Checklist for Your Invitations

Whether you're sending an invitation to an exhibit opening, an open studio, or a holiday party, be sure you're answering all of the questions the recipients might have.
Below is a checklist you can use as a starting point. Not everything will apply to your situation.

Angie Allen stationery and invitations
Angie Allen invitations. ©The Artist

 

Who

Who are you? Full name, please.
Who is the host?
Who are the participating artists?
Who will be there?
Who does it benefit, if it's a charitable event?

What

What should we expect?
What will we see?
What will we do?
What do we bring?
What number do we call or text if we have trouble finding the event?

Where

Where is the darned thing? It's imperative to list the city and state!
Where can we park?
Where can I go to get more information or to see your art in advance?

When

When do we arrive? Date + time.
When is it over?
When does it open?
When does it close? Please put closing dates on your exhibit invitations!

Why

Why should I come?
Why are you doing this?

How

How do we get there? Are there special directions that will facilitate our attendance?

What did I forget? I'm sure you receive as many invitations as I do. What mistakes do you see artists making with their invitations?

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12 thoughts on “Checklist for Your Invitations”

  1. I love this post. Help me out, artists. Where and when exactly!
    And here’s a mistake I just made. . .
    Don’t put the location address at the bottom left on postcard mailing! USPS scans the lowest address and the invitation came back to me. D’oh!

  2. I don’t think it hurts to include the country either. If it is material that gets distributed via email or web it can go far and wide.

    1. You’re right, Ann. We tend to be very self-centered and think everything revolves around the US.

  3. Thanks for the great tips especially stating the location – city AND state. Even on websites and emails for open stuido events, classes and art openings they often don’t have the state shown and you are left guessing where in the US they are. Just because we know where we are does not mean the rest of cyberspace does!

  4. Marilyn R. Meier-O'Brien

    I sure would like to see lots of sales. I am struggling with a tbi and limited use of my right-dominant hand. I would like to figure all this out but I am sloooow. I can’t find the tips. Can you help me. Art is my life so I could use all the help I can get. Marilyn

  5. Hi Alison, thanks for the great tips. I recently sent out an invite and had two questions come up… One was what do I wear? (from a guy no less!) and the other was confusion over whether the event was at my studio or not. It was hosted nearby, so just giving the address proved confusing.

    1. Ruth: I’ve heard the “what do I wear?” question before. We don’t think of those things! But they’re very real. People don’t know what “open studio” means and we have to be prepared.
      Do you think “casual” or “as you are” should be on there? Seems a little odd to add it.

  6. Thanks for the great guidelines/ to do list Alyson. Skyped yesterday with Karen F. Rose and Denise Bellon West yesterday. Denise recently had a successful multiple day studio sale, and she asked people to R.S.V.P. which was very helpful since that helped her know how many people to expect etc. Forgot to ask her if she served food or drink as the R.S.V.P. would be important for that as well. I encouraged her to do a blog post about her sale as she had other useful tips. See Alyson- you are a wonderful catalyst in so many ways!. Thank you and Happy Holidays.

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Your Artist Mailing List: Rethinking + Assessing

Get a transcript of episode 182 of The Art Biz (Rethinking Mailing Lists for Artists) followed by a 3-page worksheet to evaluate the overall health and usage of the 3 types of artist lists.

Where can we send it? 

To ensure delivery, please triple check your email address.

You’ll also receive my regular news for your art business.

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