How to Write Party Invitations

Your party invitation is the first indication your guests have to the event ahead.  It is your opportunity to convey all of the relevant information about your event to each guest.  When writing your party invitation, you’ll want to make sure you have included all of the important information about your event, and be sure to proofread it several times to avoid any typos or mistakes.

Information to Include on your Party Invitations

When writing a party invitation, you will want to have the following order of information listed …

purpose of your invitation
name of the honoree
date
time
location
host name
rsvp
attire or registry information (optional)

Party Invitation Formatting

-All phrasing should be done in third person
Be consistent with the way your invitation is worded.  “Bill and Mary announce the birth of their son”, “Smith & Co. invites you to their annual event”.

-Skip end of line punctuation
A line-break in your text or a bit of space between lines indicates a pause in your text.  An invitation should never be punctuated with periods to separate “sentences”.

-Use inline commas
When combining two lines into one, use a comma.  “110 First Street, Irvine, California”

-Neglect to mention gift requests/kids
It is generally in bad taste to say “No kids allowed” or “no gifts please”.  It is best to use word of mouth to inform guests of these requests.
 

Writing Your Party Date

Formal Party Date

When writing a formal party date, the party date and year should be on separate lines, if possible.  Begin with the day of the week followed by the date, month and year on the following line. 

example:

Saturday, the tenth of November
Two thousand and fifteen

OR

Saturday, the tenth of November
two thousand and fifteen

*Note- Capitalizing the “T” in “Two thousand and fifteen” is a matter of personal preference for the host/hostess.  Also, you may list “and” when writing out the year or discard it – either is correct.

Informal Party Date

When writing the date on a casual invitation, it is acceptable to use numerical form, and most include the day of the week, to avoid any confusion regarding the party date.

example:

Saturday, November 10, 2013

OR

Saturday, November 10th

*Note- If you are following the date by the year, “th” should not be written after the date.  It should only be used when the year is not present.

Writing the Party Time

Time of Day - The below table details which time of day is considered morning/afternoon/evening

Morning                 12:00 AM –  11:59 AM
Afternoon              12:00 PM –    5:59 PM
Evening                    6:00 PM – 11:59 PM

Noon – When using the time of noon for your event, use any of the following: “12 o’clock”, “12:00 PM”, “12:00 p.m.” or “noon”.  “12 o’clock noon” or “12 noon” should not be used as these phrases are redundant.

Whole vs. Half Hours – If writing your time out formally, only whole and half hours are used.  In formal time, there is no “fifteen” or “one-quarter past”.

Examples:

3:00 PM
3:00 p.m.
3 o’clock
at three o’clock in the afternoon
Noon
12:00 PM
12:00 p.m.