Inviting Trends

Do not be surprised if coconuts, crystal balls and wine bottles start arriving in your morning post. Disappearing are the days when invitations meant a white rectangular card.

Inventing cards just got more exciting, exclusive and expensive!

Do not be surprised if coconuts, crystal balls and wine bottles start arriving in your morning post. Disappearing are the days when invitations meant a white rectangular card. They now arrive at your doorstep in all shapes, sizes and colours and not necessarily in paper either! It is all about being the hostess with the most-est. Be it CDs with details about the event that a club sent out for its launch sometime back or giant dummy eggs broken at press conferences with the product inside, the calling just got bigger, louder and more exciting.

Conceptualising invitation cards has become a mini industry of its own, with designers, event managers and printers continuously popping unique ideas to out-do the previous ones. 8220;An invitation is like a visual message. More and more of our customers are going for invitations that emphasise the theme of the event,8221; says Rajesh Mehta, CEO of Eventailor. 8220;Recently we organised a launch for an oil company and the invitations were sent inside dummy coconuts that one had to open. The charges vary from Rs 100 to 500 per card, once we even created an invitation that cost Rs 5000! It was Silver box that emitted light when you opened it and a scroll rolled out,8221; adds he

A jewellery store for example would want to emphasise on the creativity and the exclusivity of their pieces. Krsala did this by sending a delicate ornament of silver twisted around a crystal ball for the recent launch of their store in Pune. Hence here, the message reaches prospective customers even before they enter the store.

One wonders that with the advent of mass communication technology, sending invitations would have become cheaper. Mass emailing, text messages or a simple telephone call for that personal touch. Not so it seems. The invitation is the first indication of what the guest should expect, it builds excitement. Event Manager Sumit Maulik also CEO of Dream Merchants feels when it comes to corporate events it is all about building anticipation. 8220;We are currently working on an invitation card in the shape of small whiskey bottles with the details painted on. These things usually need a big budget, so not a lot of individual customers ask for it. We charge around Rs 400 to 600 for specialised cards with the maximum yet being Rs 800.8221;

Moreover these days the invitation cards also make a style statement. Even kids parties have got more demanding and innovative. Theme parties have miniature basketballs or superhero merchandise sent out to the child8217;s friends. It ensures a larger attendance and people actually turning out more fashionably accoutered for such parties than usual.

This trend seems to catching on rapidly as invites get more eye-catching, over the top and exclusive!