So you’ve got your guest list together. Bravo, we are making progress!
I made mine (I think) and I hope I can fit all those guests in my house! My husband asked, where will we put all the shoes? I said.. if that’s our only prob we are doing ok!
Making a guest list is not so easy. We want to have our son’s little friends and their parents, which is about 30 people. We will have our close families as well. We need to consider if we have enough room to comfortably have our other good friends and their spouses who don’t have kids, which would add about another 10 people! Our son’s birthday falls on the Canadian Family Day long weekend. Yes, we have a holiday called ‘Family Day’.. A day off work, sounds good to us! So we decided to make the party the following weekend in case people decide to go out-of-town. So we still debate about the guest list and numbers.. can we fit close to 50 guests in our home… so we are finalizing this decision…
So venue is chosen. Home is free and comfortable and perfect for a 1st birthday party. He’s turning one, as if he’s going to remember much later anyways.
guests are narrowed down (or almost..)
Now onto some FUN! Let’s pick some invitations shall we.
I LOVE choosing invitations. Ya know, it says a lot about the type of party you’re gonna have. It announces the party, it reveals the theme of the party (if you choose to have one) gives your guest all the deets about the special event. Cross your fingers they don’t already have a commitment!
Which leads us to, “When do I send the invitation?”
I didn’t quite know the best answer… I looked online and asked around and the responses ranged from 2 weeks (which I think is too close) to 6 weeks (which may be ok or a bit too far away from the event) I would say 4-6 weeks would be a safe bet for a birthday party (Weddings or larger affairs are a different story). If you have a better response to when to send invites, please let me know! This gives your guests a chance to organize their weekend, review their schedules, reply to the invite with their yea or nay response.
Did I mention that I LOVE choosing invitations? It can be a very creative and fun experience. Doesn’t have to be stressful and overwhelming! Personally, I love all things crafty, but who has the time to make like Martha S. and gather all the materials from a craft store, to sit and cut, stamp, ribbon, print, design to create the most aDoRaBlE & sTuNnInG invitation I have ever seen! Likely many of you don’t have time for that. Though it is tempting and exciting and absolutely doable. If you are planning on a budget and have the time, totally a great idea!! Check out your local craft store or even online craft supply stores for ideas and product info.
INVITATIONS
all online:
- EVITE – Receiving an invitation online is always great too. Evite is simple, cute, easy and lets guests comment on online discussion if necessary too. For instance, if you are arranging a potluck and guests are discussing what to bring, it’s an easy tool to allow for chit-chat and notifies you when guests reply. Keeps responses organized, no worry about being lost in the mail or finding stamps, no addresses to gather etc. So it does the trick. They have a huge assortment of designs for all occasions too. Check online at their site, it might inspire you to throw a party of some sort, for instance a ‘tailgating’ party.. yes it’s there! check to see if I’m lying 😉
Not often do we receive invitations by mail anymore, so this could be a nice touch. Receiving something in the mail that is not a bill is always EXCITING. Here is a list of some wonderful places to order invitations of various beautiful designs and price ranges.
Check out these great online sites with a huge selection of designs to choose from.
Simplytoimpress.com – Wide variety of invitations for all occasions. Check now there is a shipping promo code for the holidays. Always a help, and take advantage of this while it lasts. See, it pays to be organized!
Here are a couple of examples of the no-photo kids invitations. All the sites are amazing with super selection at various price ranges.
Sweet and Simple Cupcake Invite from Simply to Impress
Make a splash with this adorable firetruck invite from Simply to Impress. Many more great designs to choose from.
minted.com – Very cool designs that are stylish and adorable. Many can be personalized with a photo of your sweetie-pie. Also check out their baby keepsake journals. Such a lovely idea to have a personalized notebook to record all your baby’s milestones.
Check out these cute minted invites. Way more options to see online.
Minted boys birthday invitation
Bring out the artist in every child with this great invite from Minted
The Paper Boutique – Toronto based company with a beautiful selection of awesome designs for all occasions. They do most of their printing right on site and it sounds like they can really customize and work one on one with you to design the perfect invitation for you.
Look at this adorable monkey design from The Paper Boutique. I really like this one!
Your guests will definitely want to come 'hang out' with your little one on his or her special day. Too cute.
Here are some other great links that will have lots of wonderful selections with gorgeous designs to suit everyone’s taste and needs.
As I mentioned… too many options, but it’s fun to search, see what you like and gather some good ideas. EnjoY!
Peekaboo Press 