Birthday party invitations

How far ahead to send

Two to three weeks for a casual night out, four to six if it is a milestone and people may need to travel or book a sitter. Milestone birthdays are the ones where a proper card earns its keep — people treat a designed invitation as a firmer commitment than a message in a thread.

Details worth spelling out

Start time and whether food is involved, because "7pm drinks" and "7pm dinner" ask different things of a guest. Add the dress code if there is one, the nearest transport or parking note, and a line about gifts if you would rather people did not bring any. The RSVP message field catches dietary notes without a second round of messages.

Can guests bring someone?

Guests set a party size when they RSVP, so plus-ones show up in your total automatically. If you would rather they did not, say so on the card.

Is the invitation link public?

It is unlisted, not private: it will not be indexed by search engines, but anyone who has the link can open it. Share it the way you would share a photo album link.