Despite living in the age of digitalization, curiously, many people, perhaps most, still give preference to physical invitation letters for some events, such as weddings. When you hold a real letter in your hands, many find that the feelings you get are not truly transferable or comparable to those you get when receiving an email. Some people order special paper for their event invitations, they choose unique fonts, select various floral or other elements to decorate the invitations, just to name a few things. Of course, memorable events don’t happen every day, but today many of the invitations for them are handled online and with online resources. Whatever the form that a letter is sent, it has rules for writing, structure, and its own unique requirements, depending on its level of formality. Be it a physical or digital invitation letter, typically the moment before an important event arrives, people run to Google with the query “how to write a letter of invitation.” The rules for the text typically remain the same regardless of form. If you’re taking the time to put together an invitation letter for a special event, you most likely want it to be written correctly. Imagine spending a great deal of money to create the perfect event and the thing that sticks in people’s minds is that silly typo or weird wording on the invitation letter? The impression that your event gives can be spoiled even before it begins if the invitation is miswritten.
What is an invitation letter, and what is its structure?
Unsurprisingly, an invitation letter is a letter written with the purpose of inviting people to a particular event. It communicates any of the requirements for the event, such as the dress code. It provides guests with special information about the event – be it concerning parking or reservations. Invitation letters can help event hosts determine important information, like the number of guests that plan to attend so that hosts don’t overpay for things like room and equipment rentals, or dinner servings. The letter of invitation helps the host(s) of an event manage their event better, giving them the opportunity to make adjustments to their planning. An invitation letter can be written for all sorts of different events, be they weddings, presentations, birthdays, anniversaries, song releases, or more.
There are two basic types of invitation letters – formal and informal. Formal invitation letters are intended for formal occasions such as graduations, business events, or formal parties. Informal invitation letters can also be written to friends or relatives for events such as dinners, parties, or other, more casual, meetings. These arrangements, having few requirements, are created and held within a circle of friends and close acquaintances.
Details on how to write an invitation letter
To write anything, you need to know and understand its structure and follow it clearly. Such is the case with letters of invitation. An invitation letter’s core elements are quite simple. Let’s look at some of these elements.
- If you are writing an email, be sure to write a subject in the appropriate line before sending it; this will help keep your email from getting lost in the spam folder or inadvertently being deleted by its intended recipient. Marketers around the world know that an email won’t grab the attention it deserves without a subject in the subject line. What should be written there? Everything should be straightforward, and the subject line should capture the essence of your event; for example, if you have a meeting of dog lovers that takes place once a month, it will look something like this: “Dog Lovers’ Meeting March 2022.” If you want to be more formal with your invitation letter, you might be a bit more precise, for example, if the name of your dog lovers’ group is “Sunny” – then you might write “Sunny Meeting – March 2022” in the subject line.
- Add your letterhead. If you are writing a formal letter of invitation, you should keep with your company’s style or with your brand. Add the letterhead to the beginning of the letter. It can be your logo, a slogan, or some other form of marking that indicates the company affiliation. We all receive emails from different companies or perhaps bloggers.A letterhead helps us to prioritize the important emails and filter out the unimportant ones without having to spend too much time going through the emails.
- Include your address or the address of your organization. While this is unnecessary with informal letters, After adding the letterhead, the first thing that’s included in formal letters of invitation is the sender’s address. This is a crucial step because this will be the address that guests will use to send their responses and confirmations. While it may seem obvious, if you are sending a physical invitation and forget to indicate their address in which you’d like to receive replies, people will not be able to respond to you and you will have no idea how many guests will be attending your event.
- Once you’ve included a letterhead and an address (in the case of a formal invitation letter) you should include the approximate date that you sent out the letter particularly if you don’t specifically mention the date of your event. Your letter could get lost somewhere in the bowels of the internet or be discovered in a pile of emails some time later. Perhaps the invitation’s recipient lacks the technical savvy to check the receipt date.. If your invitation says that the event is “next Sunday,” a person discovering the email late could become confused. You can write the date in any format, such as 01/15/2022 or March 9, 2022; whichever you like best.
- There is an unspoken rule to always start a letter with a greeting. For a formal invitation letter you could write “Dear Madam/Sir” if you don’t know the name of the recipient. Otherwise, start with a greeting and add a first and last name, such as “Dear Mary Schwartz.” Personalization adds value to an invitation letter. When we are addressed by name, we automatically become more open to perceiving the information we are about to receive.
- The next step is to write the invitation letter. You can begin with nice phrases like:
- We are happy to welcome you…
- Our organization will be glad to have you as a guest…
- We will be delighted if you come…
- On behalf of our company, we welcome you…
Phrases like these at the beginning of a formal invitе letter show your respect for the person you are sending an invitation to. Once you’ve written your introductory welcome phrase, clearly state the purpose of the upcoming event in the first paragraph of your letter.
Mention the vital details, such as the date, the time, and the venue, in the first paragraph of the invitation. This information should be made known at the very beginning of the letter. It should be easy for the person you decide to invite to find these essential details without rereading the entire letter.
The next thing you will need to write is the main event. It would be best to describe the purpose of the event, making it clear why the person you’re addressing should attend.
In a formal invite letter, if there is a program of events, it could be useful to highlight these in the text. If special guests will be participating in the event, also consider mentioning them, as the guests may be people that the person you’re inviting is interested in seeing or hearing.
You can write any requirements or wishes that you have pertaining to the guests’ obligations. For example:
- Guests may need to register.
- Perhaps guests should bring a copy of the invitation with them to the event.
- They may be required to bring a gift, a dish they cooked, or proof of identity with them.
- Perhaps the event requires a certain dress code, such as warm clothes, a costume, or formal wear.
You can write whatever you want within reason if you send an informal invitation letter to your friends inviting them to an event. For example, if your event typically would involve guests bringing flowers but you don’t see the need for it, you might write something like, “Cash will be gratefully accepted in lieu of flowers.”
These elements make up the main text of the letter. That said, there are a few more details to include.
- The reason why the event was created.
- The place where everything will take place.
- The date on which the event scheduled.
- The time that guests should arrive.
- A listing of the program of events.
- A Request for Response or RSVP.
- You might also include a map marking the location of the event.
- Bring the letter to its logical conclusion. Write about how grateful you are to the recipient for reading your invitation and indicate that you look forward to seeing them at the event.
If you need the guest to confirm their presence via email or by filling out a form, specify the deadline you want the guest to provide you with this information.
After writing the invitation letter, if you didn’t already include it as part of the letterhead, be sure to include your contact details (email, phone number, etc.), that way your invitees can respond to your invitation and contact you with any questions regarding the event.
Examples of how to write a invitation letter
To make it easier for you to follow the structure of the invitation letter, you can refer to the following examples:
An example of a formal invitation letter.
Dear Mr. Scott,
On behalf of Visa and its partners, I am pleased to invite you to present your new products at the [tradeshow event]. It would be an honor to have you as our guest.
The event will take place on Wednesday, March 9, at Olymp Plaza. The guest list is to include Hollywood celebrities and world-famous performers. The event will be officially opened by actors Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry of the well-known television series “Friends.”
The program is as follows:
5:00 pm: Opening ceremony
6:00 pm: Rihanna performance
7:00 pm: New product presentations
8:00pm: Secret artist performance
9:00 pm: Closing of the presentation
Additional Information:
• You have the option to bring an escort with you
• Requires clothes in a pastel palette
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Stan Bukowski
An example of an informal invitation letter.
Dear Lily,
I wanted to reach out to you and let you know that I’ll be hosting a surprise birthday party for our dear friend Tracy at the Arizona Club on June 8 and I would be thrilled if you could come!The guest list will of course include some of the hottest names in Malibu, not to mention the entire cast of Riverdale. And guests what! The party will be led by a secret host. You’ll only find out who it is you attend! 😉
Additional Information:
Please fill out the attached form and let me know what time you can arrive and if you have any special dietary requirements.
You can take one person with you.
Also, and this is important, please be sure to bring a funny hat with you for photos! You know how much Tracy loves hats and if everyone wears a unique hat it will really make the event special for her!.
With love,
Star Jones
Who can help me with my invitation letter?
Generally, invitation letters are not the most difficult of texts to write. Still, some types of invitation letters can be very stressful, especially formal invitations. Whatever your unique situation may be, a professional writing service can help you to get a unique and well-written letter written according to all of your requirements. Our service employs educated authors who have written all sorts of invitation letters. If you are stressed about getting your invitation letter written correctly, if you have a lot of work to do, or if you’re too busy taking care of your family or raising children to spend a lot of time working on an invitation letter, you can always turn to professionals to do it for you. Turning to our writing service, you will get a high-quality invitation letter, a guarantee of originality, money-back guarantees in the event you’re not satisfied with the work, true professionalism, plagiarism checking, and, of course,24/7 support from our customer service managers. What’s more, the price for our services are quite reasonable, especially the more in advance you place your orders. Whatever the reason, if you’re struggling with writing, feel free to delegate your invitation letter to our professionals.
