Garden Invitation Cards

Types of Themes for Parties

All spring you have been planting, weeding, and adding to the landscape to make your garden look nice. Now is the time to invite some friends and have an afternoon or evening of entertainment. Your garden will be the focal point, whether you have an outdoor area complete with lush greenery and flower beds teeming with bright roses and irises or a small selection of brightly-colored blooms.

Your first decision will be to determine what kind of party you wish to have in your garden. Parties held in the garden can be simple or elegant. What types of garden parties can you choose from? Some of the parties you could host in your garden include:

• Afternoon Tea Party
• Jazz Music Party
• Dinner Party
• 50s Music Party
• Luncheon
• Birthday Party
• Hat Party
• Beach-themed Party
• Wine and Cheese Party
• Mexican Fiesta
• Dessert Party
• Family Reunion

Choosing Invitations

Garden invitation cards come in all shapes and sizes. You want your invitation to reflect the theme and mood of the party you plan to have. If the event is an afternoon tea for women, a floral design will be appropriate. A drawing or picture of a tea cup will also be nice. If the theme is a music party, search for invitations with a musical instrument or ones in the shape of a piano or guitar. Other invitation ideas include:

• Painting of a tree or flower
• Nature scene
• Pictures of featured food
• Creating your own with stencils or rubber stamps

Tables and tablecloths can be rented.

Where to Get Invitations

Your local party store may have a selection of invitations. The Internet is also a good source for finding what you are looking for. Some places to look include:

• Crane and Company
• Invitation Box
• Party Supply Stores

The price range of the invitations will depend on the quality of paper or card stock and envelopes used to print the invitations.

If you decide to have your invites tailor-made or custom-made at a local stationery store, expect to pay more. Make sure that you have viewed samples of what a particular printer offers, so you will be pleased with the final product. Be sure to get a few people to edit the invitation before it is printed. Typos can be avoided if time is taken to proofread well.

Evite

A wine and cheese party is simple and enjoyable.

Evite is a free and easy way to send invitations to those on your list. You can go to their web site and choose any invitation and send it via email. Those on your guest list can RSVP electronically so you will know who can and cannot make it. Of course, in order to use this form of invitation, you will have to have all of your invitees' email addresses. The downside to this method is if you have friends you want to invite who do not have email access, you will also have to purchase a few traditional invitations.

When to Send Garden Invitation Cards

People need time to plan. While calling a few friends to come over for pizza on the spur of the moment is an acceptable invitation, formal events need more time to prepare and for the guests to adjust their schedules. Typically, the time frame for sending out invitations in the mail is three weeks in advance. So that you as the host will know how many are able to come to the event, some invitations have RSVP cards for guests to check whether or not they can be there and then send back to you. You can also provide an email address for the invitees to use or a phone number to call to respond.

Have Fun!

Enjoy planning for your party and sending out the invitations. Here's to a successful and fun event!