Tips and Tricks To Create the Best Virtual Wedding Invitations
*updated June 12th 2021
Gone are the days of needing to trek into a store to figure out your wedding invitations. With the wonderful world of the internet, you can create beautifully curated virtual wedding invitations while lounging on your couch. However, without having someone there to guide you...you may be wondering how to go about all of this! Then, add in the fact that virtual weddings are on the rise. That can add a whole additional layer of questions. How do I word a virtual wedding invitation? Do I need to have printed invitations or can I stick with an E-vite? What are the best and most affordable websites to create these from? We will take a look at all of those questions and more in the following blog post.
To Print or Not to Print Your Virtual Wedding Invitations?
With the wedding industry rapidly changing, many of the tightly held traditions are also shifting. This can leave you wondering which traditions to keep and which to toss aside. In the past, wedding invitations were always printed on fine paper and generally included several pieces of stationary. However, nowadays couples are sending out a mixture of both printed invitations as well digital invites. Honestly, this decision comes down to personal preference. Are you a more traditional bride/groom that values the keepsake of a printed wedding invitation? Or are you a more innovative eco-conscious bride that would rather spend your money elsewhere? Let’s take a look at the pros of both types of virtual wedding invitations.
With the wedding industry shifting people are opting for weddings that reflect them as a couple. Photo by Laura June Kirsch.
We absolutely love Alison and Leah's elegant + simple virtual wedding invitations.
*Wedfuly pro tip: make sure to bring an extra copy of your wedding invitation on the day of, so your photographer can capture a details shot!
Pros of Printed Virtual Wedding Invitations
More formal. Printed wedding invitations definitely denote more of a formality than digital invites. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your event has to be formal or stuffy!
Makes it clear who is invited. Given the fact that you will be addressing each envelope, this can make it more clear who is invited. It can often be confusing when sending out digital invitations, because you generally would be sending the invite to just one email.
Easier to access for some. While nowadays most people have email addresses, there can still be certain older guests that might not have access. By sending a paper invitation, it is guaranteed that all of your invitees will receive the invitation and be able to respond!
Not easily missed. In the digital world that we live in we often open dozens of emails daily. Given the volume of emails in our inboxes, your e-vite can often be misplaced. However, when you send a physical virtual wedding invitation it is much more likely that it will make it onto the refrigerators or desks of all of your loved ones.
Pros of Digital Virtual Wedding Invitations (E-vites)
More affordable. You will definitely save money if you opt for the route of digital invites. Paper invitations, as well as envelopes + stamps can add up quickly if you are not careful. There are many sites that offer free digital invitations or very inexpensive ones!
Immediate RSVP. With a digital wedding invitation there is generally always a link where your guests can click to RSVP immediately. This will allow you to keep track of who will be attending in a much quicker manner.
Goes along nicely with having a virtual wedding. If you are having a virtual wedding, then it just makes sense that your invites would be virtual as well! This will allow everything to be aligned and super easy for guests to access and understand.
More eco friendly. Sending out virtual invitations will be like giving planet earth a big hug. You won’t have to stress about all of the paper that is used for the invitations and envelopes! In our book, that’s a win win.
The beauty of virtual wedding invitations is that they can be as formal or informal as you would like them to be.
Top Websites to Use for Your Virtual Wedding Invitations
Zola: Zola is great because there are hundreds of themes to choose from! You can get matching save the dates, thank you cards and coordinate everything to match your wedding website. Also, the virtual wedding invitations are easily customizable (add your engagement pics, etc), get free guest addressing, print your cards (free shipping) and get them within 10 days. Additionally, Zola has an amazing guest list manager that will track all of your RSVPs and regrets for you. Zola is your one stop shop for everything wedding invitation related.
Minted: Minted offers beautiful foil-press, gloss-press and letter-press designs to choose from. In addition, Minted also offers great “Day of” stationary to choose from: place & escort cards, table numbers, seating charts, wedding signs and thank you cards. Lastly, Minted offers free guest addressing. (To anyone that has already hand addressed your wedding invites...you KNOW how time consuming it can be!)
Zazzle: Zazzle offers tons of categories to choose from such as “floral” “rustic” “modern” and “watercolor”. To find the vibe that you are looking for, simply type in one of those phrases and then you will be directed to hundreds of options to choose from! Zazzle can also create tons of other products to go along with your wedding invites. You can create mugs, t-shirts and koozies as party favors as well. Additionally, Zazzle also has great sales!
Zazzle offers creative ways to customize anything needed for your wedding, as well as virtual wedding invitations.
Additional Websites to Use for Your Virtual Wedding Invitations
Green Envelope: Green Envelope is perfect for the environmentally friendly couple! With every purchase they will donate to various nonprofits such as National Forest Foundation and National Park Foundation. In addition to that, they partner with independent artists and designers to create beautiful & eco-friendly wedding invitations.
Etsy: Ren Create: While there are many Etsy shops to choose from, Brides.com listed Esty: Ren Create as one of their top choices. This Etsy shop offers hundreds of beautiful designs to choose from that are easily customizable. In addition to that, you can support a small business by purchasing from them. Lastly, they offer both digital and printed versions of their invitations...some that you can even send out via text message. Talk about convenience!
Canva: Canva has an entire section dedicated to wedding invitation templates. One of the features we love, is the ability to collaborate with friends or family on a design. Add a personal touch to your wedding invitation with a custom design in Canva!
Many couples feel that having printed virtual wedding invitations are a keepsake that they will have forever.
What to Include on Your Virtual Wedding Invitations
Who’s Hosting
Formal: includes the parents or “together with their families”
Informal: leaves this part out all together
The Request to Come to the Wedding
Join us for the virtual wedding of…
Would love for you to join them virtually…
You’re invited to the virtual wedding of...
The Name of the Couple
Formal: Bride First + Middle Name then Groom Full Name
Same Sex Couple: Can go by alphabetical order or whichever name sounds better first
The Date + Time
Formal: everything is written out in full, no numerals. Time is spelled out using “o'clock” and the year is optional (people assume that the wedding will be coming up shortly after receiving the invites)
Informal: numerals are acceptable
**Wedfuly pro tip: the time zone is extremely important when it comes to a virtual wedding. You want to make sure that your guests are logging on at the correct time and therefore not missing any parts of your wedding!
The Location
Virtual guests: this is a perfect place to drop the URL + password guests will use to access your livestream. However, make sure that this is ONLY being sent directly to your guests. Do not post your link + password on your wedding website, unless that website is also password protected. We’re trying to avoid having your wedding Zoom-bombed.
In person guests: if you are having any in-person guests, you might want to consider sending out 2 separate invitations. This is the place where you can put where the in-person wedding will be happening and avoid any confusion there.
You might need to consider 2 separate virtual wedding invitations if you plan on having in person guests.
Dress Code
Virtual guests: this is totally up to you & what you want the “vibe” of your virtual wedding to be! We have seen people have fun with this and put “pants optional” or “PJS acceptable” as well as the opposite. We have seen that it can really elevate the mood to request your virtual guests to dress up!
In person guests: please specify the dress code for those that will be in attendance so that they know what wear on wedding day!
Asking your virtual guests to dress up can really elevate the whole feel of your virtual wedding! Photo by Laura June Kirsch.
RSVP
Make it clear to your guests how you want them to RSVP. Choose from one of the following options:
Provide a link to where they can RSVP virtually on your wedding website
Prove a separate paper mail in RSVP card
Provide both options and allow your guests to choose from whatever feels more comfortable for them
Link to Wedding Website
We recommend that you link to your wedding website somewhere on your virtual wedding invitation. You can drop a link at the bottom or on the back of the invitation so that it is a bit more discreet. This is important to do, so that your guests can read further info about the Zoom wedding.
Sample Virtual Wedding Invitation Wording
We’re Going Virtual!
Please join us as
{name} and {name}
exchange vows virtually
{day of week}, the {date} of {month}{year}
{time + time zone}
via Zoom at
{link +password}
**For more information, visit our wedding website at...
What if I had to change my original plan?
Many couples ran into the issue of having to change their original wedding dates during the pandemic. They might have sent out Save the Dates way in advance and ended up needing to change the date. In this case, there are many fun ways to “word” the date change. You can either send these out digitally or another physical paper copy of the date change. Listed below are some options from Paperless Post:
Formal Change The Date Wording
Mr. and Mrs. Jan Creidenberg announce that the marriage of their daughter
Caroline Elizabeth to Samuel Forrest
has been postponed until Saturday, the seventeenth of October two thousand twenty-two
at half after five o’clock
Walker Fine Art Gallery
Denver, Colorado
Dinner and dancing to follow.
Kindly reply by September 17, 2022
Funny Change The Date Wording
Save the Date
(but don’t hold your breath!)
COVID may have changed our plans, but we know celebrating with you will be worth the wait!
October 02, 2021 | Walker Fine Art Gallery--Denver, CO
Wedding Postponement (Without an Official Date Set)
Please take care
We’re postponing our wedding celebration to a new date
to be determined when it’s safe for our family and friends.
Thank you for understanding.
Caroline & Sam
Should I include Zoom info on my wedding invitation?
Our advice is to keep the virtual wedding invitations as simple + elegant as possible. You don’t want to overwhelm your guests with too much information and take away from the beauty of the invites. We recommend that you put the link to your wedding website on your wedding invitations. Then on your wedding website you can elaborate further on what to expect with the virtual component.
