How Far in Advance Should You Send Party Invitations?
February 22, 2008 by Deborah Ng
Filed under Party Etiquette
Today I’d like to feature an email from a regular reader.
Dear Deborah,
How far in advance should I send out party invitations. I want to give people enough time to plan, but don’t want to send it so early they forget about it.
Thank you for your answer,
Lisa M.
Hi Lisa,
Party invitations for informal events like birthday parties or barbecues should be sent out a month to three weeks in advance. For little kids, two weeks is fine. For weddings, anniversary parties and more formal events, six to eight weeks is the norm.
Thanks for writing!
Deborah
If you have a question regarding parties feel free to send it to deborah.ng@b5media.com and I’ll be happy to answer it to the best of my ability.Or we can put it out for discussion among our readers!
Image via Baby Alexandria
I think in today’s busy world though, two weeks is often not enough, even for a kids party.
How long should a children’s party last? I have recently been to family parties that drag on for hours, resulting in the kids being a MESS.
My rule of thumb is always in and out but they seem to want to linger, as if it more of a party for the adults than the kids.
I am the trend-setter in my group, 3 weeks invites out, 1 week before party for RSVP. I’ve gotten party invitations 3 days before a child’s party, and it rankled my hide. I don’t know if we were a last minute invite, but it hurts my kid’s feelings when things come in too late to schedule.