As we get older, there’s a few milestones that we never forget!  From the day we learned to drive at 16 to being able to vote at 18, drink at 21 or having our car insurance drop down in cost at 25…there was always an upcoming birthday milestone to look forward to.  And we all remember anxiously awaiting the day when we finally turned 21…when we’re finally legal to drink, (not that we’ve ever had anything to drink before that)!  Your 21st birthday party is a day you’re likely never to forget, so make sure it’s one for the books!

Some of our newest party invitations are perfect for setting the scene for a male’s 21st birthday, like these beer pong party invitations above.  I absolutely love this invitation with the blue grunge background and a pyramid of red drinking cups set up for beer pong.  It even has a white ping pong ball in the bottom right corner for your RSVP info.  It will completely take you back to the days of frat parties in the basement at the local fraternity with the old table made of a slab of splintery wood that you played flip cup and beer pong upon for hours on end…and it could be a great outdoor activity at your next laid back party.  Be sure to have the camera ready!

If you’re keeping your 21st birthday laid back, think about a night out at the local club or pub with all of your best friends, and the more friends and family you have coming, the better.  Be sure to have your ID handy and expect lots of free drinks!  Before you head out to the bars, ask your friends and family members to come over for a barbecue or dinner with family to celebrate your birthday.  Choose a 21st birthday party invitation that will set the scene for your birthday and the way you want to celebrate, like the ones shown below.  The invitations shown below feature two dark beers on ice melting in the sun, a whiskey-inspired liquor label invitation, a keg in the sunshine and a mod blue striped invitation full of wine and classy cocktails.  Choose the invitation that best matches your party style and remember, if you tap it, they will come!

Time to iron out all the kinks and prepare for your big day!  Nobody wants to be running around frantically ten minutes before the wedding ceremony trying to find all the bouquets, line up the bridal party and searching for the flower girl who just ran down the aisle ahead of time!  Weddings can be crazy, especially when it comes down to crunch time.  Be prepared for your wedding ceremony by hosting a rehearsal the day before you walk down the aisle.  You can set this up with your wedding venue or church ahead of time, and coordinate with your preacher or officiant to make sure everything will be perfect when it comes time to say your vows.

Since the bride’s family traditionally hosts the wedding, it is traditional for the groom’s family to host the rehearsal dinner, which is typically held directly after the church or ceremony venue rehearsal.  Your rehearsal dinner can be elegant and classy, similar to your wedding, or it can be fun, laid back and casual to help you relax and have fun before the big day ahead.  Keep in mind though, you never want to out-stage your wedding with your rehearsal dinner.  If your wedding is casual, keep the rehearsal dinner casual too.  Your rehearsal dinner invitations should not cost more than your wedding invites!

When planning your rehearsal dinner, you can keep it small with only inviting the wedding party and immediately families of the bride and groom, or you can be more elaborate with inviting most guests from the wedding or asking the out of town guests to attend, to give them a nice meal after they traveled so far for your special occasion.  Keep it to your budget and don’t bite off more than you can chew!  The wedding is the main focus!

Choose a theme for your rehearsal dinner and a rehearsal dinner invitation to set the scene.  Some of the most popular themes are barbecue, country & western, seafood boil, fiesta, Italian/Italy, tropical or more formal themes with classic damask pattern designs or sit-down dinner themes.  Be sure that no matter what theme you choose, your guests are able to tell the formality of your rehearsal dinner by the rehearsal dinner invitation you’ve chosen.  Nobody wants to show up to a barbecue themed rehearsal dinner in a suit, or a black-tie dinner wearing a pair of jeans and a polo!

Below are some of our most popular rehearsal dinner invitations that will help you invite your guests to the day before your big day!  Don’t be afraid to do something that doesn’t exactly match your wedding theme, colors or formality.  It’s a day of practice and relaxation before you take the fork in the road to your new life together as husband and wife!

Sometimes it’s fun to do things a little bit outside the box – and Halloween is the perfect time to host a party that is a bit, let’s just say…off the rocker?  Themed parties can be extremely fun to host and with Halloween being in the fall season, it gives you a lot of opportunity to host a unique party.  Even if dressing up for Halloween isn’t exactly your thing, you can still host a fall themed party to get your guests ready for the spooky season ahead.

The below party invitations are featured in our brand new Halloween party invitation collection and may spark an idea or two for hosting your own fall or Halloween party.  These party themes are certainly one-of-a-kind – the perfect type of party for your guests to never forget!

Murder Mystery Party Invitations - Care for a game of ‘who dunnit?’  Could it be your neighbor that you’ve always felt was a little too mysterious when he was digging up his garden?  Maybe it’s the family dog who always barks randomly – or your own husband or wife?  You never know at one of these parties!  Invite your friends over for a murder mystery party where each guest receives a character card as they arrive, which describes their character to portray for the evening.  One lucky guest may just be the person in question who is sadly murdering guests as they arrive.  Play out the entire show throughout dinner, and you may even want to let some guests in on the act so that they can keep the flow going throughout the party.  Coordinate your party with the fabulous invitation here on the left which features a white chalk drawing at a murder scene with yellow crime scene tape at the top – perfect!

Fortune Teller / Ouija Board Party Invitations – Take a look into my crystal ball!  Want to know the future, or contact someone from your past?  Halloween is a great time to host a fortune telling or ghost-contacting party that will raise the hairs on the back of your guests head!  This fabulously creative Ouija Board inspired invitation features a background that looks like the favorite game we all played at sleepovers as kids with an antique ivory and black background and sun and moon designs in the top corners.  Have a fortune teller make a preview at your fun party or see who can contact the most celebrities in an hour.  Just make sure you put the spirits to rest before heading home!

Formal Halloween Dinner Party Invitations – Ready to set the dinner scene for a spooky yet formal occasion?  Black tie can be extremely elegant, however when held during the Halloween season can seem a bit eerie.  Set the scene for your next dinner party with a slight horror theme with this Gothic invitation which features a black antique background with a scrolling skull design at the bottom.  A crisp white spider’s web adorns the top of the card with a spider hanging from a single web string about to make way into your invitation wording.  This classic, elegant and horrific invitation will let your guests know your event is formal, but also allow you to jazz up the evening with a little bit of traditional Halloween fright.  Serve up some creepy cocktails in a vintage dining room, and you’ve got the recipe for a perfect Halloween dinner party to die for!

Check out the entire Halloween party invitation collection at InvitationBox.com.  Let us warn you, your guests may be begging you to leave after attending your party!

Wedding season is well underway, and if you’re planning on ordering your wedding invitations, it may be time to start thinking about how you want to word your invitation text.  Every season we go through and see trends of etiquette questions and traditions that customers question and we typically notice some of the same common etiquette mistakes and I always like to share so that we can all be on the same page.

The whole purpose of writing your wedding invitation wording is to convey the pertinent information about your wedding details to your guests in a clear and concise manner.  Consistency is also very important – in other words, if your formally write your date on your invitation, your reply-by date should follow suit.  The lessons we learned back in grammar school will help you with writing your invitation wording properly, however proper invitation etiquette goes even a little bit beyond that.  Below are some great tips for you when writing your invitation wording…

-Write in 3rd person – You should never write your wedding invitation request in first person, (for example – Kate Taylor and Adam Reynolds invite you to join us at our wedding).    Instead it should be written as, “Kate Taylor and Adam Reynolds invite you to join them at their wedding.  If your parents are hosting, still keep everything in third person.

-Lower case letters – Similar to writing a college or school paper, you only want to capitalize proper nouns, (person/place), and the beginning of a sentence.  Therefore, typically only the first letter of your invitation is capitalized, as well as your names/location, etc.  For example, you would not want to capitalize “Request”, “Honor” or

“Presence”.  The first line of your invitation should be capitalized as, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith request the honor of your presence at the marriage of their daughter…” and so on.

-Write the date out - When writing out the date, start with the day of the week (Mon- Sun), followed by the date of the month and then year.  It should be written formally in two lines, the first line with the day of the week and date of the month, the second line being the year.  Numbers of the day should be written out, as well as the year.  Example: Sunday, the twenty-sixth of June Two thousand and eleven.

-Write the time out – When writing out the time on an invitation we actually use whole and half hours only.  Therefor, there is no ” thirty” in the time.  You would write half hours as “half past” or “half after”.  6:30 PM should read “at half past six in the evening” as opposed to “at six-thirty in the evening”.  Also, only use “o’clock” on whole hours.  You wouldn’t say “six-thirty o’clock”, (sounds funny when you think about it, doesn’t it?),  so you shouldn’t write it, either.

-Reception info – The traditional etiquette rules state that if your reception is at the same location as your ceremony, you’ll follow the ceremony address with “reception to follow”.  If your reception is at an alternate location from the ceremony, you would put that information on a separate reception card to be included with your invitation ensemble.  If your budget allows, that is the best way.  However, it is now acceptable, (and invitations are usually large enough), to accommodate your wedding and reception details on one card, thus eliminating the extra reception card, if necessary.

Hopefully the above information has helped you clear up any misconceptions or questions you may have about how to word your wedding invitation perfectly.  If you have any questions, please feel free to send them our way!  If we don’t know the answer, we’ll find it!

An invitation should really be just as fabulous as you are!  I have heard people say that an Invitation is just a piece of paper that people toss to the side with junk mail, but when you think about it, the sentiment behind an invitation is so much more!  An invitation sets the scene for your entire event.  It informs your guests of the special event you’re celebrating, lets them know the formality of the event and is a reflection of the party host and honoree.  There’s no reason why you should settle when planning your baby shower, bridal shower or birthday party invitations!

One of our newest vendors truly captures the modern woman and couples of the world – Doc Milo!  Doc Milo invitations feature chic, sassy and vibrant designs that actually look like you and showcase your individual, trendy personality!  Their newest release features baby shower invitations, bridal shower invitations, engagement party invitations and sweet 16 invitations capturing the life of today’s modern girl.  Think animal print, expecting mothers in vibrantly colored pumps, brides taking a moment to lounge in a gift-covered couch (shown top left corner), girls in black party dresses blowing out their candles and summer party invitations with outdoor bar scenes with posh friends.  No weddings, babies or children in your future?  Doc Milo also now has moving announcements, featuring one of my favorites – a “change of a dress” cards – which showcases a girl behind a changing station choosing the perfect little black dress in a chic boutique.

Below is a small preview of the brand new Doc Milo Invitation designs that were introduced to our website yesterday.  One of the best things about it is that they have included a variety of designs including blondes, brunettes and African Americans…because we all don’t look alike, so why should our invitation look like the girl down the street instead of the girl the party is actually for?  It shouldn’t!  And Doc Milo truly captures each girl for her unique personality, style and looks.  Enjoy!

Drill it. Nail it. Glue it.  Whatever way you need to fix it, he’ll be there by her side.  Bridal showers aren’t all about the bride anymore…they’re about the groom too!  Whether you have a couples shower or strictly a groom’s shower, it’s the popular thing to do for weddings nowadays.   Why did we ever consider leaving the groom out in the first place?

Typically known as a tool & garden couple’s shower, a honey-do shower, a his & hers shower or a tools shower, these types of showers are great for helping the bride and groom receive exactly what they need for their new life together…especially if the bride and groom are building a new home or fixing up an old home to make into their humble abode.  She’ll need garden tools to help decorate the yard and he’ll need hammers, tools, saws and a tool bench to work on the house or out in the garage.  Or, keep it simple with things he likes, (think grilling items and beer), and things she likes, (think wine, cooking utensils, linens and lingerie).  These types of showers also work great for the bride and groom that have a lot of joint friends that hang out normally as couples.  This way everyone is included and can attend the shower together, rather than excluding the men or women from the event.

Set the scene for your couples shower or tools shower with a posh invitation to coordinate!  Just as the themes for popular bridal showers evolve, so do our vendor’s designs!  We have some great new tool and garden shower invitation designs this summer that are sure to grab your guests attention!  And the great thing about them is that your guests won’t have any confusion about what items to buy for gifts with these detailed invites!  Choose from his things and her things buckets, garden themed invitations, tool themed invitations, borders scattered with things for him and her, cooking utensils, grilling items and scenes of the bride and groom.

Help the bride and groom to fix, mix and plant and check out some of our modern tool and garden shower invitations below…

Don’t worry, it’s not back to school time yet!  Although it is just about 2 months away, and if you’re one of the organized ones, you’re already planning out what school supplies you’ll need to purchase and which kids need new backpacks!

One of the back to school essentials that InvitationBox offers is kids personalized stickers.  They are great for tagging your children’s school books, folders, pencil cases, jackets and even book bags, so that everyone knows whose belongings they are, and they’ll be easy to recognize from afar.

Let your child’s personality shine through and let them choose which personalized sticker design is right for them!  We have a plethora of designs to choose from, themed from big-kids in kindergarten, all the way up through high school.  Choose from whimsical designs for little kids with dinosaurs, farm animals, fish, whales, bugs, safari animals, princess crowns, candy, guitars or cupcakes.  Or, choose a more mature and fun pattern for older kids like zebra animal print, stripes, polka dots, grunge themes, monogrammed initials, tropical palm trees, special-interest designs or zig-zags.  Our sticker designs are available in square or circle shapes, as well as die-cut stickers in the shape of your chosen animal sticker design.  Most sticker sets start between 48-60 pieces and prices are extremely affordable.

Personalize your child’s sticker with their name, classroom number, teacher’s name, phone number or a phrase like “This book belongs to…”.  These kids personalized stickers also work great for party favor tags or gift tags for birthdays in your child’s classroom throughout the year.  Personalize the sticker with “Happy Birthday!  Love, Kyla Morris” or a fun kid phrase.  You can also use them for classroom holidays on treats and favor bags from Valentine’s Day to Christmas, Hanukkah or Halloween.

Below are some of our most popular kids personalized stickers that will be the perfect gift for your child, just in time for the back-to-school season!

Moving can be a stressful time for anyone – whether you’re moving a family of six or a house of one!  There’s boxes to pack, belongings to sort, Grandma’ china to wrap that you’re paranoid to break and a moving team that works at an hourly rate who just took their third break in an hour!  Okay, so maybe moving is not THAT bad, (made you laugh, didn’t I??), but it can be a very hectic time for anyone!

A week or so before your move, you may want to consider shopping for and purchasing moving announcements.  Moving announcements can be sent a week or two prior to your move, all the way up to a month or so after you move.  The main purpose is to inform your family, friends, clients, neighbors and co-workers of your new residence and all of your new contact information.  Start your moving announcement by informing the reader who you are, (list your family member’s names), and that you’ve moved.  List your new address and any other information you’d like for the reader to have, including your new house phone number, cell phone numbers and email addresses.  Having all of your contact information together in one place is very handy for your recipient.  As they’ll likely refer to it often, you’ll want to make sure the moving announcement you choose is stylish, appropriate and reflects your moving location, should you be making a big move.   Our moving announcements feature skeleton key designs, moving trucks, boxes filled with belongings, state themes and house designs.

Ready to party after the boxes are unpacked?  We thought so!  Invite your friends and family members to come see your new pad with a housewarming party invitation to help you celebrate your new digs with your favorite people.  Choose a housewarming invitation with a digital photograph of your new house, a posh furniture design, a ‘we’ve moved’ moving sign, a city scape scene or a blueprint design of your new humble abode.  Ask your guests to come over for an open house to view your new home and serve up some cocktails or bbq while your guests join you for the day.  When you plan your housewarming party, make sure you’ve waited until all of your unpacking is finished so that you can have a stress-free party to really enjoy your new pad!

Take a look at some of our favorite housewarming party invitations and moving announcements below…

Who’s got the butter?!  If you’re from the south, the seafood boils and bakes tend to revolve around crabs, shrimp and crawfish – however if you are from the north, it’s all about this big vibrant invertebrate here on our left – the lobster!  Large, juicy and truly a delight, these fun creatures go great with a ton of butter, lemon juice, potatoes and corn – all the essentials you’ll see at a traditional lobster bake!

Lobster bakes are typically cooked over a large fire fit at the beach or they are done as a lobster boil in a large pot in a large back yard setting.  If going with the fire pit route, your food is cooked in layers with potatoes and onion wrapped in foil placed over seaweed, followed by a layer of corn on the cob and then the lobsters.  Some lobster bake chefs may even place clams on top of the lobster to create a bit of color contrast and variety.  Your lobsters will cook for about an hour, depending on the size and quantity of lobsters you have baking.  Be sure to keep your fire stoked and test to see if they are done by cracking a claw before you enjoy!

Lobster bakes are great for large family gatherings, be it a summer party, a retirement celebration or a family reunion.  They also work well for casual beach weddings, couples showers, corporate parties or adult summer birthday parties…nothing is better than having the entire family together with friends and neighbors at the shore with great seafood and beer.

Set the scene for your lobster bake party with a lobster bake invitation that will grab your guests’s attention by the claw!  Our lobster bake invitations feature giant lobster claws, picnic scenes, oceanic beach themes, overflowing seafood plates, northeast country scenes and seafood place settings.  One of my favorite cards, shown below, is the giant lobster claw invitation from Noteworthy Collections which features a hinge at the bottom which looks like it might just take off a finger or two!  We also carry lobster themed stickers which will go great for envelope seals or party favors if you’re having a shower or a wedding.

Add some spice to your next party with a lobster bake out by the sea!  Below are some of our favorite lobster bake party invitations which will truly make your mouth water!!!

Father’s Day is just 2 days away!  He’s your Mr. fix-it, your handy helper, your office worker, your boo-boo fixer-upper and your kids sports coach, and he never misses a beat.  Whether you’re planning breakfast in bed, a yardwork free day, a special dinner with the kids or an all day golf outing, make sure this Father’s Day is extra-special for the special man in your life!  He could be your child’s father, your own father, your grandfather or the old man who lives in the apartment next door to you – whoever he is, let him know he is loved, special and appreciated on this very special day, this Sunday!

With all this talk about father’s day, I felt it appropriate to do a golfing blog today, which I know so many dads out there love!  There’s just something about a day out on the green with your buddies, kicking back and relaxing in the golf cart with a couple of beers, a cigar or two and 18 holes to play par, (hopefully).

The next time you’re planning a party for the man in your life, consider a golf themed party.  Golf themed events are great for corporate parties, which will help build teamwork and client relations.  Set the scene for an adult birthday party with a golf outing all day and a night downtown upon return.  Need to stir things up a bit?  Invite your groomsmen for a day at the golf course as your bachelor party, following a crazy night out with the boys.

Set the scene for your golf party with a golf invitation that’s up to par.  From golf greens to golfer silhouettes, golf club and ball designs or country club signs, there’s a little something for every golf fanatic, whether he’s just teeing off or about to go pro.  Got a girl in the family who’s an avid golfer?  We also have girl themed golfing invitations with pink and white golf bag and ball silhouettes or pink and blue golf carts.  Who says a girl can’t take a swing?

Get sporty and become the pro at your next party with a golfing invitation that will set the green scene for your next event…