Triplet birthday invitations: three names, one cake

Three candles on one cake, and a group chat with forty unread messages. Is the party on Saturday, or on the Tuesday they actually turn three? One set of triplet birthday invitations or three separate ones? Do grandparents count as guests? Nobody has bought a present yet.

Almost all of that gets settled before the party. Decide what you are celebrating, keep the three names in the same order everywhere, and give everyone one clear place to reply.

Triplet birthday invitations: one party or three?

Before you scroll through designs, write one sentence. 'One party for all three, Saturday the 14th' is a different invitation from 'three celebrations, three different weekends'. The first has three names and one date on the cover. The second needs an invitation per child, or one invitation with a separate scene for each of them. Get that sentence right and most of the questions answer themselves.

• Write it down: one party for all three, or three celebrations on different days.
• Keep the names in the order you use at home — oldest, middle, youngest, or the nicknames only your family uses.
• Put the date of the party on the invitation, even when the birthday itself falls on a Tuesday.
• Say whether adults are coming. 'All four of us' and 'just me and grandma' need different chairs and a different table.

Three names on the cover, in the same order

Instead of a bare 'They're 3!', try 'Julia, Mateo and Leo turn 3'. The headline, the names, the date, the message and the place each sit in their own field, so nothing slides out of place while you type. A character counter warns you when a long name is about to break the design. If 'Maximiliano' will not fit at the same size as 'Ana', shorten the headline, never the child's name.

Then the photos. You can upload up to six: one cover picture of all three looking at the camera, the rest decorative. They frame themselves, you choose which one is the cover, and you can replace any of them later. In the free trial you can edit the cover without paying anything; buying unlocks the remaining scenes.

One party, three names, one link. The questions stop there.

One time, one address, one list for replies

For a single party, keep one place and one time and say 'the same address for all three'. Replies arrive inside the invitation, in one ordered list: how many adults, how many children. Set those two questions and you will know whether you are laying a table for twelve or for thirty — with triplets, that is a question of space and cake, not of manners. Allergies, menus and cribs stay out of that form; send those straight to whoever is cooking. If the cake runs half an hour late, edit the time: the link stays the same and everyone sees the new version. One thing to check first: every guest needs a phone, a tablet or a computer with internet, so if your aunt does not use hers, send the link to whoever is bringing her. Pick a design, try it free, and have the cover ready with all three names before you send it out.