Marking human birthdays has a long history. Of course, the tradition does not date back to the dawn of human history-understanding of lunar cycles and a calendar is required, naturally-but there have been festivities surrounding birthdays for hundreds of years. Many royals loved to throw parties for themselves. These were enormous fetes. Birthdays were not necessarily restricted to the high born, however. In some pagan societies, evil spirits were thought to stalk the birthday boy or girl. To ward them off, well-wishers surrounded the honoree for protection and made a lot of noise. Surprisingly, this sounds an awful lot like some modern birthday bashes!

When planning for a successful birthday party, especially a milestone birthday, it is nice to establish the right tone. This means finding the perfect invitation. For such an occasion as a coming-of-age birthday or those birthdays that are so hard in later years-the ones that end in zero-invitations can create an air of elegance and sophistication that sets your event apart as something significant.

The finest birthday invitations are created through a relief printing method that is over five hundred years old. It is a labor intensive process, so very few modern printers practice it. Letterpress printing is still done by hobbyists and small presses, though. Art books, special editions, broadsides, and exquisite announcements and invitations are their specialties.

These printers often offer unrivaled personal attention, helping customers choose amongst a variety of rich papers, embellishment options, type face, and artwork to create the perfect invitation card. (Though the printing method is centuries old, the designs range from old fashioned to sleek and modern and everything in between!)

Planning a birthday party for a loved one can be enjoyable. The invitation gives party guests their first impression. To amp up| the anticipation for party goers, a beautiful letterpress invitation is a great start.