How to send a digital save-the-date: the routes that actually work
Digital does not automatically mean simpler — it means you have to pick a route. Here are four, what each one costs you, and the one part you need something other than us for.
How do you send a digital save-the-date?
You design an image or a small page with the date, the place and your names, and send it as a message, an email or a link. That is all it is — the decision is only which channel, and whether you want a fixed file or a page you can still change. The card itself is made in a design tool; we do not build one, and we name the ones that work further down.
Four ways to send a digital save-the-date
Ordered by how many of your guests each one actually reaches.
As an image over a messenger
One image into the WhatsApp or Signal group, or individually to each person. The route where least gets lost: nobody has to open something they did not already have open.
What it costs youMessengers compress images. Fine type on a light background turns to mush — check the result on somebody else’s phone, not on yours.
By email
For the part of the guest list that already exists as an address list — colleagues, distant relatives, anyone whose number you do not have.
What it costs youSome of it lands in spam and you will not know. Follow up once with the guests who matter.
As a link to a small page
Send an address instead of a file. The advantage only shows up later: if the date or the venue changes, you change the page — not the message you already sent.
What it costs youYou need a wedding-website service or a page of your own for this. Worth the effort only if the real invitation will live on the same page later.
Printed — for the guests who need it
Not a digital route, but honestly the answer for grandparents without a smartphone. Printing ten cards costs little and saves three phone calls.
What it costs youTwo channels means two versions that can drift apart. Decide up front which one is the source of truth.
What we do not offer here
If you landed on this page because you want to design a card, we would rather say so than click you through three more pages.
We do not design save-the-date cards
Gathmo collects photos from your guests — we are not a card editor and will not pretend to be. For the design, use Canva, a template from Etsy, or a stationery service.
And we do not manage RSVPs
You will need a separate tool for that. A save-the-date does not ask for replies anyway — that is the invitation’s job, and it comes later.
What we are for: the photos afterwards
Once the date is set and the day happens, we collect your guests’ pictures through a QR code. That is the part we are good at, and the reason this page exists at all.
When the save-the-date goes out
Six to twelve months ahead, as soon as the date and venue are confirmed — the card has one job, protecting the weekend, so it can go long before the invitation is designed. With a short engagement, skip it entirely. The full timeline with all five moments is on the invitation-timing page.
See the invitation timelineDigital save-the-dates — FAQ
As an image over a messenger, by email, or as a link to a small page. The messenger reaches the most guests; the link is the only route where you can still change something afterwards.
Sending it is — messengers and email cost nothing. Most people design the card on a free Canva template; only finished designs from Etsy or a stationer cost money.
Six to twelve months before the wedding, as soon as the date and venue are confirmed. As early as you can manage for a destination wedding, and not at all if the engagement is under four months — the invitation is enough.
Your names, the date, the city, and a note that the invitation will follow. Nothing else — times, running order and dress code belong on the invitation, and anything you put here can still change.
Digital for almost everyone, printed for the guests who do not use a smartphone. That mix is normal and cheaper than printing for a hundred people.
Your guests get the whole album — and can download it.
- Photos, videos and voice messages, all on one page.
- Guests open the link and download whatever they want.
- Public, or behind a password — you decide.
Fra 49 USD. Betal én gang, per arrangement.
Ingen abonnement for arrangører. Gratis å starte, oppgrader bare når du trenger mer.
- 20 bilder, videoer og talemeldinger
- 5 GB lagring inkludert
- Ubegrenset antall gjester — ingen app nødvendig
- Album i 30 dager
- Video inntil 30 sek · tale 30 sek
- Gathmo-merking på delte medier
- Ingen nedlasting i originalkvalitet
- Ubegrenset med bilder, video og lyd
- 50 GB lagring inkludert
- Last ned alle originaler (ZIP)
- Ingen Gathmo-merking på mediene dine
- Album i 90 dager
- Video inntil 5 min · tale Ubegrenset
- Modereringsverktøy for arrangøren
- Alt i Essential
- 100 GB lagring inkludert
- Live fotovegg i lokalet
- Album i 6 måneder
- Video inntil 10 min · tale Ubegrenset
- Prioritert support
- Alt i Celebrate
- 250 GB lagring inkludert
- Direktesending for dem som ikke kan komme
- Talemeldingene skrives ut som tekst for deg
- Egen lenke — gathmo.com/c/ditt-navn
- Album i 1 år
- Video inntil 15 min · tale Ubegrenset
The date is set. The photos come later.
On the day, a QR code on the tables collects every guest’s pictures — no app, no accounts. Free to set up, and you can walk the whole thing months in advance.