Have you celebrated any?

How many does a person usually experience in normal life?

At Poly Graphics we have religious invitations available for 5 out of these 7 sacraments:

1. Baptism / Christening
2. Eucharist / Communion
3. Reconciliation / Confession
4. Confirmation
5. Marriage
6. Holy Orders / Ordination
7. Anointing of the Sick

Usually Baptism is performed on young children just a few weeks old. This is the child’s first sign that the Christian is a Child of God. Celebrate Baptism with your choice of our wonderful Baptism Invitations.

The first time a child of 7 or 8 years old receives the Eucharist is cause for celebration – their First Communion. I’ve written here before about First Communion. Poly Graphics has a great selection of First Communion Invitations.

Confession is also known as Penance or Reconciliation. There are several steps involved in confession – sorrow for sins, confession and absolution by a priest, then penance, restitution and celebration. Confession is a wonderful thing for an individual, but not celebrated with a group. We don’t have any reconciliation invitations, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t design one for you if you’d like to have a reconciliation celebration.

Confirmation is celebrated by children when they are about 13 years of age. It is a sacrament of mature Christian commitment that confirms the baptism of an individual. Poly Graphics has created a nice selection of Confirmation Invitations that are available for your celebration.

Marriage, of course, is the union of a man and woman. The sacrament of marriage grants grace to grow into a union of heart and soul and provides strength and assurance for the couple and their children. Marriage is a public sign of  total commitment. We’ve got formal wedding invitations, fun wedding invitations, along with shower invitations, save the date cards, and rehearsal dinner invitations.

Holy Orders, or Ordination is a celebration of a priest being ordained by vows to lead other Christians by proclaiming the Gospel, and providing the Eucharist and other sacraments. Although Poly Graphics has never created an invitation for Holy Orders, there is nothing stopping us if you’d like us to create one for you. Any of the invitations available on PolyGraphics.com can be changed to fit an Ordination celebration (although some may not be appropriate). All wording, graphics, and colors will be changed to satisfy your tastes.

Anointing of the Sick is not a celebration occasion. Usually given to seriously ill Catholics, this sacrament was formerly known as Last Rites or Extreme Unction. This  is a ritual of anointing the forehead and hands with blessed oil. Anointing of the Sick is appropriate for physical, mental and spiritual sickness. Although we have created sympathy cards, the best we can do for an ill Christian is to pray.

Most Catholics take part in 4, 5 or 6 of the seven sacraments. Only priests and other clergy participate in Holy Orders and they do not usually marry. Anointing of the Sick does not always occur before a Christian meets God in heaven.

I hope you learned something about the seven sacraments. I sure did when I was doing research for this post!

P.S. Most of the sacraments are excellent reasons to celebrate. We’d love to help you invite your guests to your party.

That depends. Ask these questions:

• Is this a wedding?
• Will you have out of town guests? How far will they be traveling? Are they staying overnight?
• Is it a multiple-day event?
• Will your guests have to prepare anything? Buy a new outfit?

Wedding invitations should be sent out four to six weeks prior to the event. During holiday seasons allow for extra time.

Informal event invitations should be sent about three weeks before the event.

If your guests are local and already know that your informal party is being held, invitations can be hand delivered two weeks before the event.

Check to see if your location needs a firm count of attendees before the event.  Set your RSVP date a day or two before the location needs a headcount so that you have an extra day or two to follow up on those who are slow to respond.

If you have a date, but not all the details for an event, use “Save the Date” cards to inform your guests. This is especially nice if travel arrangements need to be made. Wedding dates are usually selected before all the arrangements have been made – you may know the date of the wedding but not the exact time or location. Save the Date cards are a great way to let your family and guests know when the wedding is.  A formal invitation can be sent out when the details have been set.

Poly Graphics Turnaround Time

Poly Graphics usually takes a few days from order date to delivery date. Then add in shipping time. A typical order can be placed and then delivered within 5 business days (longer if the order is shipped ground across the country). So to be safe, wedding invitations should be ordered eight weeks before the event. A week was added for drafting, printing and shipping and then another week for you to address the envelopes.

Informal party invitations should be ordered at least a month before the event. Give us a couple of days to draft, print, and pack your order – a couple more for it to be delivered to you – and then you will have you invitations ready to be addressed and sent to your guests.

Poly Graphics can accommodate rush orders – for an additional charge we will place your order at the head of the orders to be drafted queue. This can reduce your time from order to delivery by a day or two. If you would like to rush your order, please say so in the special instructions as you are completing your order.

Thanks for considering Poly Graphics for your party invitations. We have great flexibility in design and layout of your invitation, quick turnaround, and thousands of satisfied customers.