While there are no seminars on writing engagement announcements, it’s not that hard either. All you have to do is follow these simple steps and the rest is up to the newspaper.

Step 1 In Writing Engagement Announcements: Find A Newspaper.

You first have to decide which newspaper(s) you want the announcement to appear in. Just take note of the most popular ones and those that you’re sure the people who matter to you read.

Or if there is a community paper available, opt for that instead. The important thing is to make sure the announcement is read by the people who should probably know.

Step 2 In Writing Engagement Announcements: Formal Or Non-Formal

There is usually a standard form for this type of publication. For example:

“Mr. and Mrs. Ian Weber of Dayton, Alabama announce the engagement of their daughter Miss Maribel Weber to Mr. Ryan Hoover, son of Mr. and Mrs. Allan Hoover, of San Diego, California. A June wedding is planned.

Miss Weber is a 2005 graduate of Brown University and is a museum curator. Mr. Hoover is a 2005 graduate of Brown University and is a Math professor at the same university.”

It is up to you to add more adjectives and emotion into the announcement.

Step 3 In Writing Engagement Announcements: Double-Check Details.

You have to double-check the details two or three times. Getting even one detail wrong will ruin the whole thing for you. For example, misspelling the name of the bride or the groom can have serious consequences. You might end up announcing the engagement of a totally different person!

Writing engagement announcements is one of the first steps to marriage for many people. You are now telling the rest of the world that you and your partner are now officially engaged. It doesn’t have to be extravagant and filled with so many pictures. The most important thing is that you get all the facts right.

The first thing I noticed looking back was the different approaches we took to designing the invitations and to the whole party. This was not intentional but just kind of happened naturally. Our daughter would spend lots of time with guests, have a great time socialising, playing games, dancing and laughing. The design for her invitations was bright, colourful and the wording was the same. Our son was going to be quite reticent. He would be polite and welcome guests. He did enjoy the party but in a quieter way. He ended up playing hoops with his friends in the driveway in between doing his duties.  The design for his graduation invitations ended up much more sporting and straightforward. Thinking about it now this was actually perfect as it reflected his personality.

One of the key lessons learned was to make sure the invitations reflected the personality of the graduate and also the occasion. We were having an informal party at our home and the invitations were informal as a result. If we had been having a formal party with formal attire we would have made formal invitations. If we had been having a beach party the invitations would have had a beach theme. However I would add that the type of party probably should reflect the graduate’s taste and wishes.

For formal graduation invitations you could use a professional printer who can help you with the design. This could be a minimalist design with something like high quality white paper, a single scroll and red ribbon and formal wording with absolutely correct etiquette. I think this would reflect the occasion and also guests would understand the type of party they were attending.

For an informal party at home you can make the invitations yourself. Using clipart images such as caps and scrolls you can easily make your own. You can add all the wording required and print them onto either printer paper or choose a colored or higher quality paper. For close family you could add a personal message at the bottom of the invitation.

There are lots of party themes. The theme will of course drive the design, wording and perhaps expense of the invitations. However for most party themes you can control costs and produce very good invitations yourself.

I hope your graduation invitations set the scene for your graduation parties.

Considering the type of party you may wish to have. The occasion could be a birthday party, retirement party, graduation party or promotion party. You may wish the party to be a vibrant celebration, an Open House party or a quiet family oriented party, for example. I think a golf themed party can suit just about every occasion. For golf lovers and their friends the party is fairly easy to arrange a costume. There are lots of sources of golf type decorations. The food in not that distinctively golf, but buffet and sandwiches is just perfect. The party can be styled as a huge celebration or even a quieter family and friends party. Indeed the main ingredient is golf lovers.

You may have a venue in mind. Again a golf theme party can be suitable in many venues. The venues could be a school gym, park, golf driving range or a home party. In all of these venues you can arrange golf themed decorations and golf games which can satisfy a safety inspection.

The main thing of course that the guest of honor loves golf. They may be a keen golfer, their family and friends may play golf or indeed they may be a keen golfing spectator who just loves the game. The very fact that you have a golf lover as the guest of honor will drive other guests to take part enthusiastically.

Take the example of a home party for a golfing graduate. The graduation party can be set can be set up as a golf themed party and you can enjoy a brilliant time. The invitations can have a golfer on them. The wording can use key golfing phrases like drive on over to the party course or tee off time is at (details). Some golf themed stickers can add to the effect. The decorations can be lots of golfing memorabilia, clubs, balls and bags. Also paintings, posters and photos of famous golfers, courses and moments in the sport. A good touch is to have golf magazines, newspaper stories and trophies. You may have lost of the graduate’s golfing memorabilia to use too. Food can be typical golf club fare with sandwiches, soup and buffet. The music should have some golf related tunes which may be the theme tune for TV golf shows. However it is a party so you may want to have great party music too. Games can be putting, chipping, crazy golf and golf trivia.

A golf theme party can be fantastic.

There are lots of things that make the party go well. That will include wearing great costumes, guests looking forward to the party, a great venue, decorations, food, games, favors, entertainment and the atmosphere you can create. Luau does help you do all of this very successfully. I think even just getting dressed up for the luau theme party will get them in the mood.

You may have a choice of venues for your party. The luau theme can go well at the beach, home, country club or YMCA for example. Any venue can be turned into The invitations could be designed as an island paradise or even be postcards. You can word the invitations to invite the guests to your island paradise to celebrate the birthday or graduation for example. Remember to state the dress code and give the normal party details.

If the venue is your home for example you can get to work on creating a great venue. Beg, buy and borrow as many travel posters, fake palm trees, lei, tiki lights, xmas lights, tiki masks, surfing equipment and all sorts of Hawaiian things as you can. Find newspapers, magazines, posters, photos, vacation photos and Hawaiian artwork. Of course it is a party so have lots of balloons, streamers and tinsel. If it is a graduation party then you could have caps, scrolls, photo tribute boards, sign in boards and the graduates memorabilia. You can also have an area of the party that is a sandy beach perhaps with surfing equipment.

The food can be typically Hawaiian. I like all the fresh pineapple and coconut. There are fantastic recipes you can use. However the guests may also like to have some BBQ.

Favors, games and prizes can be Hawaiian themed. The music can be ukele music with perhaps a live band playing. That would make it much more authentic.

A luau theme party is a great theme to use.

The search for party themes can be apparently simple when you see all the excellent themes that can be used. Party ideas like airplane party, baseball party, Mardi Gras party, Mexican party or soccer party, for example, are brilliant. Each party theme has lots to recommend it. For example a Hollywood party represents all the glamour and glitz of this famous town. It is also a great way of celebrating a special occasion. I do love them all. Sometimes though it is good to get everyone focussed on a different theme. That could be an airplane party.

An airplane party can give you a very glamorous party. Just think of some of the glamorous names like Virgin Atlantic. The airlines have an image of excitement, sophistication,  modern planes and outstanding customer service. You may also think of travelling to an exotic or exciting destination. For a birthday party, graduation, retirement or other special occasion you may wish to recreate the glamour of first class air travel. There are glamorous check ins, lounges, flight crew, destinations and first class cabins. That will take a big effort to organise but the rewards will be fantastic.

The venues for an airplane party can be in many places. That could be an aircraft hanger, airport, retired aircraft, school gym or at home. The hangar, airport and plane have a lot of advantages in terms of the atmosphere they can naturally create. However they may take some time to get permission, arrange insurance and carry out safety checks. However all the venues can work really well and can host a brilliant party.

For example you are planning a graduation party. Starting with the venue, it is likely that you will be at home or the school gym. The general set up could be a  check in, relaxing lounge, seating and party area. You can brief all the helpers to act as flight and check in crew. The invitations can be just like airline tickets. One neat trick is to put the party date as the bar code. The seating can be arranged aircraft style in rows You can have a welcome safety briefing to break the ice. Everyone can take part. The food can be very much like airplane food served on plastic trays with a set airline style menu. You can serve the food from a trolley and also the drinks. Decorations can be as much airplane stuff as you can get. Hanging toy planes, airline posters and travel brochures can be a good start. Games can be airplane style games where guests have to do the safety briefing plus airplane trivia.

You can also have an MC who acts as a pilot in terms of their script. An airplane party is especially great for a graduate who loves flying. If you are using a airport venue then they will be hugely excited. I hope you too can get the best from an airplane party.

When I start to get concerned over the right choice I always try and consider that it is a good thing I am doing. My sentiments are in the right place and any right minded person will know that it is the thought that counts. The graduate will likely be receiving lots of gifts so my gift will let them know I am thinking about them. However that is fine when the graduate is not too close to me. For my own children I did feel that I had to get pretty much the perfect gift.

Similarly the budget, which is the best place to start, should reflect where you are with he graduate. We have 15 cousins to buy for so we all expect just a small gift and each parent is happy to keep it that way. Amongst our family we expect to spend $25 on the cousins. For my nephew and niece we spent $100 as there are only the 2 of them. On our own children we spent $500 each. My sister tells me we should be spending about $100 per graduate as she thinks that is enough.

For the actual gift once you have set your budget that in itself will set constraints. With our $25 for each of the cousins we found it quite hard to track down dome credible gifts. Mostly we send the money in a nice card. Apparently the vast majority of graduates receive money. I know as a young graduate I loved receiving money to spend just the way I wanted to. The other things we have bought were because we had a strong hint from the parents. At times we have bought books for a graduate who was going on vacation, for one who likes to read and for one who tells jokes all the time.

Our own children needed things from us to manage at college. They needed laptops, pens, plane tickets, pizza vouchers and clothing, for example. If relatives asked us we told them about some of the essentials. Others gave money to be spent on college items. Almost sent money except their grandparents who bought them a weekend vacation.

I hope you know the graduate well enough to come up with great graduation gift ideas.