Articles:

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

Recipes:
What are you serving?

Baby:
What type of Baby Shower?
Baby Shower Themes

Children:
How to Plan a Birthday Party

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 Do's and Don'ts

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 Invitations
Your 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.

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-nineth 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...
Do not use abbreviations.
	Example: Spell out words such as Road, Street, and state names; California
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
	Hint: The "o" in "o'clock" is 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, 2004 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 2-6 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.


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