I get the nice little 'google ads' on my gmail, and today an ad for THIS particular ad agency - specializing in hand addressed correspondence. In a nutshell, one of their firm's services involves addressing your mass mailings - by hand. Shocking? I know, its strange that doing things by hand these days has become a novelty. According to the site:

Your prospects check their mail the same way you do. They scan each envelope to determine if it's a bill, junk mail, or something worth their interest. Everything from the envelope, to the stamp, to the address determines whether or not your mail piece will pass this test.

When your envelopes are hand-addressed and stamped by real people, it is guaranteed to have the personal touch that makes the recipient curious and excited to open it. In a stack of their everyday mail, they will not just open it; they will likely open it first.
This just blows me away! I wish I had thought of it first... (I've mentioned before that I have always wanted to be a professional handwriter...) This whole concept, of course, brings me to the discussion of addressing your wedding invitations. Clients all the time flippantly say things like "when we print out our mailing labels..." and I cringe. I highly reccommend hand addresing your wedding correspondence - no matter what. Not everyone can afford to hire a calligrapher, however I would be thrilled if you would - but you should take the care and time to hand-write those addresses. Guests will know something special is inside when they find that you took the time to personally address the envelope. No excuses for bad handwriting either - find a generous family member or friend who would love to do the work for you!