Guide
Online invitations with RSVP
An online invitation with RSVP collects your replies on the invitation itself instead of in a group chat. This covers the six things guests expect from one, what the free tools do well and where each of them stops, and when it is worth having one built for you.
Last reviewed August 23, 2026
From the guest's side
What guests expect from an RSVP
Six things, and the first is the one that costs the most replies. Guests expect to answer without registering, to answer for their whole household at once, to say what they cannot eat, to change their mind later, to do all of it on a phone, and to see that it worked.
To reply without making an account
The moment a reply needs a password, a share of your list quietly stops replying. Anything that asks a guest to register loses the titos first and the busiest people second.
To answer for the whole household at once
One person replies for four. If the form only takes one name, you get one yes and three unknowns, and you find out the real number at the door.
To say what they cannot eat
Allergies, a vegetarian in the family, a child who needs a different plate. Guests expect somewhere to put it, and caterers expect you to have collected it.
To change the answer later
Plans move. A guest who said yes in March and cannot come in May needs a way to tell you that is not a message you might miss.
To do it on a phone, on mobile data
Nearly every reply comes from a phone, often on a slow connection. A form that needs pinching and zooming gets abandoned halfway through.
To know it went through
Without a clear confirmation, a guest either replies twice or assumes it failed and tells you in the group chat instead, which puts you back where you started.
The free options
Free RSVP tools, and where each one stops
Four of them, and for a short list any of the first two is genuinely enough. Google Forms and a Facebook event both cost nothing and both collect replies. What none of them do is put the invitation and the reply in the same place, which is the whole difference.
| Tool | Good for | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Google Forms | A free reply list with no cap on how many answer, and every field you want | There is no invitation around it. Guests see a bare form, and the details of the day have to live somewhere else entirely. |
| A Facebook event | Replies and reminders in the place a lot of your list already is | It only reaches people on Facebook, and Going is not a seat count. Older relatives are often the ones missing. |
| Evite or Greetings Island | An invitation with the reply built into it, free to start | The design is a template other events have used too, and the guest list lives in their account on their domain rather than yours. |
| A poll in the group chat | Instant, and everybody is already in the thread | Answers scroll out of sight, the same person votes twice, and you recount from scratch every time somebody changes their mind. |
The threshold
When a custom invitation helps
Four situations where a free form starts costing more than it saves: a list past a hundred, a caterer who needs a real number by a date, half the family in other timezones, and details that might still change after the first replies are in.
The list runs past a hundred
Past about a hundred guests, reconciling replies by hand stops being an evening job. A running headcount with names against it is the difference between knowing and estimating.
The caterer needs a number, not a guess
Venues and caterers want a figure by a date, with seat counts and dietary notes behind it. A tally of chat messages is not something you can hand over.
Half the list is abroad
Relatives in other timezones reply at odd hours and cannot be chased in real time. Something that collects quietly while you sleep does more than a thread.
The details might still change
If the venue or the call time could move, the reply needs to sit on the same page as the details, so a guest who replied in March sees the change in May.
Ours, specifically
How the reply works on one of ours
The reply sits on the invitation, under the details it refers to. A guest gives a name, a seat count and anything you should know, and it lands in one list with a running headcount and a note of who has not answered yet. No account, no app, no reply-all.
A name, a seat count, and anything you should know
This is the actual form from one of our samples, not a drawing of one. Joyfully accepts or regretfully declines, a contact so you can reach them, and a free box that is where the dietary notes and the song requests arrive.
Guests see a countdown to your deadline on the same page, which does more for the reply rate than a reminder message does. Open a sample invitation and reply to it yourself if you want to see it work.
Managed RSVP, where we do the chasing, is ₱999
The other option
What a built one costs, and what else it does
From ₱999 for a christening or a kids’ party up to ₱4,999 for a wedding, one payment per event. The reply is one part of it: the same link carries the details, a well wishes wall, and every photo your guests take, live for 12 months.
If you would rather make one yourself first, how to make digital invitations walks through the whole process including the tools above. If you already know you want it handled, the e-invitations page has the prices and the samples.
Questions
Asked about replies
Whether there is a free option, whether guests need an account, how a household replies together, and how far ahead to set the deadline.
Is there a free online invitation with RSVP?
Yes, several, and the table above says what each is good for. Google Forms and a Facebook event both cost nothing at all. Ours are not free and start at PHP 999, and what you are paying for is the invitation, the replies and the photos being one thing rather than three.
Can guests RSVP without an account or an app?
On ours, yes. They tap the link, it opens in whatever browser is already on the phone, and they reply there. We ask for a name before anyone replies so you know who said what, but there is nothing to install and no sign-up.
Can one person reply for a whole family?
Yes. A reply carries a name and a seat count, so a tita answering for four is one reply for four rather than four unknowns. That is what turns the list into a headcount you can give a caterer.
What happens if a guest changes their answer?
Send us the change and we update the list, usually the same day. If chasing and reconciling the last few is one job too many on top of everything else, managed RSVP is ₱999 and we hand you a final headcount before your deadline.
How far ahead should the RSVP deadline be?
Two weeks before the caterer or the venue needs your number, which in practice means about four to six weeks before the event. We show guests a countdown to that date on the invitation, which does more than a reminder message does.
From the journal