Party Planning:
Party Dress Code Deciphered
Building Your Party Timeline
Preparing Your Shopping List
Corporate Event Planning Tips
How to Host a Cocktail Party
Preparing your Home for a Party
Party Occasions:
Memorial Day Quiz
4th of July and Patriotic Facts
Have an Outdoor Summer Party
Halloween Spooktacular Party Ideas
How to Rock your Christmas Party
Have a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta...Ole!
Kentucky Derby Party Ideas
Recipes:
What are you serving?
Baby:
What type of Baby Shower?
Baby Shower Planning
Children:
First Birthday Party Planning
Second Birthday Party Ideas
How to Plan a Birthday Party
Birthday Traditions to Start
Ultimate Tween Girl Slumber Party
First Communion Planning
What is First Communion?
How To:
Tie Bows on Invitations
General Info:
Invitation Do's & Don'ts
What to include on Invitations
When to mail invitations
Apostrophes-When and Where
RSVP Etiquette
RSVP vs. Regrets Only
Invitation Dos and Don'tsParty! Party! Party!The excitement begins when your guests open their mailbox and find your invitation. "We're invited to a party!" Your invitation sets the tone for your occasion. Does it scream, "I can't miss this party it sounds fabulous!" or did you send out a letter sheet that reads like a grocery list of boring statistics that immediately got relegated to the pile referred to "maybe we'll think about it unless something better comes up." Choosing your InvitationsYour invitation should match the style of your event. Is it formal, semi-formal or a casual backyard get together. Your invitation provides the details of the celebration as well as what to expect at the party. A casual get together? A corporate gala for 500? A surprise birthday party for your husband of 20 years??When choosing your invitation, remember you already have a theme - the occasion for the party. Is it for a man or a woman, your company or a baby shower for a friend. What are their hobbies or interests? What's their favorite cocktail? Is it a summer pool party or a winter "we're freezing but need a reason to party" kind of thing. You can use our site's Search feature to help narrow down your search for the perfect invitation. |
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What to include in your Invitation
- The purpose of the invitation - A birthday party, a wedding, a holiday open house.
- Name of honoree - the birthday person, the mother-to-be, the bride and groom
- Day and Date of the party - Saturday, August 29th or if it is formal, Saturday, the twenty-ninth of August. Look at your calendar to make sure the as in this example, the 29th of August is really on a Saturday. If a formal event, include the year and spell it out - two thousand and ten
- Time -6:00 p.m., or for formal events, spell out the time such as six o'clock in the evening
- Name of Place - Opah's Restaurant
- Location of Place - street address, city and state if inviting out of town guests, but no zip code
- Name of the host(s)/hostess(es) or parent(s) giving the party
- Appropriate attire - if it is an issue with your party -do not use on formal invitations-the event should be the clue as to the appropriate attire.
- Proof read several times for mistakes and/or forgotten information! Even have a friend read it to make sure it's perfect!
Wording your Invitation
| All invitation phrasing is in the third person. | |||
| Examples: | |||
| Use: | Don't use: | ||
| ...the birth of their son... | ...birth of our son | ||
| Smith & Co. invites you to their | Smith & Co. invites your to our Annual... | ||
| Jane and Tom invite you to their | Jane and Tom invite you to our | ||
| Do not use abbreviations. | |||
| Example: Spell out words such as Road, Street, and state names; California | |||
| Do not print a zip code on an invitation | |||
| A zip code is not needed to use on-line directions and is never needed on an invitation. Usually the zip code will be on the envelope as the return address. | |||
| Days, dates are always spelled out | |||
| Example: Monday or September | |||
| Times and Years should be spelled out on wedding or formal invitations | |||
| Example: Four o'clock in the afternoon / Two Thousand Four | |||
| Tip: The "o" and "c" in "o'clock" are never capitalized | |||
| Punctuation is not used at the end of the lines. (no commas, periods, colons., etc.) | |||
| Example: John and Sally invite you to join the fun. (leave off the period) | |||
| Commas can be used to separate information that appears on the same line such as: | |||
| Example: November 14, 2012 or Rochester, New York | |||
| Children Allowed, Mentioning Gifts, Where you're Registered: | |||
| It is socially incorrect to mention "no children allowed" or to mention gifts or where you are registered on invitations. We have found that our customers follow these rules on strict formal invitations such as black tie or wedding invitations, however, on informal invitations, anything goes and sometimes, the more information, the better. When in doubt, you can inform your guests of any important details when they RSVP to the invitation. | |||
When to mail your Invitations
Traditionally, it is advised to send out invitations eight weeks before your event. We can hear you screaming "Eight weeks!"
We've found while this is a good idea with formal events and weddings, it is just not possible with most every-day events. Our customers tell us that they didn't even think about having a party until 2-4 weeks before their event. Obviously, the sooner you can notify your guests, the better, but don't let this stress you out or prevent you from getting killer invitations at the last minute. Anything goes and much is possible these days.
If you know you're having a party for an event that is several months away, consider sending a Save the Date Card. This is simply a notice to your guest list that you are planning an event for that date and to mark their calendars so they'll be ready when the details follow by invitation closer to the party date when the details have been finalized. Save the Date cards are almost a necessity for events taking place on holiday weekends, events that will require out of state travel for guests or a wedding to ensure vacations are not scheduled for the same time.
You might also like:
...12 Things RSVP does not Mean
...What to include on Invitations
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