How2Day: Ideas for Custom Invitations

Adding unique accessories to your invitations is a great way to customize them. Robert Kirk/Photodisc/Getty Images
Inviting people to a party can be a tedious task, especially chalking out the guest list. To ensure that word of your party does not get around before somebody on the list receives their invitation, you may want to make sure that you invite all the guests at the same time. Years ago, most of the invitations for a party were hand delivered until the postal age arrived and people began posting their invitations and hoping the postal service would deliver them to the recipients on time. In these cases an RSVP - or a request to respond or decline an invite - was extremely important as the response itself would ensure that each person on the list received their invitation. In the modern era, however, there are several more creative means of inviting people to parties.

In order to create handmade invitations, you'll need to make a trip to the craft store and conduct a bit of research to get some innovative ideas. For example, a plain note card can be jazzed up by punching two holes in the top and threading a piece of ribbon into the holes. You can either tie the ribbon into a bow or leave it as it is.

Another great idea is to add beads, trinkets, cut-out graphics and photographs to the cards. This will give the cards a very personalized look.

Photo invites can be customized by printing multiple pictures of the same, or different, poses. You can place the details of the party on the backside of the printed photograph, which will transform the picture into a postcard. You can also paste the picture onto chart paper and print the details on the side of the picture itself.

Send chocolate bars disguised as the invite by unwrapping the outer wrapping and removing it completely. Print out your party information and paste it onto the inside of the candy bar wrapper. Place the wrapper back on the candy bar and tape it closed. It's a good idea to hand deliver these invitations so the chocolate doesn't melt in the mailbox.

Record your invitation on cassette audio tapes or video DVDs and send them as invitations. Alternatively, you can send a singing telegram to all your guests, but this can be a bit pricey. If your guests are few in number, I recommend this option.

Match your invitations to that of your party theme. If you are having a party on the beach, send out the invitation cards wrapped inside a sea shell. Invitations for a pool party may be written onto cheap beach balls with a permanent marker. As with the chocolate bars, these are best delivered the old-fashioned way - by hand.

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