How Over-the-Top Event Invites Can Make a Big Impact

We're in an era where experiences matter more than ever, and brands are reimagining the event invitation as the gateway to their storytelling, sparking conversations, fueling anticipation, and creating shareable cultural moments that echo beyond the RSVP.

Below, we asked creative marketers, event professionals, and invite recipients to share their most memorable event invitations (including one of our editor’s picks) and then pooled together strategies from each impactful moment.

Visa x FIFA World Cup Qatar Experience

Strategic takeaway: Collaborate to build brand authority.
Visa tapped BMF to create an invitation for its top global clients that embodied the brand's FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 sponsorship experience. BMF collaborated with Zaha Hadid Design to translate the architectural elements of Qatar's Al Janoub Stadium into the invite design, while also developing a multisensory experience for the recipients.

The goal: to have 165 guests across 24 countries experience Qatar without ever boarding a flight.

The sculptural packaging unveiled heated Ember mugs for Arabian coffee, branded headphones, aromatic stones, and artwork by local Qatari artist Abdulaziz Yousef. A three-dimensional pop-up book detailed Visa’s partnership with FIFA, and QR codes unlocked exclusive content from Team Visa athlete Didier Drogba.

“More than an invitation, the piece became a conversation starter, a showpiece, and a lasting reminder that Visa is 'everywhere you want to be,’” says Josh Tierney, head of creative and strategy for BMF.

Lululemon's 10th Anniversary of Align Leggings

Strategic takeaway: Show up—IRL still matters.
In June, Lululemon celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Align leggings with a floating yoga class aboard The Vessel and fun-in-the-sun stations at The Standard. The guest list featured Miami trainers, influencers, and ambassadors. Among them was Starr Hawkins, known as @Babymommafit, who emphasized that the intention behind the event—to unite Miami’s fitness community—was solidified by the effort put into personally delivering her invitation.

“A Lululemon employee came to my job, Barry’s Bootcamp, where I was teaching, and hand-delivered the invitation,” Starr notes. 

The connection between what she does and why she was invited meant a great deal to her, and despite the many events she has attended in the past, the personal touch remained at the forefront of her memory.

"We wanted to deliver a moment that felt both elevated and deeply nostalgic," says Burnett.Photo: Diana Lee StudioSNL50's Interactive Streaming Invitation

Strategic takeaway: Elevate the moment, then think beyond it.
A golden anniversary is a rare feat, so DeNeitra Burnett, CEO and creative director of Savvy Creative Agency, knew her work on Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary mailer needed to blend celebration, sophistication, and legacy appeal. 

The invitation enticed recipients to stream the SNL50 events across multiple dates (Beyond Saturday Night, 50 Years of SNL Music, The Homecoming Concert, and The Anniversary Special) on Peacock and NBCUniversal.

“The goal was to make every recipient feel like part of the cultural moment, even from their living room,” says Burnett. “For the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, we wanted to deliver a moment that felt both elevated and deeply nostalgic.”

Savvy Creative Agency partnered with Peacock and NBCUniversal’s teams to design a premium, celebratory mailer housed in a leatherette vessel with gold foil title treatment and custom gold hardware. Once opened, recipients found a Marshall speaker—an homage to the decades-spanning musical guests—and a bottle of Chandon to toast the milestone, along with a limited-edition SNL50 crewneck.

“A sleek insert inside highlighted the key air dates and included a QR code with a personalized access code for three free months of Peacock,” adds Burnett.

The free subscription allowed Peacock and NBCUniversal to not only hook viewers into watching the special events but also create long-term retention with ongoing access to the TV show’s 50th anniversary episodes.

Writer’s Pick: Shake Shack x NotCo Non-Dairy Milkshake Launch

Strategic takeaway: Get playful.
When it was time to select my favorite invitation, none stood out more than the effort A21 made for the Shake Shack x NotCo non-dairy milkshake launch in Miami back in 2022. 

“To celebrate Shake Shack’s first-ever plant-based launch with NotCo, we brought a little retro flair to Miami—enter the NotCo Milk Man,” says Lauren Melamed, formerly of A21. “For three days, he hand-delivered vintage coolers packed with plant-based goodies, wellness treats, and exclusive invites to the city’s top foodies and media.”

She adds, “It wasn’t just a delivery—it was an experience designed to spark curiosity, camera rolls, and conversation. From doorstep surprises to social buzz, this throwback moment turned into a forward-thinking way to build major hype for a deliciously modern launch.”

The event took place at the W South Beach, and guests enjoyed wellness and beauty-driven activations, full-size NotCo x Shake Shack servings, and customizable swag.

Google I/O 2025 Save-the-Date

Strategic takeaway: Build on anticipation.
Long-standing and legacy events have an advantage that one-off events might not: They can create a precedent and build anticipation and engagement for years to come. By thinking ahead, these event invitations can tap into a cultural zeitgeist, engaging digital curiosity from those who might never attend the event in person.

Case in point: Every year, Google challenges its global developer community to discover the Google I/O date by completing a 12-hour digital puzzle.

This year, Left Field Labs built Prism Shift, a physics-based game where participants manipulated light through mirrors, prisms, and lanterns to reveal the date of the I/O event.

“Google has pushed us to rethink what a save-the-date can be,” says Rich Foster, executive creative director of Left Field Labs. “Together, we’ve turned their 12-hour global I/O challenge into something the developer community actively looks forward to cracking and the rest of the world loves to watch unfold.”

Strategic takeaway: Gamify it.
“It’s rooted in dev culture but built to reach beyond. We’ve tapped into the shared DNA between developers and gamers, layering in logic puzzles, circuit building, and light-bending physics to reward curiosity and build real anticipation,” he notes.

Strategic takeaway: Level up with AI.
“This year, we pushed it further, breaking the linear path and threading in generative AI to open up new ways to play.” For Prism Shift, Google’s Gemini AI provided in-game support, leveling up last year’s Left Field Labs launch game, "Break the Loop."