Free wedding RSVP website: guests find their own name

A wedding RSVP website is one link your guests open to say whether they're coming. The good ones are free, ask for no account, and let each guest find their own invitation by typing their name, so nobody can reply for a household that wasn't invited. Set it up once the guest list is settled, print the link or a QR code on the invitation, and every reply lands in your guest list instead of a pile of cards and texts. Here's how to set one up and what to look for.

1. What a wedding RSVP website does

An RSVP website replaces the reply card, or sits beside it. A guest opens the link, finds their invitation, and answers a few questions: will they be there, how many of the people invited are coming, and anything the caterer needs to know. You see the answers as they arrive, with the households still to reply listed apart.

It saves three things:

• Postage and printing. No reply cards, envelopes or stamps to send and wait for.
• Typing. Nobody copies replies from cards into a spreadsheet, so nothing is copied wrong.
• Chasing. You can see at a glance who hasn't answered, instead of working it out from the cards that came back.

Some guests will still want to reply on paper or by phone. That's fine: add their answer to the list yourself, and it counts the same.

2. Guests find their own name

The most important feature is how a guest finds their invitation. A plain form that asks "Name" and "How many are coming?" lets anyone with the link reply, and lets a guest invited alone reply for four. A good RSVP page instead asks the guest to type their name and looks it up in your guest list:

• A clear match opens their invitation. "Ada Marchetti" finds "Ada & Ellis Marchetti", in either order.
• A loose match asks one more question, such as how many people are in their household, and offers a short list to pick from.
• No match shows nothing. A stranger who guesses a name learns nothing about who else is invited.

Once the invitation is open, the guest sees only what you wrote on it, the household's name and how many people are invited, and can reply for no more than that. It's the reason to choose an RSVP page built on your guest list over a general form tool.

3. What to ask on the RSVP page

Keep it short. Every extra question is one more reason to close the page and reply later, which often means never. Ask:

• Will you be there? Yes or no, for the whole household.
• How many are coming, up to the number invited.
• Dietary needs, and who in the household has them, so the caterer can plan each plate.

Then, only if you need them:

• How many are children, if the caterer charges less for a child's meal or you're counting high chairs.
• The names of everyone coming, if you're printing place cards and the invitation says "and guest".
• A note to the couple. Guests like it, and it catches anything the other questions miss.

Leave out meal choices unless your caterer asks for them in advance, and song requests unless you'll really use them.

4. Set it up in five steps

1. Finish the guest list first. One row per household, with the name as it goes on the envelope and the number invited. Our guest list guide covers who to put on it.
2. Choose your questions from the list above, and write a line of welcome at the top of the page.
3. Set the reply-by date. It's usually three to four weeks before the wedding; the RSVP deadline guide explains how to pick yours.
4. Try it yourself. Open the page, search for a household as a guest would, and check the questions read well on a phone.
5. Put the link on the invitation. Print a short link or a QR code on the card, add it to the email if you're sending invitations online, and put it on your wedding website.

5. When the replies come in

Check the replies every few days rather than every hour. Look for:

• Households still to reply. A week before the reply-by date, send a reminder to just those households.
• Fewer coming than invited. "2 of 4" is a reply, not a mistake: someone can't make it.
• Dietary needs. Pass them to the caterer with the final count.
• Changes. A guest may reply twice. The latest answer is the one that counts, and it moves the seating chart if they were already at a table.

When the deadline passes, a personal message or a call to the last few households is quicker than a second round of reminders.

6. Choosing an RSVP website in Canada

The same features matter in Canada, plus a few local ones:

• Addresses that fit. If the site also collects mailing addresses, it should ask for a province and a postal code, not a state and a ZIP.
• Guests across borders. Families in Canada often have guests in the US, the UK or further away. Check the page works for an address or a phone number from another country.
• French. If many of your guests read French first, check what the page can say in French, and write your welcome line in both languages.
• Where the data goes. Your guest list holds names, addresses and dietary needs. Read the site's privacy policy before you add it, and choose one that says what it keeps and for how long.

7. Free RSVP websites: what to check

Plenty of RSVP websites are free, but "free" can mean very different things. Before you choose one, check:

• Whether guests need an account or an app to reply. They shouldn't.
• Whether it limits the number of guests on the free plan, and what happens past the limit.
• Whether it shows ads to your guests, or sends them marketing emails.
• Whether you can download the replies as a spreadsheet when you're done.
• Whether it's tied to your guest list, so replies update the headcount and the seating chart without copying.

If you're collecting addresses for the invitations first, the address collection guide covers that step.

Your RSVP page in Linenfold

In Linenfold, the RSVP page comes with every plan, free included. Guests find their own invitation by name, reply for no more than the people invited, and the answers land in your guest list: attending counts, dietary needs by person, names for the place cards and a note. You choose the questions, write the welcome line, set the reply-by date and share the link or its QR code. A daily email tells you who replied. The free plan holds 75 guest households. With Complete you can also:

• Email your invitations with the RSVP link inside, from Linenfold.
• Send RSVP reminders by email to just the households still to reply.

The features page has more.

Start with the free guest list template, and when your list is ready for replies, create a free account.