For hosts of occasions with a dress code
The message is the envelope, not the invitation. Let a short carrier note deliver a page that carries the ceremony — considered wording, complete detail, and a reply that feels deliberate.
One idea makes formality on a casual channel work: the WhatsApp message stops trying to be the invitation. It becomes the thing that carries it, the way an outer envelope carries the card. Two or three graceful lines, the guest's name, and a link beneath. Everything ceremonial — the request, the full names, the venue written out, the order of the day — lives on the page, where a guest will read it slowly. Nobody expects vows to fit in a chat bubble; nobody should expect the invitation to either.
Placed on the page rather than in the message, formal wording has room to breathe:
Marta and Tom Lindqvist, together with their families, request the pleasure of your company at the celebration of their marriage.
Saturday, the twelfth of September. Half past two in the afternoon. The garden rooms at Hof ter Dael, Amsterdam, with dinner and dancing to follow.
Black tie. We would be glad to see everyone in their very best — the garden rooms warm quickly in the afternoon, so choose with that in mind.
Kindly reply by the first of August. The button below takes less than a minute, and any question can reach us through the same page.
A formal page is judged by its completeness. Before publishing, confirm every one of these is present:
What the message itself does to preserve grace: greet by name, state the occasion in a sentence, place the link beneath like a card handed over. No emoji. No abbreviations. Sent during daylight, individually, to each guest or household. Where there is real seniority in the list — grandparents, the family friend who has seen everything — send the same message after a phone call, so the link arrives as a convenience rather than as the news itself. The formality lives in the attention; the delivery merely carries it.
Be honest about the outer edge. White tie, a funeral of traditional formality, an occasion where the ceremony is the point — those want paper, and no link substitutes for it without someone feeling the shortcut. What a page does beautifully is sit beside the card: the printed invitation announces, and a QR code or short link underneath leads to the full detail — directions, schedule, reply — that the card itself has no room for. Ceremony on paper, practicality on the page, neither undermining the other.
How it works
Clara drafts conversationally — tell it the hosts, the occasion and the tone, and shape the request lines until they sound like your family rather than a template.
Dress code section, order of the day, venue and directions, an FAQ, and a reply button that takes meal choices and plus-ones inside limits you set.
One name, one occasion, one link, sent by daylight. Nothing the recipient would want to screenshot and wince at.
Every answer arrives in the guest list as it comes in. After the deadline, host-side reminders reach only the names still missing — no chase required.
Questions
Yes, when the message carries a page built for the occasion rather than trying to be the ask itself. The ceremony belongs on the page — formal wording, full venue, dress code section. A short message handing over that page loses nothing; a long chat paragraph does.
A phone call before the message costs nothing and says everything. For the small number of guests the occasion formally demands paper from, send paper and print the page's QR code on it — they get the card, and the same page keeps the details correct for them.
Let the page use kindly reply by with the deadline visible, and keep the button itself plain. Guests trust a clear button; formality at the reply stage means the deadline is stated gracefully, not that tapping should feel like signing a register.
Yes, for a formal occasion. Households deserve a message with their name on it. If you want the chat for celebration rather than delivery, post there after every household has received their own note — the group becomes the party, not the postbox.
Answer the yes, not the register. A guest who writes that they wouldn't miss it has accepted in their own voice, and the page recorded it where it counts. Tone belongs to the guest; correctness belongs to the list.
Get Started
Start free, put the ceremony on the page, keep the message short and personal, and formality travels through any channel intact.
