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Options for Online Invitations

Online Invitations

Updated on: Feb 10, 2024

Online invitations are a great option if you want to automate the response process, minimize labor and save some trees.

Whether the Digital invitations are for a birthday party, wedding, or really, event of any kind, online invitations allow for much more creativity than paper invitations! As digital invitation software often has music and animation features that will convey the theme of your event and have your guests excited to RSVP!

Nevertheless, here are some website options that offer a variety of e-invitations for your next party or event. Also listed are some pros and cons for each of these website’s service offerings so you can determine which of these website options for online invitations best fits your needs.

Create a Custom Design but Manage Your Own RSVPs

Smilebox is a popular option for those looking to create their own online invitation design but is happy to take care of tracking responses on their own.

Cost

  • 3 tiered subscription options
  • Basic: FREE but is unable to be shared by email, Facebook, Twitter, and it has a watermark.
  • Premium: $4.99/month billed annually and you can create unlimited invitations with unlimited storage, no watermark, and the ability to share via email, Facebook, or Twitter.
  • Pro: $6.99/month billed annually and you can have all the features of Smilebox Premium, as well as, no Smilebox logo and the ability to add a logo, website, and embedded site to your invitation.

Pros

  • You can send out invites in any way you want
  • Digital invites can have animated features that traditional stationary can't have

Cons

  • There is no message management tool to keep track of RSVPs

Design and Manage RSVPs in One

Greenvelope allows you to both create an invitation and manage responses all in one solution.

Cost

  • Single event pricing starts at $39 for up to 40 people and can cost up to $119 for up to 120 people
  • Yearly membership pricing ranges from $125 for event with up to 50 people to $295 for up to 250 people.

Pros

  • You can fully customize your designs.
  • They offer both one-off (single) event pricing as well as yearly memberships.
  • You can track RSVPs, send reminders, manage "plus 1s" and more so it saves a lot of time over doing this all yourself.
  • You can send out surveys to your mailing list to ask what guests would like for food and drink options.
  • Invitations can link to Google Maps and calendar applications to ensure your guests know when and where to show up.

Cons

  • They do not offer licensed character designs. For that you'd need to use a site like Punchbowl.com.

Create a Website For Your Event

Eventcreate allows you to create an entire website for your event along with online invitations that can be emailed to event attendees.

Cost

  • Free for up to 100 attendees
  • Offer two paid tiers of $4/month and $24/month that include more premium features

Pros

  • Includes a website as opposed to just an online invitation.
  • Easy to build, as no coding skills are needed.
  • Website is design customizable.
  • Links to website can be shared/promoted via social media.
  • Wide variety of website design templates.
  • Allows for ease of use and access for your guests.
  • Ranked a top 2020 Tope Event Management Software by Capterra.

Cons

  • There are no licensed character designs.

Invite the Old-fashioned Way

Paper invitations have actually rebounded in popularity. Sometimes it's nice to hold a piece of paper in your hand. There are a lot of affordable options out there on Amazon, OrientalTrading.com, and Etsy.

Online Invitations: Which One is Right for you?

There are lots of options out there these days for digital online invitations. Your choice will depend on how you prefer to reach your guests (would you rather text or share on social media or have responses managed all in one place?)?

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Written by Emma Santee and Artesa Cox; Contributor: Jack Leduc

Artesa Cox

University of Mississippi

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Emma Santee

Assumption University

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