One of the most important parts of throwing a baby shower is the invitations. Without these, then there would be no guests. Many problems can arise from not handling the invitations correctly. Not only can they be mistyped, misaddressed, but also a handful of other things can go wrong with them. What if you don’t send out enough? What if you sent out too many? The slightest thing can throw off your baby shower planning.
Invitations normally are sent out 8 weeks before the shower is to be held. This will give your guests enough time to make sure it is in their schedule. By the time you make the invitations, the following things should already be decided: time and date of the shower, location and theme. Once you know these things, it is time to develop the invitations.
One of the most important things in sending out the invitations is that you need to know how many people are invited. Make sure to write down your guest list and number it. Double check it and make sure that you didn’t leave anyone out. I know this may seem like an obvious step, but planning a shower can be very hectic and you don’t want to accidentally overlook anything. Once you have the number of people to invite order or make your invitations. I would recommend ordering around 5-10 extra ones for just in case. When getting the invitations make sure that you order thank you cards at the same time so you can have matching ones. This will help to keep a consistent theme and ensure that you have them for later.
What Every Invitation Needs:
The Specifics: Date, Time, Location, Telephone Number, E-mail Address and any other particulars that pertain to the shower. These would be such things as a gift registry, if it’s a couples shower or woman’s only shower, or if there is a theme.
The RSVP: If you would like the RSVPs to be mailed back to you be sure to include a separate card and envelope to be mailed back. On the separate card make sure to have boxes marked “will attend” or “won’t attend”. If you are okay with just receiving a call or an e-mail, just be sure to include that information. Be sure to add what day you want the RSVPs to be returned by.
Directions: It is always a good idea to provide step-by-step directions with a nicely detailed map. Include your phone number or cell phone number to the top of the directions along with the address of the baby shower, so the guests can contact you in case they get lost.