How to send digital invitations by WhatsApp, text and email

Should I send one group message or a link to each guest?

Send each guest their own link. A personal invitation gets noticed and answered; a group message gets lost in the scroll, collects replies nobody can count, and shows everyone’s phone number to everyone else.

• More replies. A message addressed to one person feels as if it needs an answer. In a group, it’s easy to assume someone else has replied, or to mean to do it later. It’s the group chat nobody reads properly.
• Privacy. A group chat shares every guest’s number with every other guest, and an email with everyone in CC shares every address. Personal links keep each guest’s details between you and them.
• Clear numbers. Each reply comes from a named guest, so you know exactly who is coming, not just that someone’s family said yes somewhere above a hundred messages about parking.
• The right details for each person. Some guests are invited to the ceremony only, some bring children, some don’t. A personal link shows each guest what’s true for them.
• It feels like an invitation. Their name, your words, their own envelope to open. A group post feels like a notice.

Which is best: WhatsApp, text or email?

The best channel is the one each guest already reads. Most invitations go by WhatsApp or text; email suits colleagues, formal invitations and guests who live in their inbox.

You can mix them freely. Text the grandparents, email your colleagues, WhatsApp the cousins in Manchester. What matters is that each person gets their own.

What should I write with the invitation link?

Say who it’s from, what it’s for and when to reply, in one or two warm lines, then the link. A bare link with no words looks like spam; a long paragraph buries the link.

1. Greet them by name.
2. Say what it is: “our wedding invitation”, “Mia’s 7th birthday party”.
3. Add a personal line if you can.
4. Give the reply-by date.
5. Put the link last, on its own line, so it’s easy to tap.

WhatsApp messages

Text messages

Emails

There’s more wording for each occasion in Wedding invitation wording, Christmas party invitation wording and our guide to kids’ birthday party invitations.

How do I invite guests who don’t have a smartphone?

Call them, then post a printed copy or the details on a card, and note their reply yourself. For many older relatives the call is the invitation, and they’ll treasure it more than any message.

• Call first. Tell them the date, the time and the place, and ask then and there if they can come.
• Send something to keep. A printed copy, or a card with the details in your own handwriting, for the fridge.
• Ask a helper. A son, daughter or grandchild can open the link with them on a phone or tablet, and reply for them.
• A plain text works too. On a basic phone, a short text with the date, time and address does the job even if the link doesn’t open nicely.
• Keep their reply with everyone else’s. Add it to your list straight away, so your numbers are right.

This is also the answer to the aunt asking where her invitation is. She probably has it, in an inbox she never checks, and a two-minute call settles it.

How do I know everyone got the invitation?

Check who has opened it. Many digital invitations show you who has opened their link and who hasn’t, and that’s the list to follow up a few days after sending.

• WhatsApp: one grey tick means sent, two grey ticks delivered, and two blue ticks read (if the guest has read receipts turned on).
• Texts: some phones show “Delivered” or “Read”, but many texts show nothing at all, so the invitation’s own record of who has opened it is your best guide.
• Email: if it hasn’t been opened after a few days, ask the guest to check their junk or promotions folder, and check you have the right address.

Still unopened after 3 to 5 days? Send a short personal note: “Just checking my invitation reached you.” Often it’s a changed number or a typo in an email address, and it’s far better to find out now than the week before.

When should I send a reminder?

Send one reminder about a week before the reply-by date, only to the guests who haven’t replied. After the date, a personal message or call reaches anyone still quiet.

1. About a week before the reply-by date: one gentle reminder, with the link again.
2. On the reply-by date: a personal message to anyone still quiet.
3. A few days later: a call. Most late replies are forgotten, not declined.
4. The final week: any last details (parking, the weather, when to arrive) for everyone coming.

How do I keep guests’ details private?

Send to each guest separately, use BCC (never CC) if you must email a group, and never post an invitation link where people you didn’t invite can see it.

• BCC, not CC. CC shows every address to every guest, and one reply-all turns your guest list into a conversation. BCC keeps addresses hidden.
• No public posts. Don’t share the link in a social media story, a community page or a public post: anyone who sees it may be able to open it.
• Careful with screenshots. A screenshot passed around shares your address and the time the house will be full, and nobody can reply from a screenshot anyway.
• Parties at home. For a child’s party at your house, send the address only to the families you’ve invited, not to the whole class chat.
• Surprise parties. Send individually, never in a group the guest of honour might see, and say clearly that it’s a surprise.

What if someone forwards their invitation?

Usually it’s innocent: a guest sharing it with their partner, or one parent with the other. With personal links, a reply still comes back under the name of the guest it was sent to, so you can see whose invitation it was and ask them about it.

• A partner or household: nothing to do. That’s what the link is for.
• Someone you didn’t invite: talk to your guest, not the stranger. “We’d love to have everyone, but we’re keeping to what the venue holds” is honest and kind.
• An unexpected plus one: if your invitation allows a plus one, they should come through the reply; if not, a friendly word with your guest sorts it out.
• Posted publicly: ask the guest to take it down straight away.

To head it off, add a gentle line to your message: “This link is just for you, so please don’t forward it.” Most people never would; the line simply makes it clear.

When is the best time to send digital invitations?

Send on a weekday evening or a weekend morning, when people have a moment to open the invitation and reply, rather than late at night or in the middle of a working day.

• Send yourself one first. Open it on your own phone and check the names, the date, the time and the map.
• Send in one or two sittings, so nobody hears about it second-hand.
• Lead times: wedding invitations 8 to 12 weeks before, Christmas parties 4 to 6 weeks, kids’ parties and Halloween parties 2 to 4 weeks. The wedding timeline is in When to send save the dates and wedding invitations.

Weighing up digital against paper for a wedding? See Digital or paper wedding invitations.

Sending your invitations with Wonderful Invites

With Wonderful Invites, every guest has their own link, and you send it however your people actually talk: WhatsApp, a text from your own phone, an email we send for you, any chat app through your phone’s share sheet, or copy the link. They tap the seal, the envelope opens, your music begins and your invitation appears, with no app or account needed.

You see who has opened it and every reply, each reply is emailed to you, and you can send a reminder to just the guests who haven’t replied; we’ll email you before the reply-by date, too. Change a detail at any time and everyone sees the latest version on the same link. It’s free to make and preview, for weddings, birthdays, Halloween and Christmas.

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