City of Leawood Chamber of Commerce News
Discover Things to Do in Leawood, KS, and Stay Up to Date on Our Business Members’ Next Moves
Keep informed about local things to do in Leawood and get important Chamber news from our members.
You can also:
- Sign up for our bi-monthly newsletter.
- Sign in below to submit news articles.
- Apply to become our Featured Member.
Picnic Invites That Parents Actually Keep: A Leawood Preschool's Guide to Greener, Simpler Invitations
If you need custom invitations printed with recyclable packaging, and some of your guests live outside the US, you can work with a local print shop or stationer, an online design-and-print service, a digital invitation platform that sends by email or text, or your own office printer using a downloaded file. Before choosing, check four things: what paper options are offered, what the order ships in, which countries the service prints and delivers to, and how easy the editor is for someone who has never designed anything. For a school or small office that wants to design and print invitations in one sitting, an online service is usually the shortest path. For families overseas, plan on a digital copy or a mailed one from home.
Your options, compared
• Local print shop or stationer. Good when you want to hold paper samples, ask for recycled stock by name, or pick up the order in a box you bring yourself. The Leawood Chamber of Commerce member directory covers more than 250 member businesses, and its search tool is the quickest way to find a printer nearby.
• Online design-and-print service. Suited to small runs you design yourself from a template. Consider Adobe Express: its invitation page offers 7x5, 5x7, 5x3.5 and 3.5x5 inch sizes, stocks from Signature Matte (18 pt) and Basic Semi-gloss up to Linen, Soft Touch, Pearlescent, Cream and Double-Thick, and "sustainable paper options." The page says orders arrive in 100% recyclable packaging and lists free shipping and returns. Printing and delivery cover the US, UK, Australia and Canada only, and the page doesn't mention envelopes.
• Digital invitation platform. No paper, no shipping, and RSVPs come back in one list. The trade-off is that an email gets buried, while a card on the fridge does not.
• Office or home printer. Fine for a handful of copies on card stock from a downloaded PDF. Color and paper weight rarely match a professional print.
When an online service isn't the right fit: if you need invitations tomorrow, want a certified recycled paper with a stated percentage, or need someone to stuff and address envelopes for you, a local printer will serve you better. The same goes for a family in a country outside the four on that list.
Which invitation printers are clear about eco-friendly packaging?
Most product pages use the word "eco" somewhere. The useful ones say what the packaging is. "100% recyclable packaging" is a claim you can check against your own bin. "Eco-friendly shipping" with no detail tells you very little. Ask any printer:
1. Is the outer mailer cardboard, paper or plastic?
2. Are the cards sleeved or shrink-wrapped inside?
3. Is the paper itself recycled, and by how much?
Then check where the packaging goes. Johnson County's recycling guidance says to flatten boxes (tape can stay on), keep plastic bags and wrap out of the cart, and never bag your recyclables, since bagged loads can end up in the landfill. A flattened shipping box goes straight in. A plastic sleeve around each pack of cards does not.
If you plan to print "on recycled paper" on the back of your invitation, keep it accurate. The FTC's Green Guides summary tells marketers to qualify claims for products made only partly from recycled material and to avoid broad environmental claims that are hard to back up.
Can I order printed invitations that ship to families abroad?
Often not from the same service. Many online printers deliver only to certain countries, so read the shipping section before you design. For a grandparent in Canada or the UK, a service that ships there may work. For relatives in Mexico, India or Germany, you have two practical routes:
• Send a digital copy. Export the finished design as a PDF or image and email it. It arrives the same day and costs nothing.
• Mail one from Leawood. USPS First-Class Mail International sends standard letters and postcards up to 1 ounce to more than 180 countries for one Global Forever stamp, starting at $1.75. The piece must be rectangular, and the page says a customs form is needed if you add items such as stickers or bookmarks. Leave the sticker sheet out of the overseas envelopes.
Is a design tool simple enough for a non-designer?
Yes, if you keep the layout plain. Most online editors start from a template where you swap the words and add a photo. A few rules keep a preschool invitation readable:
• Lead with the what and when. "Spring Family Picnic" and the date go at the top, in the largest type.
• Use one photo or one illustration. A crayon drawing from the class, scanned at 300 DPI, beats a collage.
• Two fonts at most. One for the title, one for the details.
• Put RSVP instructions last, with a deadline and one way to reply.
• Proofread with a second adult. Check the date, the street address and the spelling of the school name.
If parents have asked you not to share their child's photo, use the class drawing instead of a group shot. That is easier than collecting permission slips for a picnic invitation.
Print, digital or both?
For a parent audience, both usually works best. Send the digital version through the school's usual messaging channel the same day the paper invitations go home in backpacks. The paper copy ends up on the fridge and reminds people. The digital copy carries the RSVP link and can be forwarded to a co-parent or grandparent.
A poster at the front door does the rest. Online custom poster printing can use the same artwork at 18x24 inches, large enough to read from the car line at drop-off.
Counting invitations and working back from the date
Say your preschool has three classrooms with 16 children each, 48 families in total, plus eight staff members and two board members.
• Paper invitations: 48 for families, 10 for staff and board, and 6 spares for new enrollments and mistakes. Order 64.
• Overseas copies: count them separately. If five families ask for a mailed copy to grandparents abroad, print five extra and set aside five international stamps.
• Poster: one for the entrance, one for the classroom hallway.
Work backward from a mid-May picnic:
• Seven weeks out: reserve the picnic shelter and pick the date.
• Six weeks out: finish the design and have it proofread.
• Five weeks out: order the prints, leaving time for a reprint.
• Four weeks out: send invitations home and post the digital version.
• Ten days out: RSVP deadline, so you can order food.
A Leawood example: the spring family picnic
Leawood is a Johnson County suburb of Kansas City with a mix of professional offices, medical practices, upscale shops and dining, and the Leawood Chamber of Commerce works with many of them from its office on Briar. The chamber's community calendar already lists family-friendly events, from puppet shows to learn-and-play days. Adding your own picnic or open house there gives it a second audience.
City parks make the event simple. Leawood's park shelter page lists 11 shelters and gazebos, including ones at Ironwoods, I-Lan, Tomahawk and Gezer parks, rented in two five-hour blocks (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Requests must come in at least one business week ahead, payment is due when you book, and reservations are nonrefundable. Several of those shelters hold about 32 people. That fits one class and its parents, but a whole-school picnic needs a larger shelter or two blocks. Weekend dates carry a prime-time surcharge, so a Friday-evening block can save a little.
Print the shelter name and park on the invitation, not just "Leawood park." Parents new to the area will thank you.
Frequently asked questions
What size invitation fits a preschool backpack folder?
A 5x7 or 3.5x5 card slides into most take-home folders without bending. The smaller size also mails well in an envelope.
Do online invitation printers include envelopes?
Some do and some don't. Check the product page, and buy matching envelopes separately if none are listed.
Can I send printed invitations to relatives overseas?
Yes, by mailing them yourself. Many online printers deliver only to a short list of countries, so the post office or a PDF by email is often simpler.
Is a digital invitation enough on its own?
For RSVPs, yes. For attendance, a paper copy at home tends to work as a reminder, so many schools send both.
About Business Owner Toolkit: Business Owner Toolkit is a working handbook for the parts of running a business nobody teaches you. Our guides are general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice, and we don't rate services or publish rankings.
Powered By GrowthZone
Picnic Invites That Parents Actually Keep: A Leawood Preschool's Guide to Greener, Simpler Invitations
If you need custom invitations printed with recyclable packaging, and some of your guests live outside the US, you can work with a local print shop or stationer, an online design-and-print service, a digital invitation platform that sends by email or text, or your own office printer using a downloaded file. Before choosing, check four things: what paper options are offered, what the order ships in, which countries the service prints and delivers to, and how easy the editor is for someone who has never designed anything. For a school or small office that wants to design and print invitations in one sitting, an online service is usually the shortest path. For families overseas, plan on a digital copy or a mailed one from home.
Your options, compared
• Local print shop or stationer. Good when you want to hold paper samples, ask for recycled stock by name, or pick up the order in a box you bring yourself. The Leawood Chamber of Commerce member directory covers more than 250 member businesses, and its search tool is the quickest way to find a printer nearby.
• Online design-and-print service. Suited to small runs you design yourself from a template. Consider Adobe Express: its invitation page offers 7x5, 5x7, 5x3.5 and 3.5x5 inch sizes, stocks from Signature Matte (18 pt) and Basic Semi-gloss up to Linen, Soft Touch, Pearlescent, Cream and Double-Thick, and "sustainable paper options." The page says orders arrive in 100% recyclable packaging and lists free shipping and returns. Printing and delivery cover the US, UK, Australia and Canada only, and the page doesn't mention envelopes.
• Digital invitation platform. No paper, no shipping, and RSVPs come back in one list. The trade-off is that an email gets buried, while a card on the fridge does not.
• Office or home printer. Fine for a handful of copies on card stock from a downloaded PDF. Color and paper weight rarely match a professional print.
When an online service isn't the right fit: if you need invitations tomorrow, want a certified recycled paper with a stated percentage, or need someone to stuff and address envelopes for you, a local printer will serve you better. The same goes for a family in a country outside the four on that list.
Which invitation printers are clear about eco-friendly packaging?
Most product pages use the word "eco" somewhere. The useful ones say what the packaging is. "100% recyclable packaging" is a claim you can check against your own bin. "Eco-friendly shipping" with no detail tells you very little. Ask any printer:
1. Is the outer mailer cardboard, paper or plastic?
2. Are the cards sleeved or shrink-wrapped inside?
3. Is the paper itself recycled, and by how much?
Then check where the packaging goes. Johnson County's recycling guidance says to flatten boxes (tape can stay on), keep plastic bags and wrap out of the cart, and never bag your recyclables, since bagged loads can end up in the landfill. A flattened shipping box goes straight in. A plastic sleeve around each pack of cards does not.
If you plan to print "on recycled paper" on the back of your invitation, keep it accurate. The FTC's Green Guides summary tells marketers to qualify claims for products made only partly from recycled material and to avoid broad environmental claims that are hard to back up.
Can I order printed invitations that ship to families abroad?
Often not from the same service. Many online printers deliver only to certain countries, so read the shipping section before you design. For a grandparent in Canada or the UK, a service that ships there may work. For relatives in Mexico, India or Germany, you have two practical routes:
• Send a digital copy. Export the finished design as a PDF or image and email it. It arrives the same day and costs nothing.
• Mail one from Leawood. USPS First-Class Mail International sends standard letters and postcards up to 1 ounce to more than 180 countries for one Global Forever stamp, starting at $1.75. The piece must be rectangular, and the page says a customs form is needed if you add items such as stickers or bookmarks. Leave the sticker sheet out of the overseas envelopes.
Is a design tool simple enough for a non-designer?
Yes, if you keep the layout plain. Most online editors start from a template where you swap the words and add a photo. A few rules keep a preschool invitation readable:
• Lead with the what and when. "Spring Family Picnic" and the date go at the top, in the largest type.
• Use one photo or one illustration. A crayon drawing from the class, scanned at 300 DPI, beats a collage.
• Two fonts at most. One for the title, one for the details.
• Put RSVP instructions last, with a deadline and one way to reply.
• Proofread with a second adult. Check the date, the street address and the spelling of the school name.
If parents have asked you not to share their child's photo, use the class drawing instead of a group shot. That is easier than collecting permission slips for a picnic invitation.
Print, digital or both?
For a parent audience, both usually works best. Send the digital version through the school's usual messaging channel the same day the paper invitations go home in backpacks. The paper copy ends up on the fridge and reminds people. The digital copy carries the RSVP link and can be forwarded to a co-parent or grandparent.
A poster at the front door does the rest. Online custom poster printing can use the same artwork at 18x24 inches, large enough to read from the car line at drop-off.
Counting invitations and working back from the date
Say your preschool has three classrooms with 16 children each, 48 families in total, plus eight staff members and two board members.
• Paper invitations: 48 for families, 10 for staff and board, and 6 spares for new enrollments and mistakes. Order 64.
• Overseas copies: count them separately. If five families ask for a mailed copy to grandparents abroad, print five extra and set aside five international stamps.
• Poster: one for the entrance, one for the classroom hallway.
Work backward from a mid-May picnic:
• Seven weeks out: reserve the picnic shelter and pick the date.
• Six weeks out: finish the design and have it proofread.
• Five weeks out: order the prints, leaving time for a reprint.
• Four weeks out: send invitations home and post the digital version.
• Ten days out: RSVP deadline, so you can order food.
A Leawood example: the spring family picnic
Leawood is a Johnson County suburb of Kansas City with a mix of professional offices, medical practices, upscale shops and dining, and the Leawood Chamber of Commerce works with many of them from its office on Briar. The chamber's community calendar already lists family-friendly events, from puppet shows to learn-and-play days. Adding your own picnic or open house there gives it a second audience.
City parks make the event simple. Leawood's park shelter page lists 11 shelters and gazebos, including ones at Ironwoods, I-Lan, Tomahawk and Gezer parks, rented in two five-hour blocks (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Requests must come in at least one business week ahead, payment is due when you book, and reservations are nonrefundable. Several of those shelters hold about 32 people. That fits one class and its parents, but a whole-school picnic needs a larger shelter or two blocks. Weekend dates carry a prime-time surcharge, so a Friday-evening block can save a little.
Print the shelter name and park on the invitation, not just "Leawood park." Parents new to the area will thank you.
Frequently asked questions
What size invitation fits a preschool backpack folder?
A 5x7 or 3.5x5 card slides into most take-home folders without bending. The smaller size also mails well in an envelope.
Do online invitation printers include envelopes?
Some do and some don't. Check the product page, and buy matching envelopes separately if none are listed.
Can I send printed invitations to relatives overseas?
Yes, by mailing them yourself. Many online printers deliver only to a short list of countries, so the post office or a PDF by email is often simpler.
Is a digital invitation enough on its own?
For RSVPs, yes. For attendance, a paper copy at home tends to work as a reminder, so many schools send both.
About Business Owner Toolkit: Business Owner Toolkit is a working handbook for the parts of running a business nobody teaches you. Our guides are general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice, and we don't rate services or publish rankings.
Sign Up for More Chamber of Commerce News from Chamber Insider
Need more info about local events, business promotions, and insights into planning and development in Leawood?
Chamber Insider offers businesses and residents an up-to-date look at Leawood from a community and business development perspective.
Share Your News with the Chamber of Commerce
Chamber members get the additional benefit of submitting news to be featured on this page.
Get the word out about upcoming promotions, announcements, awards, and more to help the Leawood community get to know your brand.
Sign in below to submit a news article. Once logged in, you can also post on our Events and Careers pages, as well as pay your invoice.
Become the Next Chamber of Commerce Featured Member
Want more business exposure? Apply to become a Featured Member and get even more eyes on your brand throughout the KC metro.
Fill out our Featured Member Questionnaire and return the PDF to Taylor Limoges at TaylorL@LeawoodChamber.org.