Less than 50 years ago archaeologists uncovered the world’s oldest recorded party invitation.
The year was A.D. 100 and the formal invite was for a birthday celebration from one sister to another.
You probably won’t use wood and carbon ink like this woman (who knows, maybe you will). Still, you’re continuing the ancient tradition of DIY invitations, and you should feel good about that.
Here are 7 tips on creating event invitations to excite your guests, regardless of the occasion.
1. Keep it Simple
Don’t give your guests all the details at once. You want to reel them in with a few details, like the beginning of a mystery book.
To do this, have a solid title for your event. It should be short and sweet (and hopefully clever, too).
You’ll want to include essential details like the address and time, of course. However, you can leave out things like parking and attire for later event communications.
2. Create a Beautiful Theme
Bring together aesthetic elements surrounding the theme or idea of your event.
Pay attention to font, colors, lines, white space, graphics, and textures. Make sure to use elements that go together.
For instance, you wouldn’t want to put sunflowers on a Halloween party invitation. An obvious example, but it shows the point that having incongruent elements can throw off the entire invitation.
3. Include a CTA
What’s a CTA, you ask?
It’s a call to action. Basically, it’s the action you want your guest to take once they receive the invitation. This could be an RSVP, a reply via email, or joining an event Facebook page for future updates.
Including a call to action keeps your guests from picking up your invite, setting it down, and forgetting about it. Plus, it allows you to get a gauge of interest and attendance.
4. Plan Reminders
Even the most organized people need reminders.
When creating your invitations, go ahead and create simple reminders to send out prior to the event. This is where you can update guests on any important details or changes to the event.
If you want to pique interest, reveal a special aspect of the event people didn’t know about from the first invitation.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Re-send
If you don’t get responses from people, don’t be afraid to re-send them invitations or reminders.
The reason you invited them is that they are important to you or to the event. It’s better to be thorough and send another invitation to make sure they saw it and to encourage a yes or no response.
6. Be Timely
An event invitation doesn’t work well if it’s sent a day before an event. Or if it’s sent a year before.
You want to find the sweet spot for the appropriate time to notify people of the event so they can plan accordingly. If the event requires more preparation, such as travel time, you’ll want to give the guests more time.
Shutterfly offers some suggested timelines for sending out invitations:
- Simple event (birthday party, etc.): 2-6 weeks in advance
- Dinner or cocktail party: 3-4 weeks in advance
- Formal event: 3-5 weeks in advance
- Engagement party: 3-4 months after engaged, plus 3-5 weeks in advance
- Graduation party: 4-5 weeks in advance
- Holiday party: 2-3 weeks in advance
7. Don’t Waste Too Much Time On DIY Invitations
You’re planning an event! You have so many things to do other than creating invites from scratch.
Utilize free invitation templates from Adobe Spark. Choose what matches your style, plug in your information, and send them out.
Then, you can free up time and energy to plan the event itself.
Get Creative
Your DIY invitations don’t have to be anything in particular. There are no rules.
Sure, there are guidelines like these, but you’re the boss of your own creations.
Get inspired by the event you want to create and use that inspiration to fuel your creativity. In the meantime, check out our blog for more do-it-yourself ideas.
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