Party Planning 101: What to Write on Party Invitations

Jul 31

Listen to Chrystina discuss what information to put on invitations in Episode 39 of the Party Ideas & Logistics with Chrystina Noel podcast, above.

And we’re back, continuing the Party Planning 101 series. So far we’ve learned about:

and now here we are at what to put on an invitation. This is one of my favorite parts, partially because it involves so many logistics and partially because this is the part where you finally get to tell the people about the party. Let’s start at the beginning.

How to Send Party Invitations

This day in age there are a lot of different ways to send party invitations. Choose which one is going to work best for you. If you plan to invite a lot of people, make sure whichever option you choose is capable of being repeated for a lot of people. If you plan on only inviting a few, you can be more creative in your preparations.

Send Party invitations via snail mail

Level of difficulty: Medium-Hard
Cost: Medium

Keeping it old school. The hardest part about this option is that you actually need to get everyone’s physical address. And then write all of those addresses on envelopes. That said, there’s something to be said about actually receiving snail mail. It makes it feel a little more special. Props to anybody who actually responds via snail mail with a hand-written note for something that’s not a wedding. Also, you get to choose pretty cool stamps. And remember, you can send anything up to 6.125″ x 11.5″ that’s not square and under one ounce for the same price as a forever stamp, so make the most of your (currently) forty-nine cents.

Send packages via snail mail

Level of difficulty: Hard
Cost: High

I hadn’t even considered this option before talking to my friend Miranda at Spooky Little Halloween. For her Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloweenie Roast, she created packages for the attendees who lived in her area.

This is a little more costly because you need to actually put together the packages – and then there’s the shipping cost to consider. (Unless you’re like Miranda and own a car and just want to drop them off at people’s houses.) If you’re looking for items you can stick in an envelope that will not cost you any more than a forever stamp, check out this post.

Make a phone call

Level of difficulty: Medium
Cost: Low

If you’re looking for quick answers, this is definitely the way to go. It’s also pretty personal to receive an invitation this way, might make people more accountable, who knows?

Maybe consider sending a follow-up email afterwards for both of these options to make sure people actually have all of the details.

Send an electronic invite

Level of difficulty: Low
Cost: Low

There are so many ways just to send an electronic invite alone. You can:

Use Evite: By far my favorite way to send an invitation. It allows the guests to see who else is coming, gives you all the information you need, and totals who has said yes, no, and maybe. And it is automatically set to send reminders to guests just before the party. The only slight complication is that you need to make sure you have everyone’s email address.
Use Email: Super reliable because it goes straight to people’s inboxes, but it’s not super easy to keep track of responses if you’re checking your email from your phone and your work computer and your home computer.
Use Facebook: This one’s definitely pretty easy, the only problem is I’ve found people aren’t quite as accountable on Facebook – or they might never see the invitation at all. Or everyone might not have a Facebook.
Text Message: The same thing could be accomplished via text message, but that sounds super unreliable to me. I also mostly just hate typing with two fingers.

What to put on the invitation

You can put a lot of information on an invitation. Below are some suggestions of questions to consider when you are setting out to write your invitation. Not all of these need to be answered, if you stick to just the basic who, where, why, when, what, you should be doing pretty good.

Who

Who is the guest of honor?
Always include this right up front so people know they’re invited to celebrate someone specific.
Is there a specific group of people invited to the party
Is it a party for the football team? Let them know. Is it a party for your co-workers? Let them know. This way they’ll have a better idea of who else will becoming and what to expect. Also, if it’s a guys-only or girls-only party, it’s probably good to let your guests know up front, which brings us to –
Can people bring guests?
Make sure to include on the invitation whether spouses and/or children are invited to the party. This will put your guests at ease because they will already have the information. Granted, if you invite one spouse, you should probably invite all of the spouses, or if you invite one kid, you should probably invite all of the kids. The way to get around this? Girls-night-in or boys-night-out parties. They get rid of all the questions up front.

Where

Where is the party?
Is the party in a specific building? Maybe it’s your house, or a restaurant, or the playground in the center of town. Either way, let your guests know what they’re looking for when they pull up.
What is the address?
In addition to adding the general location, I highly recommend giving an address so that people don’t end up on the Olive Garden on the wrong side of town. (Also, this is what people will type into their GPS to get to your house.)
Will people need any special-access instructions?
If you live in an apartment building will people need to sign-in with a door man? Will people need an access code to get through a gate? Would you prefer they use the side door instead of the front door? Including this information will take away the guessing game when people show up.
What’s the best way to get there?
This probably isn’t necessary if you live in the suburbs and all of your friends own cars. (Unless there’s a best highway to take or a way to avoid traffic.) I always like to tell people that it’s best to take public transit as there aren’t very many parking options.
What’s the parking situation?
Are people supposed to park on the right or left side of your street? Is there a best place to look for free parking? This is clearly a lot of information to include on an invitation, so maybe consider not including all of the specifics, but just a one liner about “reach out to me if you have any questions about parking” in the party invitations so people feel free to reach out. It’s always best to avoid logistical problems like this by pre-planning if possible. (Especially if you live in a city.)
Will the party be indoors or outdoors?
This is useful to know so people know how to dress and if they need to bring anything to accommodate the situation. If it’s an indoor party people might want/need to bring a pair of indoor shoes or socks to change into. If it’s an outdoor party, they may want to bring a sweater, sunscreen, or bug spray.

Why

Is there a reason for the party?
This is always nice to know up front. Are you celebrating something? Is it a birthday party? Did someone retire? This lets the guest know that it might be nice to bring a card or a gift to celebrate that person. (And avoids the possibility of them feeling awkward showing up empty-handed.)

When

What is the day of the party?
I’ve found it’s super useful to include the day of the party on the invitation so people know right off the bat if they’re dealing with a Monday night, a Friday night, or a Saturday afternoon.
What is the date of the party?
Always include the date. Clearly. I also highly recommend confirming that the day and date align before sending the party invitations.
Is there a rain day/date?
If your party will be outdoors, consider having a rain date in case the weather is bad.
What time does the party start?
Definitely useful information right here.
What time does the party end?
You do not need to set an end time for the party, but I’ve found that sometimes it helps guests feel more comfortable saying yes knowing that they’re not committing to a whole night if the party is at 4:00pm. It also makes it easier to kick people out at the end of the night if it’s getting late.
Is there an RSVP date?
Highly recommend having an RSVP date for the party the week before so that you have time to get all of the party details in order. It also means that if you haven’t heard from people by the RSVP date you’re absolutely allowed to reach out directly and ask them without being a pain in the butt. Another key piece of information to include is what is the best way to RSVP. Email? Phone number? Online? Make sure you include this information on the invitation so people know how to reach you.

Don’t think RSVPs are as big of a deal as they used to be? Check out this article from Emily Post about the continuing importance of RSVPs.

What

What type of party is it?
Is it a birthday party? Anniversary party? Put it right at the top of the invitation so everyone knows right from the beginning.
Is it a surprise?
This is KEY to put in really bold letters and make very clear on party invitations. The fastest way to ruin a surprise is to forget to include this on the invitation. Also spend some extra time considering the RSVP details if you’re throwing a surprise birthday party. I did it once for my dad. I had a lot of feelings about that experience.

Details

Will food be served?
Let’s be real. This is what everybody wants to know. Should they show up hungry or well-fed? If you are hosting your party at dinnertime, they probably expect to be fed. If you’re hosting your party at a different time you definitely have some leeway with this, just make sure to inform your guests ahead of time. The last thing you want is a bunch of hangry guests.
Is it BYOB?
This is one of the best ways to cut down on a party cost, tell guests that they can feel free to bring their own alcohol. If you want to provide some, but not all, of the beverages, you can consider having one signature drink and telling people to bring anything else they would like – or that you are buying mixers and they can feel free to bring their liquor of choice.
Is there a certain way to dress?
I hosted a lot of parties in college that had a theme that involved a certain type of dress – like a 1920s-themed murder mystery party and a 21st birthday prom. Make sure to include this information on the invitation for two reasons: (1) it will limit the amount of people who feel under- or over-dressed, and (2) if you have a really cool party theme and you want them to dress a certain way it’s a good way to get people hyped up about the party ahead of time.
Should your guests bring anything?
Is it a potluck? Is it BYOB? Will they need a swimsuit? Do you want them to bring a mix CD with their favorite songs from the 80s? (This is a party I just heard about last week, so cool.) Think about all of the things your guests should have when they leave the host and make them a checklist to make their lives easier.
Is there a registry to be aware of?
Now. Technically. You’re not supposed to put registries directly on the invitation. It’s supposed to be on a separate card in the invitation envelope. And technically, you should probably only have a registry if it’s a bridal shower or baby shower. Maybe house warming party? Not sure where the Emily Post Institute stands on that one just yet. Just wanted to make sure to write this down here so you don’t forget – just in case.

Other thoughts on Party Invitations

Remember that not everybody is going to be able to come to your party. Response rates may vary based on what stage you’re in in your life. As a 20-something girl living in the city, I usually invite about 45 people, 20 people RSVP yes, and about 12 actually show up the day of the event. I’ve had pretty consistent results with those percentages. Whereas my friends who have kids or are married or who have super solid friend groups seem to have higher response rates.

If you forget a piece of information on the invitation, you can always find a way to contact the guests later to give it to them, it’s definitely not the end of the world.

Double- and triple-check that you have the right date, location, and time for your party on that invitation before sending them out. I made that mistake once – I put the wrong address on an invitation and then printed it 200 times. That was not a fun correction to have to make.

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And that’s it. I know it sounds like a lot, but you’re really just trying to think about all of the logistics before they happen to make sure your guests are as comfortable as possible. As one of my good friend’s Lauren put it, “Think about what people are going to need before they have to ask, so you can relax during the event (or if you’re me, run around and clean up after people).”