Using Proper Etiquette For My Bar and Bat Mitzvah Invitations

Your Bar or Bat Mitzvah will be a once in a lifetime event for you.  It's the transition from your youth to maturity and it is obviously quite a time for celebration.  This can be a time to pull those that are close to you together.Your Bar or Bat Mitzvah will be a once in a lifetime event for you.  It's the transition from your youth to maturity and it is obviously quite a time for celebration.  This can be a time to pull those that are close to you together, whether friends or family, and the key to getting that ball rolling all starts with great Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitations.  Some people dread customizing their invitations but by taking just a few minutes to understand formalities and etiquette, you can make the process fun.

Great Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitations start with great sayings, phrases, or ideas.  It can be something as simple as "your attendance is requested at..." or could include one of your favorite Jewish scriptures involving the celebration.  There are also a few key etiquette cues to take into consideration when writing your invitations.  In your invitation, you do not want to use any punctuation after Mr. or Dr.  Capital letters only begin sentences, not lines.  Just because a sentence carries on to a new line of your invitation, you do not want to capitalize the first letter unless it begins a new sentence.  Be sure to capitalize names, though. 

The use of years isn't necessary in your Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitations but if you decide to include them, be sure to spell them out.  For instance, 2009 would be written as two thousand nine.  Times are also spelled out and spoken in reference to the hands on a clock.  An example would be that 6:30PM would be written as half past six o'clock in the evening.  Following this formula, numbers in the date are spelled out and follow the day, preceding the month.  Friday, March 18th would read Friday the eighteenth of March.

Thank you notes are often overlooked, but an essentially activity to show your appreciation for friends and family.  As proper etiquette, you will need to send out thank you notes to your guests.  Instead of going through the entire process of picking out thank you cards once your Mitzvah has passed, you can find thank you notes that easily match your invites.  Don't let your Mitzvah invitations seem like a nerve racking process.  With proper understanding and consideration for correct etiquette, you can make the process fun and individual.  Keep in mind as well that extremely formal etiquette only goes along with formal invitations and events.  If you are having a more informal gathering, use common sense and have fun with it!