Whether you’re hand delivering, e-viting, or mailing birthday party invitations, you want to make sure your guests receive their invitation 4-5 weeks before the party. This is generally enough time for families to save the date on their calendars and make any preparations for the party before hand (buying a gift, arranging to dress “in character” for a particular theme, etc.).

When hand-delivering invitations in your circle of friends, be discreet. Just because you may be good friends with someone, doesn’t mean you have to invite them. This is especially true if your children do not even play together. Be cognizant of their feelings so that you do remain friends, but remember that it is your child’s birthday party.

In terms of having your child hand-deliver invites at school, check with the classroom teacher first. As a teacher, I can tell you that feelings often do get hurt when some kids are invited and others aren’t. Try to take advantage of the time after school.

E-viting has become an extremely popular method of inviting people to parties. Sending an e-vite is not only quick and convenient, but many sites offer them free and in a variety of designs. The most popular sites that offer e-vites are evite.com and zoji.com.

Mailing birthday party invitations can be quick and easy as long as you have everyone’s address. If you are in need of addresses, begin calling, e-mailing, and texting those on the guest list well in advance to make sure all the invites are mailed out on time. Once mailed, you can count on the United States Postal Service to get your invitations to their destinations with 1-3 business days. Running low on stamps? You can now customize and print postage right from your own home! Last but not least, don’t forget to include a return address on each invitation. You don’t want any of those precious invites getting lost (we all know the turmoil a “no response” creates)!