An invitation they simply can't refuse!

Planning your corporate party has no end of headaches, but there is one area in which you can actually have some fun – it's the invites. For many formal events, the printed invitation and RSVP card is still the accepted courtesy, and firms such as Downey & Co (www.downey.co.uk) specialise in engraved invitations that are so beautiful they're almost worth framing! But for less formal or fun occasions, and for sheer practicality, there are new ways of bringing your guests along.

The most economical method of sending a large number of invitations is to use an e-card. There is now a vast number of websites from whom you can send a card by e-mail, but few contain such helpful information as www.greetingcards.com/ Among their helpful tips are the pointer that just over five per cent of e-cards do not get delivered because of a simply keying mistake in the address, so beware!

Some e-card providers have become members of a Bonded Sender Programme, which means that their cards do not risk being blocked as spam. And it is always helpful to choose an e-card sender which either advises you when a card has been read, or guarantees several attempts at delivery.

A rather surprising new British entrant to this market is none other than Waitrose, who quite sensibly offers the chance to send e-invites to 20 different addresses at a time: waitrose.com/food_drink/online_invite/index.asp? There are some online suppliers who make a business out of customised e-invites – typically, sendomatic.com/invitations.html which is an American site costing about $12 for every hundred recipients.

It is interesting to see how some of these sites work, and then borrow their ideas. For example, not all e-cards send the entire details on the message. Some of them simply send a message asking the recipient to view a website page, where the full details are shown.

If this works, then why not do it yourself? Put the event details on your personal website or company intranet, and then invite your chosen guests to visit that site. This may, however, not be entirely secure, because anyone might, by chance, land on that page – you may feel safer with conventional methods.

By far the most effective home-made printed invites are the ones which use pre-designed paper. This was pioneered by companies like Geographics and Sigel, and is now available in any stationer. The idea was simply to print sheets of pre-designed paper, so that the user simply added black laser or inkjet lettering for a multi-coloured result. This was very slow to take off, even in the States – the first design was of fluffy white clouds on a blue-sky background, and it didn't sell at all until a certain Bill Gates saw a sheet, realised it suited his Microsoft logo perfectly … and ordered half a million. The company never looked back!

Geographics now makes two-sided printed paper and cards, and even tear-off tickets which can serve any use from coat-checks to reply slips – and that has always been a headache.

If you are using paper invites, here is a handy trick for replies – make sure you discreetly number the original invites and any response slip. Then, even if your guest's handwriting is illegible, you can still work out who's attending your event. (You might also save money by enclosing a response postcard instead of a response card with an envelope.)

And while you are thinking about printing your own invites, think also about place cards at your event. You can print these yourself, and they are more important than just telling the guests who sits where – they are an invaluable coded clue to your caterers about who ordered what! Let's face it, your guests can't be relied upon to remember!

Your imaginative home-made printwork can extend beyond your invites. Do you remember that at old-style discos, they used to rubber-stamp the back of your hand to confirm that you had paid? If your event is at a public place, you can produce a very original version of your own – give your guests a tattoo. No, don't worry – it only lasts until they wash it off.

It is now possible to design your own body-art tattoo and print it yourself through an inkjet printer. The method is largely the same as an iron-on tee-shirt logo – you design it on computer, print in reverse mode, and instead of ironing it on to fabric, you gently apply it to skin. It's eye-catching and delightfully impermanent. However, it can be expensive – maybe £ 3 for an A5 sheet, so design the size of your tattoos carefully. A typical source of supply is: inkandmedialtd.co.uk/acatalog/Speciality_Papers.html

So you see, there are multiple options available for jazzing up your invites this year. The only danger is that you'll have so much fun doing them, the party will be over by the time you've got them finished!