Digital wedding invitations: what to include and how to send them

Your invitation is the first thing guests see of your wedding, and the thing they’ll open ten more times to check the time, the address or the dress code. A digital invitation has one big advantage over a printed one: the map, the RSVP and the gift registry can all live on the same link. Here’s what to include, how to word it and how to send it so nobody has to text you with questions.

What a wedding invitation should include

Before you think about design, gather these details. Leave one out and the messages will start rolling in.

Detail	What to include
Names	Yours and, for a traditional invitation, your parents’.
Date and time	Day of the week, date and start time. If there’s a civil and a church ceremony, the time of each.
Venue	Venue name, full address and a map link.
Reception	If it’s somewhere else, its address and roughly when it starts.
Dress code	Formal, cocktail, beach… If there’s a color you’d rather guests avoid, say so here.
RSVP	How to reply and by what date.
Gifts	Where to find your registry or how to give, kept low-key.
Party size	How many people the invitation covers, if it isn’t obvious.

One detail that prevents mix-ups: if the invitation is for a couple or a family, name them in your message. “Hi, Rosa and Martín” makes it clear who’s invited without spelling it out.

For the dress code, write the exact term instead of leaving it open to interpretation: what to wear to a wedding goes through the codes one by one, which is what your guests will look up the moment they read yours.

How to make a digital invitation, step by step

1. Pick a design that feels like your wedding: classic, modern, beach, countryside.
2. Write in the details from the table above and check them twice, especially the date.
3. Add the venue map. Test it on your phone: it should open the right location.
4. Turn on RSVPs with a deadline.
5. Link your gift registry, if you have one.
6. Open it on a phone before sending it. That’s how your guests will see it.

You can make one for free, whether with editable templates or with platforms that don’t charge to create the invitation. Before you choose, check whether it handles RSVPs and a gift registry, or whether you’ll have to sort those out separately; what you can do without paying, and what stops working breaks it down.

Civil vs. church wedding invitations

The wording depends on the ceremony. Here are three ways to approach it.

Civil ceremony only

These tend to be shorter and more casual. Name the municipal office or venue where you’ll marry and, if there’s a toast afterward, where it will be. If you’re still working through the paperwork in Peru, see our guide to the civil wedding requirements in Lima. When the ceremony is a community civil wedding, the district sets the day and the time for every couple at once, so that goes into the invitation exactly as given.

Church ceremony

A traditional Peruvian invitation opens with the names of both sets of parents, who “request the honor of your presence” at their children’s wedding. It includes the name of the parish and its address, the ceremony time and, separately, the reception address. If you want to name your sponsors (padrinos), they usually go at the end.

Civil and church ceremonies on different dates

If the civil ceremony is small and the church wedding is the big party, the clearest option is one invitation per ceremony, each with its own guest list. Blending both into one text confuses anyone invited to only one of them.

How to say “no kids” kindly

It’s a perfectly valid choice, and it lands better when you say it plainly without over-apologizing. A few options:

• “We’ve planned this celebration as an adults-only evening. We hope you enjoy a night out!”
• “We love your little ones, but this time the party is just for grown-ups.”
• “This invitation is for two adults.”

Be consistent: if you make an exception (your nieces and nephews, the ring bearer), explain it privately to anyone who asks so nobody feels singled out.

How to mention gifts, money envelopes or a bank account

The rule is simple: the invitation is about the celebration, and gifts get their own spot, at the end or on a separate link.

• Gift registry: “If you’d like to give us a gift, you’ll find our registry here.”
• Money envelopes (known in Peru as lluvia de sobres: guests bring cash in a sealed envelope on the day): “Your presence is the best gift. If you’d like to give something, you’re welcome to bring an envelope on the day.”
• Bank account: keep it out of the heart of the invitation. If you use one, put it in the gifts section with a line explaining what the money is for.

For more on tone, read how to ask for money as a wedding gift, and if you’re still deciding what to ask for, here are some wedding registry ideas. If what you need is the exact sentence, there’s a set for each kind of celebration in wording for asking for money as a gift.

Sample wording

Adapt these to your style and your details.

Formal

[Bride’s parents’ names] and [groom’s parents’ names] request the honor of your presence at the marriage of their children Lucía and Gabriel on Saturday, March 20, 2027, at 6:00 p.m. at [parish], [address]. Reception to follow at [venue]. Kindly reply by February 20.

Warm and casual

We’re getting married! After eight years together, Lucía and Gabriel want to celebrate with you on Saturday, March 20, at [venue]. You’ll find the time, the map and the dress code right here. Let us know by February 20 so we can save your seat.

Short WhatsApp message

Hi, Rosa and Martín! We’re getting married and we’d love for you to be there. Here’s our invitation with all the details: [link]

When to send it

Our month-by-month wedding timeline puts it three to six months out. A few pointers:

• If guests are traveling, send a save-the-date first so they can block off the day; here’s when to send it and wording you can copy.
• Set your RSVP deadline a few weeks before your venue or caterer needs a final head count.
• Send a reminder a few days before the deadline to anyone who hasn’t replied, and another the week of the wedding with the address and time.

How to send it on WhatsApp and keep track of RSVPs

WhatsApp is where your guests will open your invitation, so the way you send it matters:

• Send personal messages with each guest’s name. A message forwarded to a group feels less like an invitation.
• Use one link for everything: invitation, map, RSVP and gifts. Send three links and one of them gets lost.
• Collect RSVPs inside the invitation, not over chat. That way replies stay in one place and you don’t have to copy them into a spreadsheet by hand.
• Check who’s missing before the reminder and message only those guests.

Digital invitation questions

Can we fix the invitation after sending it?

It depends what you sent. A link updates itself: you correct it and everyone sees the new version next time they open it. An image or a PDF already lives on each guest’s phone, and nothing you do reaches it. Either way, a change of date, time or venue gets its own message. Nobody reopens an invitation they’ve already read to check whether something moved.

Is sending it only on WhatsApp enough?

These days yes, and it’s what most guests expect. The exception is people who don’t use their phone that way: call them or visit, tell them the date and the venue, and pass the link to a son or a grandchild so it’s somewhere at hand. If they’d like something on paper, print a handful of invitations for them. You don’t need to print for the whole list.

One invitation per household or per guest?

One message per household, opening with the names of everyone invited: “Hi, Rosa and Martín.” That greeting does the job no invitation does on its own, which is making clear how many people it covers. What doesn’t work is posting it to a group: it loses the personal touch, everyone sees who else is invited, and nobody feels addressed enough to reply.

What do we do if someone RSVPs with more people than we invited?

Handle it straight away and privately, not on the day. Message them as soon as you see it, warmly and without circling: the invitation is for the two of them, the venue is counted by seats and that number is closed. The sooner you say it, the less awkward it is—a week out, that guest has already arranged who’s coming with them.

Your invitation and registry on one link with parati

With parati you build a page for your wedding with the invitation and the gift registry together, and share it on WhatsApp with a single link. You can browse the digital invitation designs before you start.

• Easy RSVPs. Guests confirm attendance and give gifts from their phone, without creating an account, paying by card or Yape (Peru’s popular mobile wallet).
• See who’s coming. You can see who confirmed and who gave what, so you can finalize your list and send thank-yous.
• Gifts for every budget. A big-ticket gift can be split into parts so several guests can share it, and El Sueño (The Dream) is a big gift with the goal and the minimum contribution you set.

Creating your celebration is free; parati charges a commission on gifts, and you decide who covers it. You’ll find the details in our FAQ.