If you're going to have a Harry Potter party, the first thing you need is a great invitation. If you know me at all, you know that I love to do themed birthday parties. For some really stupid reason, I usually spend as much time on the invitation as I do on the party. I know. I'm crazy that way. It's silly, really, but you get to benefit. Since I already put in the time, you don't have to! You get to copy. Lucky!
RELATED: Kids Party Ideas
Harry Potter Party Invitations by Owl Post
I got this idea from the web (pre-Pinterest), but it was all over the place, so there's really no one person I can credit with the idea. Whoever the original genius was, thank you! Your Harry Potter party invitations are brilliant! (Do I sound like Harry?)
Here's the letter we attached to the balloons. The fonts used are: Lumos (header) Magik (letter text) and Scriptina (signature). This letter also is a mixture of several ideas I found online. Due to a computer crash that erased all of my old Harry Potter bookmarks, I can't link you to the original ideas. I'm searching for them, but it's been several years, so I'm having trouble. If I find them, I'll link them up. Here's the text so that you can copy and paste it if you'd like.
Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft And Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear *********,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to a special preview session of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in honor of ***********’s tenth birthday. The session will be held on Saturday, *******, from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. You will have a chance to sample a few classes and attend a grand feast!
If you accept the invitation, you are to report to platform 9¾ at 10:30.
(Muggle address: *********) You will be transported to Diagon Alley to purchase school supplies, and then to Hogwarts, where sorting will commence promptly at 10:40.
Please R.S.V.P. to ********* by owl no later than December 5th to reserve your place. (Or use your Muggle telephone to call **********.)
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
The fun thing about the balloons is that we actually did have a few kids reply by owl! They attached a message to their balloons and returned them to our door step! Bear loved it!
A few tips:
- Be sure to purchase a few extra balloons. A couple are bound to pop when you draw on them or in the car on the way home. Better safe than sorry!
- Don't stress about the owl drawing. Just keep it simple. If you aren't an artist, the basic shapes are the important thing. The diamond nose, forehead dots and fringe around the face are what gives the look of the owl. I promise, it's not as hard as it looks.
Have a great party! I'll be sharing ideas from the actual party later in the week.
Need more party ideas? Check these out. Images are linked.
Thanks for stopping by!
Joyce
I love this idea! And I DO think invitations are important because they set the mood - and expectations for the party. When my grandkids are old enough fpr the books I plan to have a party for them. Have been so proud of myself for finding a perfect feathery, sweet-faced "Helga" (?) to save for that event. This balloon invitation idea is going right into that file too. Thank you!
Heidi Fowler
Thanks, Joyce. I'm glad someone else feels the same way about invitations. I think they make things fun. You're lucky to have found a cute stuffed owl. If you are referring to Harry's owl, his name is Hedwig. You were close. (I'm afraid I'm a little too good at Harry Potter trivia. I think I've read the books at least five times. Crazy.) I'll be sharing more party ideas soon. Thanks for dropping by!
Momprojects
These are so clever!! I can't wait until my toddler is into Harry Potter, these would be so fun as a birthday party invite. Thanks for sharing!
Heidi Fowler
Thanks, MomProjects! That's a lot of time to collect ideas! I'll be sharing more soon.
Alexis @ Persia Lou
This is such a good idea! So fun!
[email protected]
Thanks, Alexis! I just popped by your site and left you a comment.
Eliza
This is the most adorable Harry Potter party idea I have ever seen! Very creative and fun. What an awesome way to do invites, I know I would be so excited if I received one of those! Thank you for sharing
Eliza @ http://lizalouloves.blogspot.com
Heidi Fowler
Thanks, Eliza! I didn't come up with the idea, but I sure had fun with it, and the kids loved it.
Diana Rambles
I didn't get it at first, but now I do. CLEVER!!
[email protected] Cooking with Curls
Those are awesome invitations! I still want to have a Harry Potter Party someday! :)
[email protected]
Thanks, Lisa. If my kids keep loving Harry Potter, I'll get to do this two more times. I hope you get the chance, too!
anna
Génial !
Anna
Heidi Fowler
Thanks, Anna!
Chelsea
Oh my gosh this is the greatest. Is it shameful if I want to do this for my own birthday party next year?
Heidi Fowler
Of course not, Chelsea! Adults can be Harry Potter fans, too! :) I saw a fun adult Harry Potter party online. Couples came dressed as couples from the books.
Amy kahler
I am a big Harry potter fan so this looks so fun to me! Thanks for linking up to our party!
https://www.facebook.com/craftscakesandcats
[email protected]
Thanks, Amy, and thanks for stopping by!
Winnie
This is sooooo creative. I am a big Potter fan, so this caught my eye. What a happy face on the little one, you can tell it is a hit.
[email protected]
Thanks so much, Winnie!
Cassidy
This is such a cute idea! I just wish my kids were more into Harry Potter. I shouldn't have let them watch the movies before reading the books- they are kind of scary. Thanks for sharing though :)
I'm hosting a linky party if you want to come join in- cass-eats.blogspot.com
[email protected]
Thanks, Cassidy. My kids have only seen a couple of the PG-rated Harry Potter movies. I agree that they are definitely scary! My oldest is the only one who has read the books so far. I think it will be a while before the other two are ready. I'll pop over and check out your party! Thanks for the invite.
Jessi @ Practically Functional
I love this SO much, what a clever idea! I would be thrilled to get owl post on my doorstep so I'm sure her guests had a blast with it! Pinning this, and thanks so much for sharing it at my link party!
[email protected]
The guests really did have a blast. We loved getting some of the party responses by owl post as well! I hope you get a delivery by owl post some day, Jessi! :) Grownups can have fun, too, right?
Linda
How clever. Thanks for linking to What'd You Do This Weekend.
Linda @ Tumbleweed Contessa
Laurie
Thank you for your great post, ideas and pics! I'd love to share your cute owl-post picture together with the link to your website on my new post today. Would that be okay?
[email protected]
Thanks, Laurie! I'd love for you to share. I checked out your party, and it looked awesome!
Laurie
Thanks Heidi, I'll add your picture since mine didn't turn out, and hopefully it'll bring you more traffic.
Adam
So I'm turning 21 this year and have now decided Potter is the way to go with my party! Whoop Whoop! Love the invitations.
Heidi Fowler
You're never too old for a Harry Potter party, Adam! Have fun!
Randall McKeon
I love this idea and we're stealing it for my daughter's 8th birthday party (harry potter themed, of course). Did you have any problem with the balloons losing their helium?? I think we're going to deliver owls this weekend but we have friends who live 30 minutes away in opposite directions, and no telling if they will be home or not. Any thoughts??
Heidi Fowler
The balloons for sure lasted the day. The next day, one of the kids RSVP'd via "Owl post," and Hedwig had shrunk to half size. I usually get helium balloons at Walmart, and they are usually fine for at least a day. Just make sure they are tied tightly. Be sure to get a few extras, though! I lost one getting them into the car from Walmart and at least one more at home. Good luck!
Paige Mannix
This is amazing!!!
Awesome invitations really are important, and these are just the best!!
Hedwig looks so cute!!!
Heidi Fowler
Aw, thanks so much, Paige. The party was really fun.
Marilyn
Heidi, this is AWESOME!!!!!!! I am so blown away by this awesome ides! Thanks so much!
cathy Caballero (@cuttysark_roy)
Harry potter fans will love your birthday invitations. I think its awesome, i even liked the fact you tied it to a balloon. Have a nice day!
shellie
this is fabulous. thank you! please tell me, where do you get the fonts from??? that bit i cannot work out...
thanks :)
Heidi
Hi, Shellie. I added links in the post where I name the fonts. Now you can click on the name of the font, and it will link to where I found it. I hope that helps! (I got them from dafont.com and fonts2u.com.)
shellie
brilliant!!! you are so clever and quick. thanks so much :) i really appreciate this. you are amazing!
for some reason, i cant get the lumos one to work after i download it.. don’t know why? and the harry potter one that i found does not show up on my list of fonts in windows. not sure why either. but not your problem :) thanks so much! this is just brilliant. i’ve really gotten in to all this Harry Potter stuff :)
Heidi
Have fun, Shelly! If the fonts aren't working, try googling the name of the font. You might be able to pick up a different version from another free website. Good luck!
shellie
i googled and discovered that the lumos font, for some reason, actually gets named “new” in my font list. strange, but very glad to have found it as it has the broomstick and snitch etc. lots of fun. thanks so much! plus i found some other great fun fonts along the way.
Jessica
These look so organic and related to the franchise! I really like ideas like this, where the concept merges with reality in a very smooth way! Amazing!!
Suzanne
Thanks so much for posting this 🤩. My hubby has surprised me with a theatre dinner Harry Potter style in an old cathedral for my 50th this year and its by invitation only so a, printing this invite on parchment paper and each letter will have a train ticket also as the personal invitation ..... I can’t wait! Am so excited and delighted to find this example — thank you!
Heidi
Hi, Suzanne. I don't know how I missed this comment. I hope the invitations worked well for you, and I hope you had a great 50th party!
Joni
OMG! Thank you so much for posting this idea! I used it for my son's birthday party and it was a huge hit. He invited the whole class, so while they were out of the classroom I delivered them and the kids reactions were priceless!
Heidi
I'm so glad the kids loved it, Joni. I would love to have seen their reaction!
Chris Hilgendorf
Heidi, My daughter loved the idea and we are putting the invitations together this week. Just a quick question ... the balloons, we're concerned about them staying on the porch when we drop them off. Did you weigh them down with something more than the letter itself?
Heidi
Good question, Chris! We did another Harry Potter party a few weeks ago, and we actually had one blow away! We tied them all tightly to the doorknob (except the first one!). To make sure that they were found, we did an extra step at each house. We took a pic of the invitation on the doorstep and texted it to the child's parent. That's how we found out one blew away (the family was on vacation, and it didn't get tied tightly). That's a good way to make sure that each invitation gets found.
Chris Hilgendorf
Ah, got it. Thank you for the idea, and thank you so much for passing this great idea on to the rest of us!!!
Joshua Huntj
Dear friends Harry Potter , I found owl in the tree. My sister house in Houma Louisiana my sister address 306 keylopps.
And was very nice. My owls love me . So much Write To me . Please
Maria
Thank you so much!!!Very interesing idea.