DIY Party Invitations

While there are many great ready-to-print party invitations, I also love creating my own.  

When John and I were planning our wedding, we decided to have the rehearsal dinner at Mickey Mantle's.  Given John's love of baseball and the New York Yankees, it was a great fit.  Given my love of anything with a theme - I quickly got on board...baseball!   Soon, I had a pretty clear idea of how I wanted to design our invitations.  Of course, we could have had a professional do them, but I like DIY projects and, with our budget in mind, I decided that making the invitations myself was the best solution. 

They got great reviews, cost under $1 per invitation and only took a few hours to make. 

This was the front of the invitation: 

Supplies included:

• 7''x 4.5'' Folded Card
• 2.5'' Round Labels by Avery
• 5'' x 3.25'' Flat Card (in a contrasting color to folded card)
• Envelope to fit Folded Card
• 1'' Round Labels by Avery
• Tickets Custom Printed by Special Event Ticketing (which could definitely be done at home depending on skill and time).  They came with envelopes that I used as well on the inside of the invitation.
• Ink Jet Printer
• Double Sided Tape (it is amazing - buy it in bulk!)

I used the envelopes and labels setting in Microsoft Word to create all of the layouts and make sure that the paper, labels and envelopes printed correctly.  The Avery labels come with great templates and instructions which made printing our initials very easy.  I drew on the red baseball stitching.   I used the double sided tape to attach the flat card and the envelope to the folded card.  The inside ticket included all of the key details about the party.

This was the inside: 

Here is the ticket that was in the inside envelope:

I also used the round labels for the mailing and return addresses.  Hand addressing is certainly a great option, but when you have a lot of invitations to address and time is a factor, labels are a great solution.  I liked that the round labels were a little different than your normal everyday junk mail label and the blue text made them stand out.

Party Invitations

From a small informal pizza party email to engraved wedding invitations there are infinite choices and lots of opportunities to enjoy selecting invitations.  I also use my party invitations to help set the tone for the celebration.  

First question to ask yourself: How formal is the event?  

Just a few friends for dinner, poker night, book club...you can send an email.   

I will sometimes change the font or add color or a fun image - just to brighten up the email, but for these parties all you need to do is explain the 5 Ws - who, what, when, where and why (if you really need a reason!)

Evites are great for slightly more formal parties - such as birthdays and holiday parties.  Also, evites track RSVPs, so they can be a big help if you have a long guest list.  Evites are so popular right now, that I love to make mine a little special by making my evite rhyme or creating a funny quiz as part of the invitation. 

Here’s the text from a recent Evite I sent for a Good Bye Party for a friend headed to Yale School of Management.

I included a picture of a school bus driving away just to play into the “Back to School” theme.

“It’s true!  Carrie’s leaving us and heading to Yale.
So join us at Chelsea Brewing Company to toast her with a pint or two of ale.
Soon she will be a finance maven,
Enjoying the academics and live in New Haven.
We wish he well and know y’all do the same.
She won’t be too far away – just a ride on the Metro North train!"

If you're looking for something a little more special than Evite, sites like Paperless Post are very affordable and something new!

Paper invites help send the message that you're having a significant celebration.  They are usually sent for bridal and baby showers, milestone birthdays and weddings.  More traditional hosts (hi mom!) will send paper invites for even less formal events too.  Paper stores like Kate's Paperie and the paper aisle at Michael's Arts & Crafts make it hard to resist the urge to send paper invitations because there are so many unique and adorable DIY options. 

For paper invites you also have a few options.  Creating your own using your computer and printer, purchasing fill-in the blank invitations and having invitations professionally printed or engraved are all great options.   For the most part, budget, time and creativity will determine which options you choose.  See additional posts for ideas about how to make your own invitations at home.