Invitation Tips

Whether you are designing and printing invitations yourself or having us design and print, here are some tips to assist you.

Wanting to do a formal invitation? Then spell out your numbers – see examples below:

Thursday, the seventeenth of January two thousand and eight at eleven o’clock in the morning…

Less formal? Possible choices of formatting:

January 17, 2008 or January 17th (if you use the day of the week, put it first, followed by a comma: Thursday, January 17, 2008) at 11:00 a.m. or 11 a.m. or 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Need help with wording? Some cards have sample wording you can use. Or you may like the wording on one card sample and want to use it on a different card. Feel free. We’ve recently added a link on our website that gives you ideas for wording by category; browse Verse-It for just the right text.

Pesky prepositions. Wondering whether you need to say “on” Thursday or “at” Jungle Jane’s? If you break up lines, the prepositions are unnecessary:

Thursday, January 17th
11:00 a.m.
Jungle Jane’s
123 Wild Street
Animaltown

Is there a better way to say it? We also have customers ask us for advice on wording they have created. Don’t be afraid to ask when placing your order. If designing your own invitation, ask a friend for suggestions.

Have questions we haven’t addressed here? Email us at info@IBY.com and we’ll post the answers in a future blog.

Click here to read more!

More ideas for invitation wording

How about starting with a movie quote?

Take this one from the The Godfather, "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
Change it into an invite:
I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.
See you at my party next Friday, 7 pm.

What lines do you remember from movies? Play with them and see what you can come up with.

If you need movie quotes, at this site you can download 100!

If you want to continue with a movie theme for your party, this theater invitation could be fun. Click here to read more!

Help! What do I say?

Don’t know how to word an invite? Try a simple poem.

Some easy types are:

Cinquain – a short, unrhymed poem of five lines. The first line has 2 syllables. The 2nd 4. The 3rd 6. The 4th 8. And the last 2 again. Want more info? Here’s another method: http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/poetry5.html

Haiku – 3 (or fewer) lines of no more than 17 syllables total – go here for a good explanation on how to write one: http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/Start-Writing.html

Light Verse – usually brief and humorous – check this site for more info: http://www.absolutewrite.com/specialty_writing/attempt_light_verse.htm

Limericks – you’ll probably remember these from your childhood – here’s a how to link: http://www.poetryamerica.com/Limerick.asp

Or change one.

Take a familiar poem and alter the last two lines:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Party time, we said,
You’re invited, too!

If you want more info on writing poetry, go to this site: http://www.poetry4kids.com/

If you get frustrated trying to create your own, here are some poetry sources. Note: Poets really appreciate it if you give them credit for their poems—this protects their copyright. You can do so at the end of a poem or under the poems name.

http://www.funnypoets.com/

http://www.poemsforfree.com/

And, of course, we do have some suggested wording on our site. Just look up an invitation by the specific occasion and see if something appeals to you. Then match it up with the design you like best.

Here's an example of a fall or halloween poem on one of our invitations.

Click here to read more!