Invitation templates / Birthday invitations
The Society Gazette: a birthday invitation template
The invitation is a Regency society paper printed for one debutante: letterpress on laid paper, her name struck in fat-face type, and every part of the ball reported in the columns.
The design
Opens on a fresh sheet of laid paper as an ink roller passes across it and the masthead of The Society Gazette, Vol. XVIII (her age), inks in behind it; after a held beat her name is struck in fat-face type under "The Debutante of the Season", beside her portrait printed as an engraved plate with a quizzing glass resting on it (drag it over the engraving to see her in colour). Inside, everything is a column of the paper: the details as a boxed public notice, the evening as a playbill order, the court as Fashionable Intelligence, the 18 Roses as the gentlemen who have secured a dance, the 18 Candles as the Illuminations (an engraved Bath crescent whose windows the guest lights one by one), the 18 Treasures as small advertisements, the bills as subscriptions received, the shots as the toasts of the town, the parents' message as a letter to the editor, the dress code as a hand-coloured fashion plate, the photos as engravings and the FAQ as On Dit, the gossip column of our own Lady Asterisk. To reply, the guest leaves a calling card: it arrives with the corner turned down and the Gazette stamps it received.
Colours and type
The Society Gazette comes in 3 colourways: Morning edition: laid paper & printer's red, Evening edition: navy & gilt and Spring edition: rose madder & sage, with 2 type pairings: Abril Fatface & IM Fell and Ultra & Old Standard. The colours and type change in the editor at any time; the layout stays its own.
Who it suits
Made for debut, in the Themed style.
What is included
An invitation website with the party's details and place, your photos, a song if you want one, and the RSVP with the number of adults and children coming. You write your own words and add your photos in the live editor, send every guest a personal link by email or any messaging app, and follow the replies as they come in. Free for up to 20 guests, with the full design.
More birthday templates
- Salon Privé: A milestone birthday as a private casino night: a deck of playing cards with the birthday person as the Queen of Hearts and the age as the card's value, a roulette wheel for the evening's order of play, and chips to place your bet.
- Darkroom Contact Sheet: A milestone birthday developed in a photographer's darkroom: the safelight clicks on, a red grease pencil circles the frame on the contact sheet, and the birthday portrait comes up in the developer tray.
- Fight Night Poster: A milestone birthday billed as a vintage title fight: the birthday person versus the age, set in letterpress wood type, with the tale of the tape, the undercard and ringside tickets.
- The Members' Scorecard: A milestone birthday printed as a heritage golf club's scorecard: the flag is planted, the ball is putted into the cup, and the pencil writes the age in the score box.
- Grand Tour Passport: A milestone birthday issued as a passport of the guest of honour's own republic: the cover swings open to the data page, every section is a visa page with real ink stamps, and the reply earns your entry stamp.
- The Speakeasy: The invitation is a hidden 1920s bar named for the guest of honour: knock the secret knock at a door with no sign, whisper the password, and read the night from the house's leather cocktail menu.
- The Birthday Arcana: A milestone birthday as a tarot reading on a velvet cloth: the birthday person as a major arcana card, a spread that turns over to reveal the hour, the place and the dress code, and a fortune for every guest.
- World Tour Poster: A milestone birthday billed as a stadium world tour: a screen-printed poster with this city circled, the setlist taped to the stage, the merch stand and a backstage pass for the reply.
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