Whether you’re planning a birthday party, an anniversary party, a baby shower or any other celebration, you want it to be an occasion worth remembering. Not only for the benefit of the person or people you’re celebrating, but also for your party guests!
After all, you’ve spent so much money and time planning the event – you want it to stick out in everyone’s minds for years to come.
When it comes to inviting said guests, you might be wondering whether it’s worth the cost to invest in personalised, custom-printed party invitations. Wouldn’t it be easier – and cheaper – simply to buy pre-printed invitations from a party supply shop, or even to send out a Facebook invitation?
As it turns out, personalised party invitations aren’t that expensive, and are quick and easy to design and order – but they can make a world of difference to your guests’ experience, and the overall vibe of the party!
So, without further ado, let’s discuss the ins and outs of personalised party invitations and why you might go the extra mile for a special event.
Why Choose Personalised Party Invitations?
There are many reasons why personalised party invitations are worth the cost.
Personalised Party Invitations Create a Great First Impression
Standard pre-printed party invitations are available from most UK high-street party supply and greeting card shops. Now, there’s nothing really wrong with these invitations – but they are generic, and, well, a bit boring.
How many hundreds of times have those designs been used? Perhaps, in the past, you’ve received the same design invitation for different people’s birthday parties. How did it make you feel about the party—were your expectations set at a high level, or did you expect a run-of-the-mill birthday celebration?
And what about receiving a Facebook or text-message party invitation? You probably felt as though the party wasn’t that big of a deal – maybe not even one worth RSVPing to.
Sending a personalised party invitation helps to create a great first impression of the event right from the get-go, and also lets your guests know that this party is going to be a big deal!
Personalised Party Invitations Save Time and Effort
One major advantage of personalised cards over shop-bought is that there is no requirement to write anything. With a personalised card, all relevant information, including venue address and party start time, can be printed on the invitation – whereas on a pre-printed invite, you have to write it all by hand. Not only is that extremely time-consuming, especially if you’re inviting lots of guests (hand cramp, anyone?) but it also doesn’t look very professional! And the same goes for texting (or calling) each and every invitee.
Although personalised party invitations cost a little more, the time saved more than makes up for it.
Personalised Party Invitations Help Build Excitement
If you’re planning a birthday party for your son who’s a huge fan of comic books and superhero movies, wouldn’t it be amazing to design a personalised superhero themed party invitation with bold, primary colours and comic-book style graphics? Then you can personalise it with his name, age, and party details.
If you were to receive that invitation, it would naturally set high expectations for the party and even inspire you to make a bigger effort to attend and buy an expensive present. It will also create excitement and a sense of anticipation for a party or event. People who would ordinarily avoid a party might be intrigued enough to come if they receive a special invitation.
While it’s more effort than just buying a bog-standard pack from a local shop, the upside is invaluable. Imagine how happy your partner will be when their best friends flock to their 50th birthday party, gifts in hand. The extra effort pays dividends and shows that you care.
What Type of Events Can Use a Personalised Party Invitation?
Through personalisation, you can create invitations for any purpose—perhaps you’re planning a summer barbeque or scavenger hunt for friends and family, and want to make it special, with a fancy personalised invitation. It’s great for setting the party’s tone and expectations.
There is no limit to the imagination that you can put into this type of invitation. Including the words RSVP elevates the feeling of the recipient—it feels like a party they should attend.
This could be any type of celebration or event that you could imagine. For example:
1) Retirement parties. Make an imaginative invitation, chronicling their work-life and show appreciation for the sacrifices they made in bringing you up.
2) Anniversary parties. If you’re planning to host a party on your parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, create a customised invitation in a golden colour scheme with a picture of them on their wedding day.
3) Birthday parties. Invite friends and family to your son or daughter’s 18th birthday celebration in style, with an invitation personalised with their name, party details and gift list.
4) Surprise parties. Plan a special surprise birthday celebration for your partner’s 40th birthday. For fun, include a baby picture, and add a personalised note reminding people not to spoil the surprise.
5) Baby showers. Pick an adorable baby-themed party invitation and instruct guests to dress up in pink or blue, according to their guess for the baby’s gender!
Don’t forget to include RSVP details on the invitation, so your guests know how to let you know they’re coming! This is particularly important if you’ll need a final head count before the big day.
Personalised Party Invitations for Themed Events
When it comes to themed parties, the options are almost endless. For example:
1) If you’re considering a Harry Potter-themed birthday or Halloween party, complete with Quidditch, butterbeer and broomsticks, remember to use the same themes in your party invitation.
2) For a Christmas party invitation, use Christmas themes, including bold red, green and white colours in your invitation.
3) Plan a murder mystery party and create a personalised invitation using a Raymond Chandler, film noir style, and spike the theme by writing RSVP in an ominous blood-red-style font.
4) Design a spooky invitation to a Halloween party with this Boneyard design.
5) Create a scavenger hunt invitation and design the card around the theme of the scavenger hunt and, for added spice, include the first cryptic clue.
6) Throw a special university graduation party for your son or daughter, inviting friends and family with a graduation themed invitation.
7) Invite friends and family to the first night of an amateur dramatics show, featuring themes and lyrics from the show on the invitation.
A themed and personalised party invitation will quickly let guests know what to expect and how to dress (or what sort of present to bring), and will get them excited for what’s to come!
How Can You Personalise a Party Invitation?
As mentioned above, the options for personalisation are extensive. For example, look at the huge variety of invitation templates and design options available from 123Print, a UK-based professional printing company.
Invitation Size
Two sizes are available, standard (A6) and large (A5).
The larger A5 size gives much more scope for design and personalisation. It’s ideal for invitations that you’ll need to fit a lot of text and details on. The smaller A6 size, commonly used for postcards, is more convenient for delivery. Which size you choose is completely up to you, but depends in part on your budget, as the larger size is slightly more expensive. (Worth it, though!)
Choice of Templates
Hundreds of default templates are available, covering a wide number of themes and occasions. Each design includes a thematic image with some default text. Every party invitation template can be fully customised using a flexible, completely free and easy-to-use design editor capable of modifying any aspect of the template, including the text content.
The editor can update text position, font type/style, size and colour. But if you want to save time and you’re happy to use a default design, all you need to do to get an amazing custom invitation is to add your party details, and you’re good to go!
Custom “Blank Slate” Design
Can’t find a party invitation design that’s quite right? If so, you can start with a completely blank template and upload custom artwork to the editor. If your design requirements are specific, employ a graphic designer and upload their content to the editor! It’s a more expensive option, but you’ll get an incredible looking invitation.
It’s also possible to upload pictures directly from a computer, Facebook feed or Instagram channel.
Reverse Side
Don’t forget that invitations have two sides, and they’re both worth taking advantage of! It’s possible to be just as creative with the reverse side as it is the front. Add extra party details such as the dress code – or why not add a picture of the birthday person?
Order Your Personalised Party Invitations Today with 123Print!
At 123Print, we’ve got over 100 years’ worth of experience printing professional-quality party invitations, thank you cards, business cards and a wealth of other stationery through our parent company, CCA occasions.
Have a browse today through our extensive selection of party invitations to find one that’s right for you – or start from scratch!
The party invitation editor is free to use—no payment is required until you’re happy with the design and ready to order. And you don’t need to do it all at once: if you create an account, you can save your design half-way through to work on at a later time. If the party is an annual event, you can even re-edit and print a new invitation for the next year.
With a 100% satisfaction guarantee, you’re bound to be pleased with your custom invitations – and so will your guests. Get started on planning your perfect party today with 123Print!