelope. If you took a ruler and measured this envelope you would discover that it is 4 1/8 x 9 1/2. The reason for its popular status is that most people send correspondence on letter sized paper, which is 8 1/2 x 11 and the # 10 envelope is perfect for paper of this size.

But business envelopes do not end there. There are also other sizes and they are, the # 11 (measuring 4 1/2 x 10 3/8), the # 12 (4 3/4 x 11) and last but not least, the # 14 (5 X 11 1/2). These are also used regularly by businesses. Generally the choice of envelopes ends up boiling down to personal choice on the part of those who do the buying.

A-series envelopes are used a lot in bustling office places because they are both elegant in appearance and come in six different, but all equally valuable styles and those styles include the A-2, the A-6, the A-7, the A-8, the A-long and the A-10. They also come in different weights- 60, 70 and 80 so they fit a variety of documents and papers. Catalog or open-end envelopes are worthwhile for mailing items with a greater thickness, such as a series of pamphlets or brochures, magazines or proposals. They have two flaps but one is much larger than the other, which makes a great deal of difference when packing bigger items into the envelope.

Sending messages via e-mail is fast and simple but sometimes it is necessary to send printed material through the postal service. Remember that your mail should fit snugly in the envelope you choose but it should not run the risk of breaking open! Pay close attention as you seal the envelope and if you think you've chosen an inappropriately sized envelope choose another.