How to send digital wedding invitations (text, WhatsApp, email)
Which channel to use for which guest, what to write above the link, when to send, and how to make sure the link preview looks like an invitation.
The short version
- Send each guest the link on the channel they actually answer: text or WhatsApp for most people, email for colleagues and older relatives who live in their inbox.
- Write one personal line above the link. It is the difference between an invitation and a broadcast.
- Send on a weekday evening, in one sitting, so nobody hears about it from someone else first.
- Never post the link publicly or in a large group chat.
Send digital wedding invitations one guest at a time, on whichever channel that person replies to fastest, with a short personal line above the link. That is the whole method. The rest of this article is the detail that makes it work: which channel for whom, what to write, and what to check before the first message goes.
Text, WhatsApp or email: which should you use?
Use the channel each guest already uses with you. For most people under sixty that is a text message or WhatsApp, and both show a link preview with your names and a picture. Email suits colleagues, older relatives who read everything in their inbox, and anyone you only have an address for.
- Text message (iMessage, SMS): the default in the US and Canada, opened within minutes
- WhatsApp: the default in the UK, Europe, India, Latin America and much of the rest of the world
- Email: best for formal guests and for anyone who needs to forward it to a partner
- A printed card with a QR code: for the few relatives who will not open a link at all
Mixing channels is completely normal. The invitation is the same link wherever it is sent, and every reply lands in the same list regardless of how the guest received it.
What should you write above the link?
One or two sentences in your own voice, with the guest's name in them. It does not need to be clever. It needs to be clearly written to that person, so they read the invitation as an invitation and not as something forwarded to everyone.
Hi Margaret! We are getting married on June 12 and it would not be the same without you. Everything is here, and you can reply right on the page: [link]
Dear Uncle Bill and Aunt Ruth, we would love you to be with us when we marry next summer. The details and the reply form are on our invitation: [link]. With love, Emma and James
Avoid writing the details into the message itself. If the date, the time and the venue are all in the text, many guests will read the message, feel informed and never open the link, which is where the reply button is.
When is the best time to send them?
Eight to ten weeks before the wedding, on a weekday evening, all in one sitting. Sending everything in one evening matters more than which evening it is: if half the list hears about the invitation from the other half before receiving theirs, someone will wonder whether they were an afterthought.
How do you make the link preview look right?
Send the link to yourself first and look at what appears. A good invitation link unfurls into a card with your names, the date and a picture. A bad one shows a bare web address or somebody else's logo, and guests hesitate to tap it. If the preview is wrong, fix it before sending, because messaging apps remember the first preview they generate for a link.
Should you send it in a group chat?
Only for very small, very close groups, and never as the only invitation. A link posted in a family group gets a row of reactions, a few replies and a lot of people who assume they will answer later. Individual messages are slower to send and far quicker to get answered.
There is a privacy reason as well. A wedding invitation tells people where you will be, when, and that your home will be empty. Keep the link inside private messages, and do not post it on social media even if the invitation looks beautiful.
What about guests who do not reply?
Plan for a fifth to a quarter of your list to need a nudge, and do it individually, a week before the RSVP deadline. Because the replies are collected for you, you know exactly who is missing, so the reminder only goes to the people who need it.
Common questions
Is it okay to send wedding invitations by text?
Yes. Sending a digital wedding invitation by text or WhatsApp is now ordinary, as long as each message is sent individually and has a personal line above the link. What reads as careless is a bare link with no greeting, or one post in a group chat.
What do you write when sending a wedding invitation link?
One or two sentences with the guest's name, for example: "Hi Margaret! We are getting married on June 12 and it would not be the same without you. Everything is here, and you can reply right on the page," followed by the link. Keep the details on the invitation, not in the message.
Should we send digital invitations by email or WhatsApp?
Whichever each guest uses with you. WhatsApp or text suits most guests and gets the fastest replies; email suits colleagues, formal guests and older relatives who live in their inbox. You can mix both, because every reply lands in the same list.
Can we post our wedding invitation on social media?
It is better not to. A public post tells strangers where you will be and when, and it invites people you have not invited. Share the link only in private messages.
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