20+ Farewell Invitation Examples, Templates & Design Ideas

When family or friends depart from us, whether they’re moving, retiring or has permanently departed, saying your goodbyes can either mean you get to say it for the last time or at least the last time in a while. Making sure you get to spend time with them before they leave is a time for you to celebrate the times you have had together and to make new ones you can cherish.

In this case, you can make new memories by sending them off or by commemorating the memories you have with them. You can organize an event where the person’s family and friends get to say goodbye and reminisce on the times they had with the person. Template.net offers various templates you can use for the invitations for the farewell party/event you are going to organize.

Elements of a Farewell Invitation

If you are organizing a party to send people off as they move along with life or to celebrate the deceased, it is important that you send out invitations for your farewell party/celebration. Here the elements needed to make your farewell invitation appropriate and effective:

• Theme: Farewells can either be sad or happy. The theme of a farewell party will be how you want to commemorate the departure of someone, either celebrate the happy memories or wallow in despair. In this case, the theme of your party will also determine all aspects from the invitation, to the decorations and down to the program.
• Design: The design of your invitation should be appropriate to the theme of the party. For example, a party organized to bid goodbye to a retiree can have a fun and happy design; however, if the party is organized to commemorate or honor the deceased the design should be sensitive to the matter and stick to a toned down illustrations/images.
• Message: Your invitation can also include a message or a quote that matches theme of your event. Although it is meant to express feelings of gratitude for meeting the person, it should also reflect how sad it that he/she is moving, retiring, or has died. However, although the theme still should be followed.
• Party Information: The most important element of any invitation is the information about the party. It should have the following information or content:
  • Name of host
  • Invitational phrase (requests the pleasure of your company, cordially invites you to)
  • Event type/name/purpose (e.g., luncheon, dinner, reception, lecture)
  • Date
  • Hour
  • Place/Venue/Location
  • Reply instructions (e.g., reply card or phone number)
  • Disabled instructions (e.g., fax or email)
  • Attire instructions (e.g., casual, business, formal)
  • Directions

10 Farewell Invitation Templates

Farewell Breakfast Invitation

Farewell Potluck Invitation Template

Farewell Party Invitation

Intricate Farewell Invitation

Chalkboard Farewell Party Invitation Template

School Farewell Party Invitation

Friendship Farewell Invitation Card

Happy Farewell Invitation Card Template

Dinner Farewell Party Invitation

Vintage Farewell Party Invitation Template

10 Farewell Invitation Examples

Faculty Farewell Party Invitation

behance.net/gallery/19352493/Farewell-Party-Invitation

Disco Farewell Party Invitation Example

behance.net/gallery/33001551/Farewell-Invitation-Card

Lush Farewell Invitation

behance.net/gallery/70948061/Invitation-Design-for-Farewell-Party

Farewell Party Invitation Stub

behance.net/gallery/70959351/Farewell-Party-Invitation-Card

Farewell Celebration Invitation Example

behance.net/gallery/26130067/Farewell-Celebration-Invitation

Missionary Farewell Invitation

behance.net/gallery/21141953/LDS-Missionary-Farewell-Invitation

Comical Farewell Invitation

behance.net/gallery/20793937/Farewell-Party-Invitation

Farewell Potluck Lunch Invitation

behance.net/gallery/29553455/Farewell-Invitation

Unofficial Farewell Party Example

behance.net/gallery/45871297/Invitation-for-Farewell-Pamphlet

Presidential Farewell Reception Invitation

behance.net/gallery/50207081/President-Barack-Obamas-Farewell-Reception-Invitation

Bon Voyage Party Invitation

behance.net/gallery/49368015/Farewell-invitation

Steps in Designing a Farewell Invitation

The design of your farewell invitation will let your guests know about the mood of the event. Through how the invitation is presented, your guests will be able to coordinate how to carry themselves during the event. Here is an easy guide on how you can design an effective farewell invitation that will help translate the mood of your event:

1. Pick a theme

As mentioned, the theme you pick for the party will determine the mood of all other party aspects. Decide on the theme on the very beginning of the planning process.

For families or friends that are moving out you can go for these themes: World Traveler Party, Blast Off Party, and so on. For a peer that is retiring, here are some ideas for a good theme: Destination Celebration, Hobby Theme, Walk Down Memory Lane, etc. And for a deceased’s family or friends farewell event you can either not celebrate it at all or celebrate the life of the deceased with a walk down memory lane with his/her family and friends.

2. Choose a template

There are quite a few number of free templates for a farewell invitation online. After a quick search, you can find a template that matches your theme. Having a pre-designed theme means you get to save time on the designing process and just customize it to match your preference.

3. Pick appropriate design

Now that you have a template, the design is also pre-made. However, if you still want to customize and personalize it, choose the design that you think best reflects the person’s personality, style, etc. It should also be a perfect match for the theme that you will be doing for the event.

4. Add invitation phrase

An invitation phrase on your invitation is the phrase that expresses your enthusiasm in inviting your guests. It should express your happiness to invite the person. Here are some ideas for the invitation phrase of your farewell invitation: “[host name] wishes to extend to you the pleasure of a final evening as Seniors,” “Join us to bid [name] farewell…” “A farewell night on Friday is being held in your honor, to thank you for your long commitment to this company,” and so on.

5. Include the name of the event

The name of the event should be plastered on the center or upper most part of the invitation. It should be able to immediately convey what the party is for. For example, you can have Farewell Party in bold, ALL CAPS, or large font size in the middle of the invitation. You can also have other equivalent to that that will help your guests understand the purpose of the party. 

6. Add party information

After all of that, do not forget to add the relevant information about the party. Include the name of the person being celebrated or the host, the venue/location/address, date and time, RSVP contact information, and so on. Make sure that you choose a font, and lay out your text matching your overall invitation design.

Tips in Making a Farewell Invitation

Your invitation for a farewell gathering will help encourage your guests to actually be there on the event. Thus, its designs as well as texts should be inviting and interesting to your intended guests. Here are some tips to make sure your invitation is effective:

• Be sensitive with your designs and words.
• Make sure the person’s personality is channeled through your invitation.
• Your design should be consistent and cohesive.
• Make sure your background is in balance with your text.
• Your texts should still be visible against your background.
• The information you provide should be clear and correct.
• Proofread and edit, if necessary.

How to Make a Farewell Invitation in Word

To help you make a farewell invitation in Microsoft Word, here is an easy guide you can refer to as you go along the entire process:

1. As you open Word, click new. On the task pane, select the Invitations option located on the far left side. This will give you various templates you can use. Choose one that fits your theme and preference.
2. Once you select a template, it will give you information about who made the template, how big the file size is, how long it will take to download, and the ratings other users gave it.
3. Once you have chosen your template, scroll to page 2 or the front page of your invitation. You can then proceed to editing the event name and filling out the event information.
4. Since the template already has designs that you need, you can proceed to saving it or printing it right away. If you want to incorporate more designs, just insert the images or illustrations that you prefer.

You can also make a one-page invitation in Word. Just make sure you determine the size your invitation will be, add a border and background you like, and the proceed to typing out the details about the event.

Types of Farewell Invitation

A farewell party can be any party that is intended to celebrate a person who is going away and you will not be seeing anytime soon or may be even for the deceased. Here some of the types of farewell parties that need invitations:

• Moving/Going away party invitation
• Graduation party invitation
• Retirement party invitation
• Tribute party invitation

Farewell Invitation Sizes

An invitation can be any size you want. Depending on what you prefer, it can also be in any shape. Thus, there is really no standard size to it. But to help you out, here are ideal sizes for different invitations:

• 3.5” × 5”
• 4” × 6” & 4.25″ × 6
• 5” × 7”

Folded Invitations

• 7” × 5” (folds to 3.5” × 5”)
• 8.5” × 6” (folds to 4.25 × 6”)
• 10” × 7” (folds to 5” × 7”)

Farewell Invitation FAQs

Here are some answers to questions commonly asked about farewell parties and invitations:

1. What is farewell party?

A farewell party is basically a memorable way to say goodbye to a peer or family that are moving on with life. As morbid as it may seem, even people with terminal diseases throw their own farewell party so that they get to spend some quality time with family and friends and so they can say goodbye to them.

2. What is the best gift to give during a farewell party?

Here is a list of gift ideas for a farewell party:

• A caricature
• Mug with printed quotes or words
• Succulent
• Gift cards
• Wine and wine glasses
• Person’s favorite perfume
• Food basket

3. What is the best format for a farewell invitation?

You can have your invitation as a card or a one-page flat invitation. Either way is good so long the design is great, the texts are readable and the information is correct.

Bidding farewell to the people you have spend some time with is bittersweet; you will miss them, but you are surely happy for them. It is important that you get to celebrate in any way the times you have all spent together. And a well-made farewell invitation will help you encourage your guests to participate in such a memorable gathering.

We hope you have learned useful information about the aspects of farewell invitations and may you take inspiration from the samples provided in this article.