The Fine Art of Inviting

When you find something truly exceptional, it's a pleasure to shout about it from the treetops!  That's how we felt receiving an Egba PartyBlock invitation a short time ago.  They know the importance of a first impression, and we are thrilled to share the invitation expertise and unique artistry of Egba Originals as a featured guest contributor!  Mark your calendar - Egba will be joining us for "Wine & Cheese" Foodies' Night In (#fni) this Monday, 10/11.


When your party really begins…
You’re planning your signature event!  You have made your lists; you have planned, revised, discarded and rewritten your menu.  Your theme is ingenious and the room is going to be just fabulous.  But when does the party really begin?  When your guests arrive?  Well, not if you have really done your job as planner and host.
Your party, any party, should really begin when guests receive their invitations.  In the age of e-vites and email blasts the fine art of inviting too often gets lost between the planning of the appetizer menu and narrowing the guest list.  Even the most savvy hosts sometimes fall back on their favorite local printer for a simple yet elegant card and lose site of the real object of the invitation…to define, regale and create excitement for their event the moment the guest opens the envelope.

Granted,not every party or event budget can accommodate the truly over the top,“WOW!” invitation.  But creativity and style are possible at every price-point and on any budget.  The question one has to ask as host is “How do I want my guests to ‘feel’ when they arrive at my event?”  The invitation should set the tone and give across a sample of that feeling.  Even the most basic printed card should sell the style and flavor of your event.  Just a creative font, pithy phrase and colored envelope in line with your theme can set your invitation apart from the rest of the mail and intrigue your guests.

Nudge, Grab or Rock?
Then, there is the next level - the invitation that captures the essence of your event in both style and substance.  It can often be the substance itself that creates the excitement and anticipation for your party.  Some invitations nudge you, some grab you and then there are the ones that truly rock you.  At custom invitation purveyors like Egba Originals the objective is the latter. Creating an invitation that truly embodies the full scope of your event sometimes requires a step or even a leap beyond the printed card. Whether an elegant dinner party for 10, a bridal shower for 50 or a bar mitzvah or wedding for 300, Egba transforms 3-dimensional concepts into aspirational custom invitations and announcements.  Invitations that do not simply tell a guest the when and the where, but actually put them in a different state of mind in anticipation. 

Egba Originals fashions its custom invites from materials as diverse as blocks of solid wood, slabs of granite and Lucite, fine fabrics and even bottles of fine vintage wine<.  They also create couture invitations from scratch like electric guitars, toy trains, yachts and comic books.  The goal with each custom invitation is to translate the concept of each individual event into a physical form that sets the stage.

The Tease, the Time and the RSVP – No room to assume.No matter what form your invitation finally takes, the content is key!  The ‘what’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ as well as the ‘who’, the ‘if’ (RSVP) and the other ‘what’ (what to bring or not to bring) cannot be overlooked.  A truly Savvy Host never leaves room for their guests to assume.   Your invitation should truly say it .  Cheers!

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Text and All images copyright © Egba Originals 2010

Get to know Egba Originals better! After over a decade in the music industry, Egba’s founders shifted their energies from developing marketing plans, sponsorships and VIP premiums for major recording artists and national concert tours and brought their cutting edge design sensibilities to the custom invitation market. All parents of small children, the shift really began when they first created one-of-a-kind invitations for their kids’ early birthday parties. The enthusiastic reception the invites generated with family and industry friends planted the seed for what has grown into Egba Originals.

Egba Originals sets itself apart by constantly striving to create new and innovate invitation concepts.  At Egba we believe that every special event has its own identity and that identity should begin with the invitation. Take a look at their blog - Egba Originals Blog- and LIKE them on Facebook - Egba Originals on Facebook

Follow them via Twitter: @egba