Wednesday, December 30, 2009 | 5:04:00 AM
Birthday party invitations inform your guests of the birthday party date, time and place. But invitations can also convey your party theme and create excitement before guests arrive. There are many fun and creative ways to use birthday invitations to announce your birthday party date. Start by choosing a party theme or color scheme that will be carried out throughout your party. Next browse through these invitation ideas and find one that will fit with your budget and creativity level.
What To Write On the Birthday Party Invitation
After choosing a birthday party invitation here are some ideas on how to fill in the blanks. Most of the invitation is straight forward ... but there are a few tricky parts. We've included how to fill out the RSVP, how to keep siblings from attending, asking parents to stay - or NOT to stay - for the party, how to request that guests don't bring presents, how to ask guests to pay for their food or admission, how to ask them to donate to your charity and is it okay to ask for money or gift cards.
First the easy part - what details to include in your party invitation.
Date- Always include the day along with the date. Ex. Saturday March 15, 2008 Time - Give the start and end times for your party. Ex. 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Place - Your house address or location of the party place. Hint - It is always good to draw a map on the back of the invitation or include one on a separate piece of paper.
For - Include the child’s name and how old they are going to be. Example: Sally's 8th birthday celebration!
RSVP - Include parents names, phone number and an email address on the invitation RSVP line. Some parents are shy about calling other parents or too busy to pick up the phone, but they will take the time to email.
RSVP used to mean please let us know if you will not attend. It is a very important piece of party planning information - as any party planner knows. But today many people either overlook the RSVP or don't know what it means so they don't respond. A good way around the RSVP is to let guests know how you want them to respond. You can add a comment like this to your invitation: Please let us know if you are coming so we can prepare enough food.
Please call and let us know if you are attending so we can tell (name of place) how many to expect.
Please respond by _(date)_____ so we can expect you.
There will most likely be a few that will show up without calling. Always prepare for 2 - 3 more guests then have called to tell you they will attend.
Include any special party information-
any information that the child needs to know before they arrive at the party should be included in the invitation.
How to dress - if it is a costume or dress up party give a clear description of the theme and give examples of how to create the look you want.
If you will be serving lunch or dinner - What type of food you will be having (this alerts any parents of possible food allergies)
What to bring - (swimsuit, sleeping bag, pillow, old clothes if you are going to do a painting craft).
If you will be going to dinner, the movies, the mall .... anywhere other then your house make sure and include it on the invitation. Parents will want to know where their kids are going to be during the party.
Keeping siblings from attending a party unannounced is easier to do on the invitation. Sometimes parents think it is okay to send along siblings with the invited guest with or without warning. If this hasn’t happened to you yet … just wait. Suddenly there will be a 4 year old sister who has shown up for your tween daughters spa party and it is hard to say no when they are on the doorstep excited about the party. To avoid this situation mention in the invitation that the party is for invited guests only. You can say it very tactfully.
Here are some suggestions for the invitation:
“We are sorry, but due to the theme of the party we can not accommodate siblings”
“No siblings please”
Or you can incorporate it into your invitation and say something like:
“Your invited to Bobby’s party as one of his 6 very special guests!”
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