invitations

When planning a party, be it a wedding, baby shower, or milestone birthday, the question "who should I invite from work?" is one that should be answered diplomatically. While it would be easy to say, "invite everyone you work closely with," this is simply not realistic. There are, inevitably, people from your office who you are actually friends with, and others who you are merely friendly with. How do you invite some to your big day without offending the others? Read on for my office invitation etiquette tips.

Even if you're bucking most of the traditions, wedding etiquette can't be ignored — especially when it comes to the invitations. With the potential for hurt feelings, unintended insults, and misunderstandings, what should be a joyous celebration can turn into a high-heel-trafficked minefield.

But that doesn't mean you have to be all Emily Post about it. I've rounded up some of the essential invite-related advice from Emily Post's wedding etiquette and offered my take. Feel free to chime in with your two cents too.

Inviting Sig-Os

• Emily Post says: "Partners of invited guests must be included in a wedding invitation. This includes couples who are married, engaged, or living together."
• TrésSugar says: I also have friends who are in long-term relationships but aren't living with their sig-os. In that case, I think the partners are also a must-invite. It might also help to define what "long-term" means (six months?) for you — especially if you're trying to keep the guest list small. Whether the partners get their own invitation or simply get included on your friend's invitation all depends . . .

How to Invite Couples

• Emily Post says: "A single invitation addressed to both members of a married couple, or a couple who live together, is sent to their shared address, while invitations to an engaged or long-standing couple who don’t live together are sent separately, to each address."
• TrésSugar says: I think if one member of the couple is a very good friend, and her partner is someone you wouldn't invite to the wedding otherwise, you should just address the invitation to your friend and list her partner's name as well. On the off chance they break up before the wedding, you don't want the ex-boyfriend showing up thinking he got his own invite.

For more modern etiquette, read more

If your unique save the dates make a splash with your guests, then you need to one-up yourself with an amazing wedding invitation. Take this creative example: it's actually a record player wedding invite! Talk about a transformer! Crafted with some paper (obviously), yarn, a needle, a flexidisc record, and some serious ingenuity, this record player invite would be the perfect fit for any musically inclined couple. Check it out in the video below!

Paper Record Player from kellianderson on Vimeo.

Some Halloween fright may be waiting in your inbox! Whether mama has decided to go green, or she just didn't get it together in time to mail out traditional invites, online invitations are one way to get your invitation out quickly. The Evite idea has received a 2010 makeover and now could easily be mistaken for its paper counterparts. Here are a few electronic options that will have your invitees RSVPing in no time.

• Amy Atlas for Cocodot: Like everything Amy Atlas puts her hands on, this collection of online Halloween party invitations, photo cards, and thank you notes is high on style. With both traditional and modern patterns backing them up, the lavender and blue collections are a welcome change from the traditional orange and black (pictured above).
• LilSugar for Pingg: Our sweet and spooky original designs for Pingg allow party-throwing moms to send out invites and reminders via email, SMS, and Facebook.
• Punchbowl: These free kid-friendly invitations come with party-planning advice and links for vendors in the party-giver's area.
• Paperless Post: These lifelike online invitations have the look and feel of letterpress invitations without the cost (and impact on the environment) of the real thing. Their Halloween collection includes plenty of candy-filled greetings that the kids will want to gobble up!

At some point in their lives, most women will host a bachelorette party or bridal shower for their sister or best friend. To help those ladies who are planning one this year (I am! I'm throwing my first bridal shower and I plan to share all the details here), we've created a bunch of downloadable invites. They are free and all you have to do is download the invite, print it on cardstock, fill in the details, and send! We've got two designs for a bachelorette and three choices for the bridal shower. To check them out and download them now, read more