Most people only retire once, so make the most of it. Have you been looking for that special retirement party invitation template for you or your employer?
If so, you have come to the right place. In this article we’ll walk you through some of the most interesting sites, each with different retirement party invitations templates. We’ll let you know what each site does and if any of them are worth it.
Evite
When you use Evite, you will find out what they are really a good choice for your retirement party work.
While we like the general free templates, it’s the premium template that’ll get your attention the most. The free offerings look much more like banner type invitations more than anything else, while the premium templates are way more attractive and interactive.
After clicking your choice of template, you are taken to a sort of live form that you have to fill out.
We find that the form works well, but it’s just such a boring experience. It’s more like filling out a driver’s license application than anything else.
We do like the fact that you can instantly add buttons for donations, RSVP and especially the “Gift Ideas” button that allows people to go to online merchants such as Amazon to buy the recipient a gift.
The site itself in our opinion seems to be dated back somewhere around the 1990s, but overall Evite is a good experience.
| WHAT WE DON’T LIKE | WHAT WE DON’T LIKE |
| Easy to Use, Unique Templates | Dated Site Once You Get Past the Main Page |
| Buttons for Amazon Gifts, Rsvp and Donations | Free Templates Are All Banners, No Traditional Card/Envelope Offerings |
Canva
It sounds like you’re having a party for your retirement that you want to make a little extra special. You’ve decided a theme, you’ve picked out some design elements, and you’re ready to go. But then you run into a problem: you don’t have any party invitations. This is where Canva steps in.
You might as well realize that Canva is the juggernaut of this group when it comes to templates. Although they offer around only 24 specific retirement templates, you won’t be disappointed in their offerings. If you don’t like any of the choices you can simply make your own.
Canva is a great tool that can help make your retirement party invitations look great and polished. This is especially true if you are looking for retirement party invitations that are unique and personal. Instead of using the templates that come with Canva, you can choose from thousands of templates on their website.
We love the fact that Canva offers millions of images to make your retirement invitation your own. You can drag and drop audio, video and nearly anything else you can think of straight to your template, although the audio is offered only with a premium account.
After finalizing your template, you can easily share it to social media, download it or even order physical invitations directly through Canva who will ship your items for free.
Canva’s site is state of the art. Everything is offered in a neat and easy to use way.
| WHAT WE LIKE | WHAT WE DON’T LIKE |
| Very Large Site | Certain Items Like Audio Clips Need Premium Account |
| Crazy Amount of Templates, Allows for Audio and Video |
Paperless Post
Paperless Post is one of the top websites for professional and casual invitations. They have a ton of different themes that you can use to create professional looking invitations for all occasions.
They offer 18 specific retirement templates, but of course you can simply make one from scratch if you need to.
The images Paperless Post offers are truly stunning. We would say that the site is based primarily on beautiful images that you can turn into invitations, cards or anything you want. Taking photos of your own home or family members can easily lead to photos that look boring, as opposed to more unusual or artistic shots of a subject.
We really liked the RSVP function, which allows nearly instant communication with guests.
The site itself is nice and modern. It is a very clean design which makes it easy to find what you are looking for.
| WHAT WE LIKE | WHAT WE DON’T LIKE |
| Thoroughly Modern Site Without Trying to Look Like It | Free Account Has a Limit of Sending Invitations to 50 People Only |
| Vast Amount of Template Designs | You Must Create an Account to Start Customizing Anything |
Greetings Island
Greetings Island clearly knows how to cater to people that are retiring. They have over 100 retirement-specific templates, far surpassing any site we’ve seen so far.
The templates themselves are quite easy to customize. We like the fact that the templates look like physical cards and invitations. It’s simple to pick the front, inside covers and back in order to customize.
A great deal of the templates are free. There are also some nice premium templates as well. The premium account is quite affordable if you decide to upgrade your account.
The site itself is quite nice looking and simply enough to use. The layouts are very clear as is the template customizing sections.
Greeting Island is a barebones site with simplicity a priority first. For instance, on some templates you cannot customize the front of a card template. We find this to be very bizarre.
You also won’t find things such as photo templates. You’ll have to upload those from your computer or get them from facebook. Don’t even ask about adding videos or something similar because it’s not going to happen. There’s also a huge variety of Google ads on the site which we find distracting.
Still, if you need something simple to make invitations then Greetings Island can help you out.
| WHAT WE LIKE | WHAT WE DON’T LIKE |
| Very Pretty Site | Extremely Limited Functions As Compared to the Competition |
| Lots and Lots of Retirement Template Designs | Google Ads Are Distracting, Gives the Site a Cheap Quality |
Design Wizard
Design Wizard relies on big and bold fonts as well as very nice images to make their retirement invitations pop, and it works quite well.
Design Wizard leans heavily on marketing and social media creations for their business model. You can create anything from gift cards to posters and much more.
Design Wizard offers a free tier, but it’s basically a pay as you go type of account as they charge for images and videos. The free account is a bit stingy on storage space, offering only a pathetic 15 MB. The other accounts offer 1GB of space. They also offer a Pro and Business account.
The company claims to have a free images section, but that portion of the site doesn’t seem to be working.
| WHAT WE LIKE | WHAT WE DON’T LIKE |
| Modern Site, but Quite Plain and Annoying on the Homepage As There Is No Gallery of Template Present | Free Account Offered, but It’s a Pay As You Go Type of Thing |
| Lots of Templates, Images and Video for Customizing Items | The “free Images” Section Page Doesn’t Work, Which Is a Shame for a Pay Site |
What To Include In Retirement Party Invitations
1. Date/Time
When is the party? Do they know how to have a time when they will arrive? If you have a family gathering, you may have to give a different time for when they will arrive. You do not want the last minute guest to show up with them within a couple of minutes of each other.
2. Location
Make it easy to know where you are going to have your retirement party. It would be a lot better if you put the location on the invitation. For example, make sure you put a map around it. The party place will be the name of the street, the location where the party will be, or some other thing that can give people the exact place to go to.
3. Reason for party
Find out if it is a wedding, anniversary, birthday or anything else that might prompt you to celebrate. If you are throwing a retirement party, one thing to include is the fact that the event will be held in the future and to help people plan ahead.
4. Honoree’s name
Let people know exactly who the honored guest will be. It will help everyone to know this so be sure the honoree will be featured prominently on the invitation. Use large or bold lettering so that the honoree will feel even more proud.
5. What to wear
This is one of the most important things. Don’t wear your best shirts, ties and slacks if you know that all the people are going to wear casual clothing. You can talk to the other party hosts about what they are planning on wearing.
6. What to (or not to) Bring
Do Bring:
- A great attitude!
- A present ONLY if asked to
- Alcohol ONLY if requested
- Music of other entertainment items if requested
Do NOT Bring:
- Gifts of an inappropriate nature
- Alcoholic beverages if you are ask not to
- A bad attitude. Remember you are there for the guest of honor
7. Any Other Details
- If there’s a certain theme to the event then be sure to include it in the invitation.
- If you want anyone to bring food or beverages
- If there are kids invited, how old are they going to be? You may need to include an age limit
Retirement Party Invitation Wording Guidelines
1. Wording For Formal Invitations
A personalized invite should be a bit more formal with a name and address at the top of the invite. It can also be different for all the people invited. Just use your name and information as if they are family members.
There is normally an RSVP section included in the invitation with appropriate contact information concerning things like if the person needs to cancel or has questions.
2. Wording For Casual Invitations
So, if you are inviting friends who are pretty chill and have a relaxed attitude, you might want to call your event a “fun in the sun” party. You can even call it a barbecue or something.
Instead of using casual language, invite your guests to wear hats and sunglasses, and to come dressed in a bathing suit and wear sunscreen, so that they can “be comfortable”.
Conclusion
We really hope you enjoyed this article all about different retirement party invitations templates. As you can now tell, there are all sorts of resources that will fit anyone’s needs and budget. While nearly any of the above sites can handle your task, we find that Canva is the universal favorite.
We wish you the best retirement party you can have and good luck!