Decide these early
- Whether the guest of honour knows - and if not, who is at risk of mentioning it.
- Whether partners, friends-of-friends and children are included.
- Whether there is a deposit, a ticket or a per-head contribution, and when it is due.
- The date the venue needs final numbers, which sets your RSVP deadline.
- Whether the exact address stays private until people have replied.
- Whether you are asking for no presents and saying it clearly enough to be believed.
The money question, early rather than late
Birthdays are where hosts most often end up several hundred pounds down, because the costs land before the event and the collecting happens after it. Our guide to splitting party costs has a worked twenty-person budget and the messages for asking up front - which is both more awkward to send and far easier to run.
After the day
The invitation should not become useless the moment the first guest arrives. Keeping the photos and the settlement on the same event means the group is already the right group, and neither ends up buried under unrelated chat history.