Birthday Invitations
Many people who are wanting to throw a party give little thought to the invitations. They may pick up a bargain package of invitations at the Dollar Tree, scrawl in the necessary information, and mail them to the people they have on the guest list.
Yet if one is wanting to throw a first-class party, treating the invitations as an afterthought is a mistake. People are forming opinions of the party as soon as they catch a glimpse of the invitation. If one does not take the time to send out professional-looking invitations, many people will not take the party seriously. If their schedules are crowded, they may not make attending the party a priority.
Birthday invitations need not be formal to communicate to invitees that the party has been well-planned. They simply need to match the theme of the party. 
Invitations to a child’s birthday party should communicate that the party will be fun and interesting. Children’s party invitations are simple to create. Any scrapbooking or hobby store has paper, stickers, embellishments, and envelopes that can be used to customize the invitations. Printing the party information on pieces of cardstock using a word processing program on one’s home computer can make the invitations look more professional. Then one can mount the cardstock on coordinating patterned paper, or glue-stick the printed cardstock pieces inside a ready-made card.
For a sweet-sixteen birthday party, one might want to consider making the invitations be a little more formal. Formal invitations generally are simple but classy. One would want to use a fancy font in printing them and a high-quality paper or cardstock. One also may want to include pre-addressed, stamped envelopes with RSVP cards to ensure an accurate headcount for the party. One must be sure to include suggested modes of dress for attending the party.
Some people have photo invitations printed up for birthday parties. These people feature a photo of the guest of honor. If one is planning an adult birthday party, it might be a fun idea to include photos of the guest of honor as an infant, toddler, or child along with some current pictures. [http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-invitations] Many companies online have tutorials to walk the customer through the process of creating customized photo invitations with ease. The invitations are then delivered to the client through the postal service.
Birthday party invitations need not be complicated or expensive. One should start six to eight weeks before the party date, planning and gathering addresses. Mail the invitations far enough in advance that people can mark their calenders, but not so far ahead of time that they forget about it over the course of several weeks. Generally one can send out invitations 3-4 weeks ahead of time and have a great turnout to the party.
Party invitations communicate so much about the party, so give great thought as to how they look and what information they include
