NOTES OF INVITATION.
Notes of invitation for evening parties are issued in the name of the lady of the house; as,
Mrs. James Little requests the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. George White’s company on Monday evening, March seventeenth, from nine to twelve o’clock.[A]
The expression “presents compliments” is obsolete, as is also the term “polite,” which was formerly used in acceptances or regrets. The English form of “kind” or “very kind” is now substituted in its place.
A very acceptable form of invitation for a mother (if the mother is not living, the father’s name may be so used) and daughter is this:
Mrs. and Miss Graves at Home, Thursday, October twenty-seventh, from eight to eleven o’clock.
When a very large dinner party is to be given, the invitations should be issued at least two weeks in advance; and if some very celebrated people are to be invited, twenty-one days should elapse between sending out the invitations and the day of the function. For a small affair ten days’ notice is sufficient. Invitations to large teas should be sent out fourteen days in advance, but for small ones a week’s notice is sufficient.
In answering an invitation sent out in the name of both mother and daughter, one should address the mother.
When sending out invitations to evening parties, it is customary to denote the amusement feature, if there is to be one, by naming it in the lower left hand corner; as, “Dancing,” or “Cards,” or “Fancy dress and masks.” The hour is designated thus: “Dancing after nine,” or “German at eight o’clock,” or “Supper at half after seven,” and underneath “Dancing.” Sometimes a separate card is enclosed, reading “Dancing at nine o’clock.”
Mrs. George Brown requests the pleasure of Miss Lee’s company on Tuesday evening, January seventh, at nine o’clock.
Dancing. 221 Thirty-fifth Street.
The correct form of invitation for an entertainment where an elocutionist is to be the principal feature is worded as follows:
Mrs. James Smith requests the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. Brown’s company on Thursday evening, December the first, at eight o’clock.
124 Jewell Avenue.
Reading by Professor William White.
An invitation to a rose or lawn party might read thus:
| Mrs. James Smith. The Misses Smith. at home Tuesday evening, June the twenty-eighth, at eight o’clock. | |
| rose party 212 Sheridan Avenue. | to meet The Misses White. |
In writing invitations for a club for which one is acting as secretary it would be wise to put them in the third person, and then there would be no embarrassment about the arrangement of names.
The words “reception” and “at home” are synonymous. Each means an entertainment which takes place between certain stated hours in the afternoon or evening, where refreshments are served, and no especial order of amusement is provided, unless it is specified in the invitations. To a “reception” or “at home” the hostess generally sends invitations to all on her calling list. These large functions are usually given for some especial purpose; as, to introduce a débutante into society, to celebrate a wedding anniversary, or for the bride and groom after the wedding ceremony, or merely that the hostess may meet all her friends.
There is, however, a decided distinction between a reception or an “at home” and a tea or “days.” An invitation to the first is engraved on a sheet of note paper or a large sized card, and is formally worded. The hours for the afternoon function are usually from four until seven, and one may expect to find at the house or place of entertainment decorations of flowers and greens, and quite an elaborate repast provided; but an invitation to a tea or to “days” does not imply that anything but the simplest kind of menu will be served, nor that any but simple preparations will be made. The invitations to the latter entertainments may be the hostess’s visiting cards with the address and “tea at four o’clock” written in one corner; or if the hostess prefers to receive informally on more than one day, she may have the form “Fridays,” or “Fridays in February,” or “First and third Fridays in February,” or whatever days she chooses, written or engraved on her cards.
The formal luncheon hour is from one to two o’clock. Afternoon teas are usually at five. One’s visiting card can be used only for an invitation for an afternoon “at home;” invitations to dinner or luncheon must be written out. In sending out cards for a tea one should simply write the date and the hour in the lower left-hand corner; in sending a note, whether by messenger or post, the number of the house and the name of the street should be written out in full.
The following is a good form of invitation to an “at home” given by several women:
Mrs. James Smith
Mrs. Charles White
Mrs. Frederick Brown
at home
Saturday, April the sixteenth
at four o’clock
112 Madison Street
The usual form of an invitation to a luncheon is as follows:
Mrs. James Brown
requests the pleasure of your company
at luncheon
on Wednesday, April the sixth,
at one o’clock.
Below this and to the right would be the address, and the date on which the invitation is written.
The invitation for a musical may be worded as follows:
Mrs. James Smith requests the pleasure of | |
| Music. R.S.V.P. | 24 Queen Avenue. |