Everything You Need to Know About Digital Wedding Invitations

While we think sliding a beautifully designed wedding invite out of an envelope is a moment of magic, digital wedding invitations and other emailable stationery can come in handy under certain circumstances. For example, if you've set a date last minute and are worried physical stationery won't hit mailboxes on time, wedding e-invites could save the day. Or if you're aiming for an eco-friendly affair, you might go for paperless wedding invitations as a sustainability measure.

If you're curious about the benefits and drawbacks of sending wedding invitations online, we've broken down the pros and cons below (and answered the questions about virtual wedding invitations you've been Googling at 3 A.M.) to help you make an informed decision when it comes to what's best for your wedding day and wedding-related events. And if you conclude that electronic wedding invitations are the move for one or more of your wedding celebrations, we've got you covered with a list of the best online invitation sites and a handful of eye-catching electronic invitations to aid your search.

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In this article: Is It Okay to Send Them? | Cost | How They Work | What to Write | Pros | Cons | See Our Favorites

Is It Okay to Send Out Digital Wedding Invitations?

In short, yes, it's okay to send out digital wedding invitations. As long as they're personalized, thoughtful and give guests all of the essential details, you're golden. Though, they do feel less formal. You can make use of the seamlessness of a digital bid by sending out virtual save-the-dates and paper invitations (you can even add a wedding QR code), or send digital invitations for prewedding and postwedding parties, like a wedding shower or the rehearsal dinner. RSVPs are also a great place to go paperless, especially if you've made a The Knot wedding website, which features super user-friendly digital RSVP functionality. A wedding website is also a great digital information hub for guests to access info that would be on a wedding invitation anywhere.

How Much Do Digital Wedding Invitations Cost?

Digital wedding invitations typically cost less than paper wedding invitations, ringing up at under $2 per invite. Many evite purveyors don't price each invitation individually, but rather charge based on other parameters: Some are priced per event with a tier system based on your guest count, others offer unlimited sends with a monthly subscription cost, charge a flat fee for a digital download or even use a currency system specific to their website, where you'll purchase a number of "coins" and abide by a pricing structure for this medium of exchange.

How Do Paperless Wedding Invitations Work?

When it comes to how to send digital wedding invitations, email is the most popular method, though you can send them via text or link. Every site where you can purchase or send wedding invitations online does things a little differently, but generally speaking, you will choose a design for your e-invite from the website's selection, customize it with your details and then choose how you'd like to send it. You can even add virtual envelopes, wax seals and stamps in some cases. Some websites offer a built-in RSVP feature, but you can also forgo this add-on and direct guests to RSVP on your wedding website to keep the process more streamlined. You'll input your invitees' email addresses and the invitations will be sent to everyone at once with a simple click. Some sites will also send reminders to guests who did not open or reply to your invite to nudge them to RSVP.

If you purchase digital invitations from a site like Etsy, you'll most likely be receiving a PDF of your invitation design that you could theoretically print. This requires a little more legwork on your end, as you'd have to send the PDF yourself to every guest's email individually.

What to Write in a Digital Wedding Invitation

For the invitation "card" itself, what you write in a digital wedding invitation won't differ much from what you write in a typical wedding invitation. Though, you will have to compose an email subject line and perhaps some additional text. For example, Paperless Post will send your digital invitation as a virtual card sliding out of an envelope, but will feature some space for details and a small event description underneath the invitation. Most sites will pre populate text on the invitation cards themselves, so you don't have to worry unless you'd like to customize your text.

Here's a standard template you can follow:

Subject Line: You're invited to our wedding

Together with their families,
David Rose
&
Patrick Brewer
invite you to celebrate their marriage
Saturday, August 17, 2024
at 4:30 in the afternoon
at [venue name and address]
Dinner and dancing to follow

Pros of Digital Wedding Invitations

There are definitely some reasons to send digital wedding invitations—and situations where they make the most sense. Here are a few:

Affordability

Sending wedding invitations online does typically cost less than paper invitations when you factor in the price of the invitations themselves and also any mailings costs. But you might need to pay an extra subscription fee in some cases to access a site's premium designs or additional customization features.

Quick to Send

Online wedding invitations come in clutch if your nuptials are a little more spur-of-the-moment and you have to notify guests of the event ASAP. They're sent instantly and guests can RSVP instantly, so your RSVP deadline can be much shorter. Additionally, a digital send-and-RSVP format can be much easier for any overseas guests than dealing with international postage.

Sustainability

If you don't mind foregoing a physical paper keepsake from your big day, a digital wedding invite is one way to make your wedding more sustainable. You won't need to worry about paper waste or do research to ensure the vendors you're using offer eco-friendly materials.

Cons of Digital Wedding Invitations

There are a few drawbacks to digital wedding invitations to consider before you commit. Keep these things in mind before you go paperless:

Potential Inaccessibility

Where digital wedding invitations might fall short is their accessibility to any less tech-savvy recipients (and, of course, the looming threat of the junk mail folder). While you can't do much about your email invites going to spam, you could send paper invitations to older guests or any who prefer an old-fashioned approach.

Work of Gathering Extra Contact Info

You'll have to put in extra legwork to collect each intended guest's email address. Since members of the same household might not share an email inbox as they would a physical mailbox, it could be a little more laborious acquiring everybody's contact information. Plus, if you're sending multiple invites to the same household, it could cost you more and might also feel odd to choose just one inbox to send your bid if you're equally close with both members of a couple.

Less Bespoke Design Options

There's something so special about a paper wedding invitation, especially if it's designed by a wedding-stationery professional (tip: there are plenty on The Knot Vendor Marketplace). You'll be able to create a custom design under the guidance of an expert pair of eyes—and there's truly no replacing that. Additionally, some companies offer rush print and delivery services for an extra fee if you need them last-minute. And more and more businesses are producing products made with sustainable materials like recycled paper (including The Knot Invitations). That way, you can still send out eco-friendly invites without compromising on traditional invitation etiquette.

Lack of Gravitas/Sentimentality

Some guests might not think it's proper to send a digital wedding invitation and just love the sentimentality of a paper invite that they can keep as a sweet keepsake. (Starring the email in their inbox just isn't the same.) Also, some couples have encountered some guest confusion surrounding digital invitations, where guests assume a paper invitation will follow and the digital bid is a more of an informal precursor.

Best Digital Wedding Invitations

If you've weighed the pros and cons and decided to go with email invitations for some (or all) of your wedding-related events, you've come to the right place. We've listed the best online invitation websites and the best digital wedding invitations below that'll let you get in touch with your guests-to-be right away.

1. Bliss & Bone

Photo: Bliss & Bone

What we love about Bliss & Bone is how immersive their digital invitations are. Each gives the impression of paper, delivered to guests in a dreamy flatlay image that incorporates shadows, textures and dimensional objects (think palm fronds tickling the edges of the invite and gently curled bits of ribbon). That's why we think they have some of the best electronic invitations for weddings and rehearsal dinners. Guests are first sent an aesthetically pleasing email with a few basic details of your day, then are instructed to click through to see the actual invite, which fills up the entire screen. They can also scroll down a smidge to RSVP easily. This design gives us summer meadow wedding vibes, fastened with a pin as if affixed to a corkboard and framed with realistic buttercup blooms.

Pricing: $1.20 each for under 10 recipients; $0.90 each for 10 or more recipients; $0.70 for over 300 recipients

2. Evite

Photo: Evite

Like we said, paperless wedding invitations are a great way to keep things casual in terms of your wedding invite suite checklist. But you don't have to lose all formality. Evite has plenty of sophisticated designs that are deserving of your big day. Choose from a selection of free and premium options that'll take you right from your engagement party, to the big day, to the day-after brunch. For a more-casual bash, we adore this groovy, modern design, which feels super fun and fresh.

Pricing: single-event premium packages from $17.99 to $99.99 (tiered by guest list size); Evite Pro yearly subscription for $249.99

3. Greenvelope

Photo: Greenvelope

Every detail of your Greenvelope online invitations—text, colors, patterns and envelopes—is customizable. You can even choose the envelope liner! The icing on the cake? A portion of every sale goes to Mountains to Sound, a non-profit organization that maintains forests. If sustainability is your reason for going paperless, these might just be the best online invites for you. What's more, the site has tons of unique and trendy designs, like this European-inspired stoop illustration.

Pricing: from $19 for a single mailing occasion; from $125 per year for unlimited mailing occasions

4. Etsy

Photo: Blush Paperie Shop

Another affordable option for the best digital invitations is Etsy. Etsy works a little differently than other sites: Typically, designs are sold individually as digital files for you to customize and send out yourself. So while you do have to take care of the sending legwork yourself, it can be worth it to get a design that's really unique from Etsy's community or small makers. Most invitations come in the form of an editable PDF template that's easy to complete. Once you've filled in all the details, you can email an invite to every member of your crew—the limit doesn't exist.

Pricing: varies by seller; typically a flat fee for a digital download

5. Paperless Post

Photo: Paperless Post

Paperless Post offers a wide array of beautiful designs, thanks to collaborations with brands like Stephanie Fishwick, Rifle Paper Co. and Oscar de la Renta. Seriously, some of these rival paper invitations in detail and texture. We're partial to this scribble-doodle design that's oh so on trend.

Pricing: from 2 Paperless Post Coin(s) each; Coins sold in packages from $12 (25 Coins) to $120 (1,000 Coins)

6. Punchbowl

Photo: Punchbowl

Punchbowl offers an inexpensive subscription service that'll give you access to plenty of cute and casual paperless stationery, from online wedding e-cards to electronic bachelor party invitations. The site's online invitations also come with handy RSVP tracking, so you can easily stay on top of who's coming. Plus, you have the option of your invites going out via email or text, which is also perfect for a more low-key prewedding party.

Pricing: from $2.99 per month for a membership subscription