What to write on the invitation
Lines you can copy, adapt and send. Each page covers the awkward parts too: asking about allergies, handling plus-ones, naming a budget, saying no gifts without sounding stiff.
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Baby shower invitation wording
Seven wordings to paste and edit, then the individual sentences hosts get stuck on: the registry, the book request, the video call, and the second-baby shower..
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Birthday invitation wording
Seven wordings below, each one ready to paste and edit.
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Friendsgiving invite wording
Eight invites in different tones, then the sentences for the parts friends argue about: who pays, who brings what, who gets a plus-one..
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Secret Santa gifts under $25
Twenty-five is the limit most groups land on.
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New Year's Eve invitation wording
Eight wordings to copy, and the exact phrasing for the four lines people struggle with: midnight, bottles, late arrivals, and where everyone sleeps..
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Secret Santa wishlist ideas
A wishlist is a brief for a stranger with a budget and forty minutes.
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What to write in a Christmas party invitation
Eight invitations you can paste and edit, plus the exact sentences for a dress code, a gift limit, an end time and an adults-only evening..
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What to write in a Thanksgiving invitation
Eight invitations you can paste and change the names in, and the exact sentences for the awkward parts: timing, allergies, plus-ones, and asking people to bring something..
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White elephant gift ideas
Why one gift moves three times and another sits untouched, plus 20 categories that work at any limit..
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White elephant gifts under $10
Sixteen categories where ten dollars buys the good version, and the trick that stops a cheap gift looking cheap..
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White elephant gifts under $20
Twenty is the limit most groups land on.
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White elephant gifts under $50
At fifty dollars the funny gift stops working as an excuse.
How to use these lines
Take one, change the names and the address, and delete anything that is not true. The most common mistake is keeping a cute line that does not say when to arrive. Guests forgive a plain invitation; they do not forgive one that made them guess.
Each page covers the awkward asks as well as the pretty opening line: how to request a dietary note without making a thing of it, how to say no gifts, how to put a number on plus-ones, how to name a budget for a gift exchange, and how to ask for a reply by a date without nagging.
The five things every invitation has to say
Everything else is decoration. If one of these is missing somebody will message you about it.
- What it is, in three words a guest can repeat to their partner.
- The date, the day of the week, and the start time with a time zone.
- Where, with a map link if the address is at all ambiguous.
- What to bring, or plainly that there is nothing to bring.
- When you need to know by, and that one tap is the whole reply.
Writing the awkward parts
Three asks make people rewrite an invitation four times: money, food and children. Each one has a plain version that works, and the plain version is almost always shorter than the apologetic one.
For money, name the number rather than the feeling: "There is a 25 limit on gifts" ends the question, while "nothing expensive please" starts six private messages asking what counts as expensive. For food, ask once in the invitation rather than chasing people later: "Tell me in the reply box if there is anything you cannot eat" collects the answers in the same place as the headcount. For children, say which way it goes in the first two lines, because a parent who reads to the bottom before finding out is already annoyed.
The same rule covers the end time, the parking, the dress code and whether there is food or only snacks. Write the sentence you are avoiding, put it near the top, and the invitation stops generating work.