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How to Word a Party Invitation (with Party Invite Message Examples)

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You’re throwing a party! Whatever the occasion is – whether you’re throwing a kid’s birthday party, an anniversary bash, a graduation do or something else – it’s time to celebrate, and you’re planning on sending out party invitations.

Even if your party is casual, sending out paper party invitations is one of the best ways to let people know about the upcoming celebration. A party invite will convey all the important information about when and where to go, as well as what you are celebrating in the first place.

There are various different details that you need to include in your party invitation, and it’s important to word it correctly. This guide will talk you through what you need to include on your party invitation, and give you some wording examples that you can adapt to your own needs.

What Do You Put on a Party Invitation?

Before you start thinking about how to word your party invites, you’ll need to familiarise yourself with the important information that you need to get across.

Who’s Invited?

First and foremost, you need to make it abundantly clear who’s invited to the party. This goes for any party, whether it’s a kid’s birthday party or a grand wedding. The last thing you want is to cater for 20 guests, only for 40 people to turn up because everyone’s brought their partner, or has assumed their child’s siblings are also invited.
The best way to do this is to specifically mention the invitee(s) by name on the envelope. For example:

1) “Mr John Smith and Ms Sarah Ellacombe”
2) “Master William Brooks”
3) “Sarah and Nancy McIntyre”
4) “Miss Jade Hewett plus Guest”
That way, there can be no confusion.

Why Are You Having a Party?

It’s important that your guests know why you are having the party in the first place. The wording has to be particular when you are trying to communicate a message to your guests.
For example, if it’s for a birthday party, make sure that you include the name of the birthday person, and how old they’re going to be (especially if it’s a milestone birthday, or a child’s party). Or for a graduation invitations, include who is graduating and which educational milestone they’ve achieved.
For example: “Please join us for Susan’s 8th birthday party!”
Or: “You are cordially invited to celebrate Ashleigh’s graduation from Warwick University”.

Who’s Hosting the Party?

Not only is it important to tell your invitees who the party is for, but you should also let them know who’s hosting the party, and at least one way of getting in touch with them. That way, they’ll know who to contact if they have any questions about the party, and they’ll also know who to ask if they need gift recommendations or anything else.

If you don’t mention who’s hosting the party on the invitation, your invitees will contact whoever the party is for (e.g. the person whose birthday it is). This wouldn’t be ideal if it’s supposed to be a surprise party!
For example: “If you have any questions, please contact the party host Sharon Mitchell on [phone number]”.

When Will the Party Start and End?

Your guests will need to know what day and time the party will be held. Make sure to be extremely clear, and give an approximate end time as well as a start time (especially for kid’s parties, so that parents will know when to come and pick up their children). You can typically expect guests to turn up between 5 and 10 minutes earlier than the start time you list on your invitation, so keep this in mind.
For example, you might write “3:00pm – 5:00pm on Sunday, 28th November 2021”. If there’s no specific end time, you can simply write something like “8pm ‘til late”.

Where Will the Party Be Held?

One of the most important things to include in your party invitation is the location. Whether your party will be held at:

1) The host’s house
2) The birthday person’s house
3) Outside in the local park
4) A booked party hall, such as a town hall
5) A soft play centre, cinema or other venue

It’s vital that you include the full name and address of the venue. Don’t just assume that everyone knows where “Paul’s house” is!
For example: “The party will be held at 123 Blackbird Lane, Newtown, NW1 1TN.”
If the venue is difficult to find, you can also include directions to guide attendees from the nearest motorway or main road, or even a mini map.

What Will Happen at the Party?

Make sure to tell your recipients what kind of party this is, and what is going to be involved. That way, they’ll know what to wear, whether to eat beforehand, and whether they should drive or get a taxi (if alcohol is going to be served).

You could list the theme, any activities you have planned, and what sorts of refreshments you’ll provide. For example: “Join us for a princess-themed celebration involving a royal buffet, face painting and manicures!”

How to Write a Party Invitation: 6 Top Tips

Now that you know what to include on your invitation and how to word it, it is time to put it all together. Here are our 6 top tips for writing and designing the perfect party invite, whatever the occasion may be.

1. Choose a Themed Invitation

One of the most fun things you can do when you are preparing for a party is picking the theme. Having a theme throughout the entire celebration – dress code, food, gifts, entertainment, decorations – will help the party have a cohesive aesthetic that will make for great photos, and which your guests are sure to remember for years to come.

A great way to tie the party theme together and to help spread the word to guests is to choose a party invitation that also features the same theme. For example, if you’re hosting a child’s birthday party with a clown or circus theme, this Party Clown invitation would be perfect. For a more grown-up girly-themed party with manicures and cocktails, this Fun ‘n Fancy design fits the bill.

2. Use the Right Tone

The tone of voice you use on your party invite will affect how guests are going to view the invitation, and their first impressions of the party itself. That’s why it’s important to use the correct tone when you’re writing the party invitation’s wording.

For example, if your party is going to be a super-formal black tie graduation event or wedding, you’ll want to write the invite in the third person, and avoid using any abbreviations or slang. For example, “Mr and Mrs John Smith invite you to celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary.”

For a casual party such as a child’s birthday or a house party, you can use the first person and can use a more informal style of writing that’s closer to normal speech. For example: “Come and join us for little Tom’s 3rd birthday! We hope to see you there!”

3. Address Your Recipients Correctly

When you send out the invitations, it is important to address your guests properly. The envelope should include their titles, along with their first and last names. For example, you can use Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms. You should ensure you spell their first and last names correctly, as well as mentioning if they’re permitted to bring a guest of their own, or bring their child’s siblings along to the party too.

4. Include the 5 Ws

Remember what we discussed previously: who, what, when, where, and why. Don’t forget to include the 5 Ws when you’re writing your invitation! These details are important because they are how your guests are going to know exactly what is going on, what to do, where to go and at what time.

And if there is a certain dress code, if the party is catered, or if your guests need to bring anything extra – let them know. It’s important to keep that line of communication clear for your guests.

There’s nothing worse than forgetting to put vital information on your custom party invitations. Whether it’s a name, date or number, leaving out even a single piece of information can cause invitees to get confused (and then you’ll be inundated with phone calls).

5. Don’t Forget RSVP Instructions

Lastly, remind your invitees that they are going to need to RSVP to your invitation. RSVP stands for “répondez s’il vous plait”, which is French for “please reply” – in other words, “Let me know whether or not you’re coming”. If your guests don’t RSVP, you aren’t going to know who’s coming and who isn’t – and this can have an impact on certain elements of party planning, such as how many guests you need to provide food for.

So, at the end of your invitations you should include either a phone number or an e-mail address that your guests can use to RSVP. Alternatively, you can include a reply card in the envelope with the party invitation. This is a paper slip that invitees can fill out and send back to you to indicate whether or not they’re attending.
And don’t forget to include an RSVP deadline! For example: “RSVP by Monday 29th November”.

6. Order More Invitations than You Need

One of the mistakes people make when ordering party invitations is accidentally ordering too few of them. Chances are, you’ve planned out the guest list in advance, and so you’ll know how many people you’re inviting. But it’s always a mistake to order exactly 13 invitations if you’re inviting 13 guests.

Here’s why:
1) If you’ve accidentally forgotten somebody on your guest list, you won’t have a spare invitation to give to them
2) You may lose or misplace one or more invites, or they may get lost in the post, and you won’t have any spares as backups
3) You might make a mistake while addressing an envelope, spill something on an invitation or damage it in some other way

A good rule of thumb is to order 10% more invitations than you think you’ll need, or round up to the nearest 10 (whichever number is more). So if you think you need 16 invitations, round it up to 20, to give you at least a few spares.

Where Can I Order Personalised Party Invitations in the UK?

It’s important to show your guests that you know what you are doing and give them the right information so that everyone has a fun time. If you follow this guide while writing and designing your party invitations, you have no need to worry. You will have included everything that they need to know, and given them contact details just in case they have any more questions.

As to where you can order your party invitations, we suggest a professional stationer such as 123Print. On our website, you can browse through a collection of over 300 party invitation templates – far more than you’d find in any ordinary party shop! You’re bound to find a design that works for your party theme.

Within minutes you can edit your chosen theme online, add all of your party details, and place your order. Your invites will be printed and dispatched within 48 working hours. All that’s left is to address the envelopes! Start your party planning

16 Fun and Easy Kids Birthday Party Theme Ideas

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There’s so much to think about when planning a birthday party for your child – especially if you want them to have the best party of all time! From deciding where to host the party, to what party invitations to buy, it can feel fairly overwhelming.
Having a solid kid’s birthday party theme can help make everything that little bit easier. You can design the decorations, invitations, and even the food to coordinate with the theme, so that nothing looks out of place. And theming a birthday party doesn’t have to be difficult, time consuming or expensive!

Here are 16 fun and easy birthday party themes for you to choose from.

1. Detective

Why not put a twist on the classic theme of cops and robbers by throwing a detective themed party. Give out some cheap magnifying glasses, and have the children search for crime-solving clues in a scavenger hunt.
You could use brown paper bags decorated to look like evidence bags, and put some mini disguise kits and a notepad inside each one to act as their party favours. You could even finish the party with a classic game of Cluedo!

2. Sports Day

If you’d prefer an outdoor party, then a sports day themed birthday would be perfect for your back garden, or even the local park.
The children can dress up in their sports kit and you can pick activities such as a sack race, a ball relay, or if the weather is warm enough, maybe water balloon dodgeball! You could finish the party off by giving out medals and prizes to those who took part. This trees invitation will help spread the message that the party will be held outside!

3. Lego

When it comes to throwing an awesome, creative, and gender-neutral party, what’s better than lego? Not only will it be popular, but it’s likely that you will have enough at home to add to the decor.
Why not have a building challenge, or use some moulds bought online to create sweets or chocolates in the shape of these bricks. You could even create bigger bricks for decoration by using some boxes and painting them in the same colours as your theme. A construction-themed party invitation will help get guests in the mood for building!

4. Princes and Princesses

The great thing about a prince and princess themed party is that as well as being timeless, it’s also flexible. Whether you go for a general royalty theme, or base it around a specific Disney princess, you’re bound to have a perfect time.
Consider activities such as magic wand making, a scavenger hunt for royal treasure, and maybe swap musical chairs for musical thrones! Have pink lemonade and cut some sandwiches into dainty heart shapes. End the party with some cheap plastic crowns as party favours. This sparkly pink love heart invitation definitely gives off princess vibes.

5. Pirates

If your child is into pirates, then have a swashbuckling good time with a pirate-themed bash. Organise a scavenger hunt and have the kids search for pirate booty, and if they’re dressed up then even better! Luckily, pirate costumes are cheap and easy to make – all you need is an eye patch, a bandana and a billowy shirt.
You could even add to this with some temporary skull and crossbones tattoos, and if you have activities making pirate flags and telescopes, then they will really look the part. End the party with some fish and chips and ‘grog’. This spooky skull invitation would be perfect!

6. Pancakes and pyjamas

If you’re not a fan of sleepovers, then throwing a pancakes and pyjamas themed birthday can be a great alternative.
With a spread of pancakes, pastries, fruit, cereal and yogurt available, consider activities such as pancake decorating, pillow sack races and making necklaces out of your favourite hoop shaped cereal, all whilst wearing the comfiest pyjamas!

7. Rainbows

The best part of throwing a rainbow themed party is going crazy with all the colours, and not limiting yourself to just one or two hues. This makes shopping for props a breeze!
You can buy brightly coloured balloons and streamers for some exciting décor, have guests dress up in their favourite colours, and provide face painting as an activity. Food can be kept simple with rainbow fruit or veggie kebabs and if you have the time, you could make some rainbow fruit ice lollies. Add to the theme with this bright rainbow balloon party invitation.

8. Robots

Consider picking robots if you are looking for a versatile theme. With mostly silver, and one other colour, such as orange, blue or green, you could recycle some old boxes by sticking robot faces on them. You could even cut a circle in one of them to make a photo booth!
Why not put your snacks into different sized aluminium food trays, and arrange them to look like a robot, and for drinks, label some bottles as fuel. For activities, create your own masks and play a special game of musical robot statues.
And don’t think that robots are just for boys, either – this gears of love invitation combines robotic gears and subtle hearts for a girly touch.

9. Science

Throwing a science party is one of the most fun themes on this list; think orange, green and purple to create a mad lab with your little scientists. You could use food colouring in water for drinks and decorations, and you could even buy some petri dishes to put jelly in with some gummy worms.
Some simple science-themed party activities could include making slime, or conducting the classic coke and mentos experiment. As long as you have lots of bubbles and foam then you are bound to have a fun time. Don’t forget to dress up in your white lab coats!

10. Unicorn

If your little one wants a magical or fantasy themed party, consider picking unicorns! You could stick to a pastel colour scheme, or even combine this with the rainbow theme for an enchanted time. Party snacks can be as simple as candyfloss for unicorn hair, and chocolate covered pretzel sticks with sprinkles for a unicorn horn.
Activities can be just as easy, with adapting a simple ring toss game to create toss the ring on the horn, or pin the tail on the unicorn instead of the donkey. Why not have the children decorate unicorn shaped biscuits for a fun and yummy treat.

11. Under the sea

Under the sea is another simple yet effective theme for your child’s birthday! You can keep it basic and stick to sea animals, or you could adapt it and make it mermaid or Spongebob themed, for example. Consider decorating with blue, green and purple streamers – they would make a great backdrop if you hung them from the ceiling, or maybe you could add them to some balloons to make some wiggly jellyfish.
For food, you could cut pizzas and sandwiches to look like starfish, or even decorate fish-shaped biscuits as one of your activities. For delightful ocean themed desserts, consider individual jellies with gummy fish in them, or skewer some grapes to look like seaweed! This seaside party invitation will tie the theme together.

12. Zoo

While going to the zoo can be fun, when you invite even just a few of your child’s friends the ticket price can soon add up. Instead, why not bring the zoo to your home, with a zoo-themed party! Have everyone dress up as their favourite animals, and make masks or use face-paints.
Why not have animal themed snacks: bananas for monkeys, veggies for goats and peanut butter sandwiches for elephants, and as well as decorating using different animal patterns, why not pop some small toy animals on the snack table that can be used as party favours. This adorable pastel zoo invitation would fit the theme perfectly.

13. Dinosaur

Dinosaurs will always be one of those “roarsome” birthday party themes that will never go out of style, and with a simple colour scheme of green and brown, you are bound to organise this with no effort whatsoever.
Why not have a sandpit as a digging site, with some plastic dinosaurs for the children to find? Or if you want to go the extra mile, you could make some fossils using salt dough. Biscuits with dino footprints would make a great snack alongside a fruit-a-saurus salad, and hold a dinosaur egg and spoon race for some extra fun.

14. Outer Space

With space missions starting up again, now is the perfect time to throw a space themed party! Gear yourself up with space themed decorations – multicoloured balloons would make great planets (whether from this solar system or not!)
Come up with some galactic activities, such as painting ‘moon’ rocks, creating ‘UFO’ frisbees, and making some ‘alien goo slime’. How about some out of this world flying saucer pizza or special star shaped sandwiches? However you choose to throw this intergalactic bash, don’t forget to pick a side for dressing up. Will you choose to be an astronaut or an alien?

15. Woodland creatures

A woodland themed party is great for all ages, and can be perfect for any season of the year. The best part is being able to use things from nature in your decorations and activities, saving money. Why not have a pinecone treasure hunt? And if you’re out in the woods, you could have a den-building competition from logs and branches.
You could even incorporate a fairy theme into it if you wanted to, decorating fairy doors and making fairy or animal masks. The food is where you could get the most creative: decorate cupcakes to look like mushrooms, use Swiss rolls as logs, pretzels for twigs, and incorporate lots of different berries. This neutral toned butterfly party invitation would be perfect for a woodland party.

16. Ice Cream Sundae Party

Perfect for the summer months, an ice cream sundae party is simple, but very tasty! Create your own sundae station, and add things like sprinkles and chocolate sauce, but also different fruits, biscuits and fun cereal toppings.
Consider a themed game: participants roll a die and depending on the result, put a cherry on top, add some chocolate syrup, pass the bowl to the left, etc, and when it ends they eat what’s in front of them. You could also play the classic game of “duck duck goose”, but instead change it to “banana banana split.”
Have you chosen your ideal birthday party theme yet? When you’re ready to pick your perfect matching invitations, head over to 123Print to browse our huge range of templates. They’re available in two sizes (A5 and A6) and are all fully customisable. Happy designing!