Given Name or Nickname on 1St Birthday Invite?

I would use the name that people are familiar with. A first birthday party isn't exactly a formal event.

I usually put my son's nickname on birthday party invites. Something more formal, like a graduation announcement, I would use his full name. If you are throwing a very formal party, I would use the full name. Otherwise, I think the shortened name is fine. I am thinking of this along the lines of her given name is Elizabeth and everyone calls her Lizzie- use Lizzie. If her given name is Elizabeth and everyone calls her Freckles or Poodle or something like that, I would use her given name :)

I don't consider a first birthday party a formal occasion so I would just use her nickname, especially if that's what everyone calls her.
I'm surprised your husband cares one way or another, all my husband does is show up to the party, he has no interest in any of the planning LOL!

If everyone calls her by her nickname then put the nickname on the invite. A one year old birthday party is NOT school or a wedding! My daughter's name is Victoria, but we ALL call her Tori (and have since the day she was born). It would be really weird to put Victoria on her birthday invite. Actually it made me notice who really knows her and who doesn't when I glanced at her Valentine's from school. A handful of the boys wrote "Victoria." They were obviously copying it off the class list from school. I mean, it IS her name, but it was still a little weird for them to write that. Yeah, put her nickname on the invite.

And I agree with AZneomom - if you call her Poodle I'd probably not write that. HAHA! I was thinking just a shortened version of her actual name.

My daughter goes by a nickname based on her middle name. We used her nickname. And since it was family and close friends, I didn't even think about what is "proper." That seems awfully stiff to me.

I always used what their friends called them. Like my oldest would have Tommy because putting Thomas on there just sounds stupid because it is too proper for a birthday invite. Plus why give his friends something to laugh at. I mean all kids laugh when a friend is called by their given name mostly because it means they are in trouble.

I mean no one in my kids classes would think of them by their given names except my girls.

My older daughter actually had a Boomer in her class. I have no idea what that girls real name was.

it's a 1 year old's birthday party, not a soiree.
use the name she goes by every day.
:) khairete
S.

It really doesn't matter. If her name is Abigail and you call her Abby, either name is fine on the invitation. A first birthday party isn't a formal affair, so etiquette really doesn't matter with regard to her name. Call her whatever you want.

My son goes by a shortened version of his given name, too. We always use the nickname - the name everyone always calls him - on his birthday invitations.

Is it an obvious version of her name? If, for instance, her name is Katherine but everybody calls her Katie, and knows her as Katie, then you can go with that. My kids didnt' have names that led to nicknames, but I'm fairly certain that when my nephew was a kid, my sister put Danny, and not Daniel on his party invites because nobody called him Daniel. But I'm sure she put Daniel on his Bar Mitzvah invitations, that was a formal event. A birthday party for a kid is not meant to be a formal event. Now, if your child is Margot but you call her Daisy, if people are going to get the invite and say, "Who the heck is Daisy?" then you'd want to use her given name.

Good luck. I always did the party invites myself, and if my kids had a name that could have been shortened, it would never have occurred to me to ask my husband about the invites.

Julie: One of our neighbors had 4 kids, the older boy was Boomer. For many years, I just assumed he was Bruce Jr. I was pretty surprised when I eventually found out that his name was Brayden. But if I'd gotten an invite to Brayden H----'s birthday or Confirmation or anything, I would not have known who it was!

I would go with what she is called. If you call her Liz but her name is Elizabeth, will everyone be confused if they get an invite for Elizabeth? I probably would have to stop and think.

If it's going to be a formal party, I'd do her given name. If it's more laid back, I'd use the nick name.

I have used the given name on invitation. Honestly, if the font or rhythm looks better with one over the other use it.

edit: a name that is Randall to Trey, well I would go with Trey too. I am thinking of Isabella to Bella.

My son in Randall III. We call him Trey and that has always been on invitations and such.

When it comes to his wedding invitations? Will leave it up to him and the bride-to-be. But I can't think of any other reason to use his given name since we don't use it.

I think a nickname is fine! Reserve the given name for wedding, and possibly graduation invitations. A birthday invitation should be casual and fun.

My daughter's name is Madison Cheyenne and we have always called her Cheyenne. We use Madison Cheyenne on formal things (school, registrations, any legal documents) but just Cheyenne on everything else (invitations, personlized pics, and even her library registration).

Is your daughter's nickname a shortened form of her given name? Such as Nicki/Nicole? If so, I think either is fine. If it is her middle name like with our daughter, if you don't include the nick name (even if it's Madison "Cheyenne" Last Name) then some people may not realize who the party is for (clearly family should but maybe not the friends).

Depends on the name and the family.

If I was inviting non-family, I would put my daughter's given name because that's what people outside of the family call her. If it was just family, then I would use her shortened name. Then again if it was just family I wouldn't be writing invitations anyway.

What does your daughter want to do?

In my opinion, the nickname is the way to go. This is a birthday, not a wedding.

"You're invited to a party for Mariann, Mari, on Sunday. Please let us know if you can make it."

One of my grand kids nickname is Goober, but that's only with family and at home. No one knows his nickname outside of that group so I'd always include his real name if I was planning an activity for him.