Chinese New Year Invitations

Buying Chinese New Year Invitations

Chinese New Year invitations are still a bit of a niche product, and you may have difficulty finding prepackaged cards. As greeting card companies diversify their lines, consumers can expect to find more options in the future. In addition, the larger the number of people of Chinese descent who live in your community the greater your chances of finding Chinese New Year cards locally.

However, there are several online retailers offering Chinese invitations. If you broaden your search to include general cards for the New Year and Chinese-themed stationary, you'll find even more options. Some of the sites include:

• AsianIdeas.com sells Chinese dress cards, Chinese Shou invitations, Longevity Dragon invites, and red bamboo-themed stationery. They also sell Japanese-inspired floral invitations if you're seeking a more generic Asian look in your cards.
• Plum Party Supplies & Favors offers a Chinese take-out inspired design.
• China Sprout carries a basic Chinese theme invitation.
• Char4u.com specializes in paper goods featuring Chinese symbols, including Chinese New Year cards and general invites.

Online Options

While traditional greeting card companies are still catching on to the appeal of Chinese New Year-themed goods, online card sites offer dozens of choices. For instance, 123Greetings offers two invitations along with numerous Chinese New Year ecards that could easily be personalized to include party details. These online cards feature animation, music, and cute versions of the year's animal. If you prefer to send Evite invitations, the site also offers a small selection of Chinese New Year invitations. In addition to the fun accents online cards allow you to add to your message, they are also free; a fact any budget-conscious party planners are sure to appreciate.

Homemade Designs

Of course, the best way to get exactly the design you want is to make your own custom invitations. Crafters can use rubber stamps or scrapbooking techniques to create unique cards. Kids can get involved with construction paper and markers. The most popular choice will be to use a desktop publishing or card-making program to design your own invitations on your computer.

Traditional Symbols

To create homemade invites, you'll want to include some traditional symbols of the holiday in your design. The following images are usually associated with Chinese New Year:

• Animals – Each year is designated the Year of the ______. Whether it's the Year of the Rat or the Year of the Boar, the appropriate animal will add to the authenticity of your theme.
• Paper lanterns – The Lantern Festival concludes each year's celebration.
• Chinese characters – The Chinese writing system is a distinctive facet of the country's culture. A single character can create a striking accent on a party invite. However, if you're making your own cards, make sure you know the meaning of the character you're using. Theme-appropriate characters would be related to luck, health, and prosperity.
• Red envelopes – These packets containing cash are passed out during New Year celebrations.
• Blooming plants – Flourishing plants and flowers symbolize new life and growth.
• Dragons – The dragon is another important symbol of good luck and strength.
• The color red – Beyond the tradition of the red envelopes, red is considered a lucky color, and it is prominently featured in Chinese New Year decorations.
• Fireworks – Fireworks are an essential part of traditional Chinese New Year festivities.

You may want to use these popular images to create a card in a fun cut-out shape. You can also use clip art pictures as accents, or if you have children, they may enjoy drawing pictures to add to the invites.

No matter what style of invite you choose, if your card brings together family and friends for an evening of fun, it will have served its purpose well.