8 Tips for Perfect Baptism Invitations

Baptism is one of the most beloved traditions for the church community. Since families typically have the baby’s Baptism or Christening shortly after birth, typically within the first six months, the sight of a baby being welcomed into God’s family brings to mind so many adjectives: beautiful, adorable, magical to name a few. We typically advise our customers that their Baptism invitations should be mailed at least three or four weeks before the date, and even earlier if the event is close to another busy holiday (like Easter or Christmas).

The proper format for Baptism invitations is fairly similar to that of other invitations. At the top of the invitation is a header. Oftentimes for Baptisms, the header will be an appropriate/meaningful bible verse. Then the standard text includes the parents’ names, baby’s first and middle name, event date, time and location of the ceremony. If there is a reception or celebration following, you would include the reception date, time and location. Some families opt to include the Godparents’ names on the invitation or a separate insert card. If your would like an RSVP, a reply card can also be included with the invite, or a line of RSVP instructions can be printed at the bottom of the invitation.

Font plays a big role in how formal or informal your Baptism invitations look. Check out the below example to see just how impactful font can be:

A few more tips:

1 ) How many fonts should I use? It is best if you use one font type for the entire invitation, or have the honoree’s name in another font style (a script font typically looks best).

2 ) How many text colors should I use? Use only one text color for the entire invitation. Alternatively, many invitations look beautiful with the honoree’s name in a second ink color (we recommend selecting the most prominent accent color from the invitation’s artwork).

3 ) What is standard formatting for font sizes? Baptism invitation font size guidelines are as follows:

• Introduction, church information, reception and godparents names should all be the same size font.
• The RSVP information should be one point size smaller.
• The honoree’s name can be significantly larger, without looking overbearing.
• The bible verse should be one or two points smaller, depending on the cards spacing.

4 ) What is the proper convention for the time? If you are not spelling out the event/reception time, put a period after each letter (p.m. or a.m.).

5 ) What if I’m only inviting guests to the celebration? If you are inviting guests to the reception only and not the church, adjust the opening verse to read as an invitation to the celebration of the event, rather than an invitation to the event (“We cordially invite you to celebrate the baptism of our daughter”).

6 ) Should you include the zip code? How much of the address you include depends on where many of your guests are coming from. If everyone is local it is more formal to leave off the zip code. If you will be inviting people who may need to map the location, include the zip code for easy reference.

7 ) Can I include an email for the RSVP? With the changing of times it is now deemed acceptable to include an email address as well as a telephone number for response (if you only include an email, be sure all your guests use it!).

8 ) Any other tips for a more formal tone? For a more formal tone, we recommend spelling out all of your words and numbers. This particularly applies to the date and time of the event.