Taking these things into consideration might involve some communicating with the people that you really want in attendance and finding out when these special selected few will be around. The first thing to do is set a date and everything else relies and hinges upon that date. When you choose a date, you have to take things into consideration, such as renting out a place if it is a big event and also choosing a time when people are free. For instance, if you are having a big anniversary, do not schedule it around the time when peoples' kids have final exams or during the vacation rush time of summer when most people are out of time. You can mail them out, or do email invitations, or call people on the phone, but regardless of how you do it, allow there to be some kind of opportunity for people to RSVP. You need people to confirm or deny their arrival so that you can make up a good head count and know what kind of size you are looking at. These days email invites are useful because you can mass send out an email and people easily can respond and let you know if they are coming.
Planning the date in advance is important as it gives people time to schedule you in and not let anything else conflict with the date you have chosen. Once you have chosen the date, it is time to send out invitations. If you are having a very formal event, like a wedding or graduation ceremony, you might want to send out pre-invitations that tell people to hold the date from months in advance. This will establish your guest amount in a finite way and allow you to cement yourselves in peoples' schedule books before they have made other plans. Then about three weeks in advance, send out your actual invites.
Planning the date in advance is important as it gives people time to schedule you in and not let anything else conflict with the date you have chosen. Once you have chosen the date, it is time to send out invitations. If you are having a very formal event, like a wedding or graduation ceremony, you might want to send out pre-invitations that tell people to hold the date from months in advance. This will establish your guest amount in a finite way and allow you to cement yourselves in peoples' schedule books before they have made other plans. Then about three weeks in advance, send out your actual invites.
