Personalized Invitation cards design

If you decide to make invitations, involve your child with cutting, pasting, coloring, or applying stickers to the invitations.

If you're mailing invitations, you're pretty much limited to standard card-style invitations. If you'll be hand-delivering the invitations (to neighbors, classmates, and team mates) you can have a little fun with 3 dimensional invitations, such as a note in a bottle for a Pirate Party or a toy dinosaur enclosed with a Dinosaur Party invitation.

Note: many school teachers do not allow birthday party invitations to be distributed at school unless all children in the class are invited.

Invitations should be timed to reach the guests approximately 2 weeks before the party. This allows enough time for guests to "hold the date" and also allows enough time to collect RSVPs before you make your final
purchases of party supplies. Request RSVPs by phone or e-mail one week before the party. If the occasion is a birthday party, some parents
may ask for gift ideas when they call to RSVP, so have a few ideas in mind.

An invitation should clearly provide the following information:

• party occasion
• party host (your child's first and last name to avoid confusion... "which Jennifer?")
• day and date of party
• start and end time of party
• party location and address
• RSVP deadline and phone number and e-mail address
• rain plan (if outdoor party)

Be sure to include any special information or requests. For example, if you want children to wear green  or dress-up for a princess party,  suggest this on the invitation. If it's a Slumber Party or Camp Out enclose a checklist of items to bring (tooth brush, PJs, sleeping bag, etc.).

If the drop-off and pickup times are SHARP specify this. Otherwise many parents will assume times are flexible and may arrive and pickup late. For example, for my son's Train Party I informed parents that the train departed at 10:15 am SHARP and suggested that they arrive 15 minutes early.

If you specifically want parents to stay for the party, state this on the invitation or discuss it when you accept the RSVP. Otherwise, it will be assumed that it is up to the parent if he/she wants to stay. Many parents will stay if their child is younger than 5.

If you can't accommodate siblings of invited guests, tactfully discuss this when you accept the RSVP. Some families seem to assume that it's OK to bring siblings. I generally don't care and always have a few extra favor bags on hand for this situation. However, siblings who are significantly younger (get in the way and require lots of attention) or older (win all the games and dominate the other guests) can be an issue.

If the party location isn't well known, enclose a map. Google Maps will generate a map for most locations.

Don't forget to buy or make Thank You notes to send after the party. Hiphiphooray also helps you prepares personzlized thank you notes.