Party Invitation Etiquette

For most of the people, the idea of sending a party invitation might seem completely effortless, as for them it does not require much attention. However, very few people realize that an invitation card is your first impression to the guest, to whom it is addressed. A loose word, here and there, in the invitation can ruin your image and your party; making you repent for the rest of your life. So, it is very necessary to know and follow the etiquettes for writing an invitation letter for your party. Read on to know more about party invitation etiquette.

Etiquette for Party Invitations

While writing an invitation, all phrasing should be mentioned in third person.
Punctuation such as commas, periods, colons, etc should not be used at the ends of lines. Commas can be used within lines, to separate the day from the date, the city from the state and a man's surname from any distinction etc.
Do no use any kind of abbreviations and mention everything clearly. Either spell out the full name or omit it. However, road, street, avenue, reverend, doctor and all military titles should be properly spelled out.
Remember that the day, date and time should be clearly spelled out.
Proper nouns should be capitalized, such as names of people and places, cities, states, name of the day of the week, month name, etc.
Some of the mandatory information to be included in the invitation comprises of name of host and hostess, date, time, year, purpose or the reason for celebration, Guest of Honor, location or venue and address.
If the event is a formal one, you may specify the dress code like ‘Black tie’, as a footnote at the bottom of the invitation.
Be consistent with your usage of British and American English. A good way to solve this problem is to use both for specific words, using the sign of ‘oblique’ (/).
Never write, ‘no children please’ on the invitation. If it’s a formal event and invites just the couple, write only Mrs. & Mr., whereas for a social event you can write ‘with family.’
Do not mention any expectation of gifts on the card. The slight exception to the strict rule is for shower invitations, where you can write the theme of the gifts.

How to Cite

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