Intriguing Invitations

An important part of the event organisation is communication. The first piece of communication may be the invitation. Setting the mood before the event day gives more impact and generates excitement when the day arrives.

START WITH THE PACKAGING
The packaging is the first presentation of your invitation. It is important to ensure that the invite for your event or meeting is not going to be perceived as junk mail. Keeping your budget in tag, check options in using different paper (of good quality), creative colour combinations, tasteful embossing, die-cuts and stampings.

Apart from the materials used, the design (layout, font type, the style and the shape) should also complement the type of event or meeting that you are organising. Choose upscale invitation that is neither glitzy nor overstated. Little details can make an invitation stand out.

Explore with envelopes that different shapes and colours, or those made of thick paper stock, and each opens like a flower to reveal the invitation, a map, tickets to the event or a reply card.

CREATE YOUR INVITATIONS
As mentioned, an invitation is the perfect platform to set the tone of an event and energise your guests and create “anticipation” for events. Spend some time on grinding the creative juices to create related elements to your event theme or concept.

E.g. A beach party invitation printed on an inflatable beach ball… A sea shell in a boxed invitation, even better, complete with some white sand…

Be unusual. The objective of an invitation is not only to inform about your event, but also to generate the positive response of your guests wanting to attend your event and to talk about it. Personalise your invitation as much as possible, from handwriting names and signing them off, to personalising any gift that are sent together with the invitation.

Introduce participation with the invitations. You can design invitation cards that can be folded into different shapes for display, or to discover the invitation message. The more “hands-on” your invitation can get your guests going, the more they will be involved and excited about your event.

Buzz content is just as crucial. Apart from the nice design and layout, the content to be read should trigger the positive response as well. Play with words that rhyme, phrases that have puns… But be sure to get the message across in the most concise and eye-appealing manner. So often, people make the mistakes of putting too much text and information on the invitation.

Remember these tips when preparing your great invitations:
– Always allow extra time for foreign mailings.
– Avoid using mailing labels. If possible, print directly onto the envelopes.
– Always weigh an assembled invitation at the post office to determine postage.
– For a corporate event, listing a website address on the invitation where people can download a registration form or an RSVP is effective.
– Keep it simple when using a response form; it should not be any bigger than a fold-over response card.