Greenvelope lets you send invitations to guests without email in three ways: by text message to a phone number in supported countries, through a personalized link you share yourself in WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or your own text, and through a public shareable link and its QR code for a printed card, a flyer, or a group chat. Guests can submit an RSVP through the invitation without creating an account. Record phone and chat replies manually on Track so they appear alongside online RSVPs.
Your list may include someone you reach by phone, a relative who prefers WhatsApp, or a guest who wants a paper card. Choose a route each person can use, and decide how you will record their reply. This guide walks through the setup for each kind of guest, with the labels from Greenvelope's help center, then a dated example of a mixed list and the follow-up that keeps one accurate count. If you are choosing between texting and email for a whole list, our guide to text vs. email invitations covers that decision; this one is for the guests email cannot reach.
At a Glance
- A guest with a phone number and no email gets the invitation by text when you send, on Greenvelope, as long as the number supports text messaging through Greenvelope; the help center lists text packages for the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands
- A guest you reach only through WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger gets a personalized link: leave the email field blank, save the contact, and click the WhatsApp or Facebook logo on the contact row, or choose Copy Link / Send Plain Text from the row's dropdown and paste the link into your own message; copying a link requires a paid account, and the link belongs to that guest or household only
- A printed card, a bulletin, or a group chat gets the public Share URL and the QR code generated from it; people register and RSVP through it, but the link does not by itself show who received it or who has not replied
- Paper for the few who want it: a paid account can download a high-quality version of the card to print yourself, with the QR code, the Share URL printed below the code, and a phone number for anyone who does not use the internet; Greenvelope does not print, address, or mail cards
- Follow-up differs by channel: RSVP reminders are emails to guests who have not replied, so a phone-only guest gets a message through the Message Center or a personal text, and a verbal reply is recorded by hand on the Track page
- Single mailings start at $19 for a guest list of up to 20 people, with pricing based on list size and no subscription required; our cost guide explains the tiers. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages, with more available to purchase. A trial send to up to 10 people needs no credit card, though Trial Mode cannot create a shareable link or copy a guest's personalized link
Which Route Fits Which Guest
Greenvelope ties email, text, and personalized links to a named contact, and it ties the public Share URL to the event. Use a personalized invitation link for a guest or household already on your list. Use the public Share URL when you want people to register themselves. The table matches the guest to the route.
| The guest | Route | What you need | What the guest list records |
|---|
| Has a mobile number in a supported country | Text message sent through Greenvelope | A supported mobile number in the contact's phone field; text messages come with a paid account | Recorded card opens and submitted RSVPs associated with the invited guest or household |
|---|
| Reachable in WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger | Personalized link sent from the Send step or copied and pasted into your own message | A contact with the email field left blank; a paid account to copy a link | Submitted RSVPs associated with the guest or household; Greenvelope does not track WhatsApp delivery or reads |
|---|
| A whole group, club, or congregation with no list | Public Share URL, posted or printed as a QR code | A paid account; the Enable Sharing toggle on | Each person who registers and their RSVP, but not who received the link |
|---|
| Wants a paper card | A printed copy of the card with the QR code, the Share URL printed below the code, and a phone number to call | A paid account to download the card; your own printer or print shop | The RSVP after the guest registers and submits a response, or a phone reply you record by hand |
|---|
| Has an email address after all | Email, or text in supported countries if the guest prefers it | An email address for email delivery, or a supported mobile number for text delivery | Recorded card opens and submitted RSVPs associated with the invited guest or household |
|---|
How to Send Invitations to Guests Without Email in Six Steps
Greenvelope handles all of these guests inside one mailing, so the steps below build one guest list, prepare each person's route, check everything once, and then send. The interface labels come from the help center articles linked in each step.
1. Sort your list by how you reach each person
Go through the list once and mark each guest: email, mobile number, messaging app only, or paper. Base the channel on how that person actually answers you, not on age or habit, and where a household shares one phone, list the household under one contact with each member named, so each person's attendance is recorded separately. The Group Couples and Families Together article notes that an email or phone number is optional for the other members of a household.
2. Add phone-only guests with a number in the phone field
In the Send step, click Add Contacts and enter the guest with a mobile number in the phone field; you can also import a spreadsheet with a phone column. When the contact has no email, Greenvelope sends the card by text message when you complete the send, and if the contact has an email you can choose text instead. If the Send button does not appear for that contact, the number likely does not support text messaging through Greenvelope. The text carries a personalized link, and the guest opens the full card, with the animated envelope if you chose one, and replies on it. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages, with more available to purchase in blocks, and the help center's No Email? Send a Personalized Card via WhatsApp, Facebook or Text Message article lists the block prices for the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands.
3. Prepare personalized links for WhatsApp, Messenger, or your own text
For a guest outside the supported texting countries, or one who only answers in a messaging app, leave the email field blank when you create the contact and save it. The same help article documents two routes from the contact row: click the WhatsApp or Facebook logo to send the card in a private message to that person, or open the dropdown on the far right of the row, choose Copy Link / Send Plain Text, and paste the personalized link into your own WhatsApp, Messenger, or text message, which the Copy a Recipient's Card Link article covers. Copying a guest's personalized link requires a paid account and is unavailable in Trial Mode. The link is personalized, so only the people tied to that contact row should receive it. Hold the actual messages until the checks in step 6 are done. A message you write yourself can be as simple as this:
Hi [name], we'd love to see you at [event] on [date]. Here are the details: [personalized invitation link]. Please RSVP on the invitation by [reply-by date].
A chat reply does not automatically update the RSVP record; guests respond through the invitation, or you record a confirmed answer manually. Greenvelope does not track WhatsApp delivery or read receipts. Our roundup of the best invitation platforms for WhatsApp sharing compares how other services handle this.
4. Create a public Share URL and a QR code for printed pieces and groups
In the Send step, click Share URL and create the link. Greenvelope then offers Share on Facebook, Share on Twitter, Share on WhatsApp, and Copy a Link, and it generates a QR code from the same link: choose whether the code opens the RSVP page or the invitation, pick Register Here, RSVP Here, Scan Here, or no caption, and download it as a PNG for a printed invitation, a program, a sign, or a flyer. People who open the link can register and submit an RSVP, and those responses are recorded on your guest list. The Share Your Invitation by Link or QR Code article is plain about the limit: sharing a public link or QR code does not, by itself, identify everyone who received it or show which of those people has not replied, and turning off Enable Sharing disables the link and prevents further registrations. Shareable links and their QR codes are not available in Trial Mode. Use this route for the group chat and the bulletin board; keep named guests on steps 2 and 3 so you can follow up with them by name.
5. Prepare printed cards for guests who want paper
Download a high-quality version of the card from the mailing's summary page (the Download icon under the card preview) and print it yourself or at a local print shop; the Does Greenvelope Offer Printed Cards? article explains that Greenvelope does not print, address, or mail cards, and that downloading requires a paid account. Place the QR code from step 4 on the printed piece with a caption and the Share URL printed below the code, and scan a printed proof with a phone camera before you print the rest. Remember the code carries the public link, so a paper guest who scans it registers rather than replying under a prefilled name. For a guest who does not use the internet, include your phone number and an RSVP deadline on the printed card, and record their answer on the Track page, with a separate attendance response for each named guest. A printed line that does the job:
Please call [host name] at [phone number] by [reply-by date] to let us know whether you can come.
Our guide to adding a QR code to a wedding invitation covers code size and placement.
6. Run the pre-send check, then send or schedule
Complete these checks before sending messages, sharing links, or distributing printed cards: preview the card, send yourself a test, read it on a phone, confirm the guest list and the reply-to address, and open every link and the Add to Calendar entry. Then use Send Invitations for immediate delivery to selected contacts, by email or text according to each contact. Schedule Send applies to all unsent contacts, including contacts added after scheduling, and goes out on the date and time you set. Send your WhatsApp or Messenger messages yourself, and distribute printed cards separately. Guests open the invitation and submit their RSVP on it; the mechanics from the guest's side are in our online RSVP guide.
A Family Christmas Dinner With Guests on Every Channel: An Illustrative Example
Greenvelope's Track page is where this comes together, so here is one mixed list from start to finish. Elena Marsh is hosting Christmas dinner at home on Saturday, December 19, 2026, for 32 people in 14 households, on the Watercolor Poinsettias design by Becky Nimoy Stationery. Twenty guests have email, seven are reachable only by U.S. mobile number, three relatives in Spain answer only in WhatsApp, and her grandparents want a card on the refrigerator. Holiday-season parties go out 4 to 6 weeks ahead as a planning guideline, so she aims for the middle of November; our timing guide has the full calendar.
- Monday, November 9: Elena builds the list: 30 people in 13 households. Email contacts go in with addresses; the seven phone-only guests go in with mobile numbers and the email field blank; the three Spanish relatives go in as one household with the email field blank; her grandparents go in as a household with no contact details, to receive a printed card and be recorded by hand. She runs the pre-send check and schedules the send for Saturday, November 14.
- Thursday, November 12: A neighbor couple she had forgotten goes in as a two-person household with one email address, making 32 people in 14 households. Because Schedule Send covers every unsent contact, they are included in Saturday's send without any change to the schedule.
- Saturday, November 14: The scheduled email and text invitations go out to the contacts representing those 27 guests, five weeks ahead. The same morning she opens the dropdown on the Spanish household's row, chooses Copy Link / Send Plain Text, and pastes the link into a WhatsApp message to her aunt. She creates the Share URL, downloads the QR code with the RSVP Here caption, prints one card for her grandparents with her phone number and the December 11 reply date on it, and hands it over on Sunday.
- Tuesday, November 17: The Delivery Optimizer resends the invitations from Saturday's send to the contacts who have not opened them or responded, three days after the initial send. The WhatsApp link and the printed card are outside that resend, so Elena follows up on those herself.
- Friday, December 4: One week before the reply date, she sends an RSVP reminder email from Track to the email guests who have not replied, and messages the two phone-only guests who are still outstanding through the Message Center.
- Friday, December 11: The requested RSVP date on the invitation. She sends a brief final note to guests who have not replied, using one channel per guest. Her grandmother phones to say yes for two, and Elena records it on the Track page against the grandparents' household.
- Sunday, December 13: One personal follow-up to the last two households, by text to one and WhatsApp to the other: "Hi Teo, can you make it to dinner on December 19? Please let me know either way by December 14 so I can finish the shopping list."
- Monday, December 14: Cutoff. The expected headcount based on RSVPs is 25 attending, with 5 not attending and 2 people who never replied; 25 plus 5 plus 2 is 32. She exports the guest list to a spreadsheet for the grocery run.
After Elena records the phone and chat replies, her guest list includes both online RSVPs and manually entered answers. The dates and numbers are illustrative.
Follow-Up and the Final Count When Guests Are on Different Channels
Greenvelope records opens for email and text sends and records every RSVP submitted on the invitation, so the Track page tells you who has not replied; the follow-up then depends on the channel. You can send or schedule RSVP reminder emails to guests who have not replied, from Track under Set or Edit Auto-Reminders, with Send Now or Schedule Reminder, as the Schedule RSVP and Event Reminders article describes.
Those documented reminders are emails, so a phone-only guest who has not replied gets a message sent through the Message Center on a paid account, or a personal text asking them to reply on the invitation. If a guest has accepted but left a question unanswered, send a targeted message instead of an RSVP reminder. A guest who answers you by phone, in a chat, or in person is recorded with the manual RSVP update on the Track page, so one record holds the whole count.
People who came in through the public link appear once they register; nobody can tell you who saw the printed code and did not scan it, which is why the guests you must follow up with by name belong on named contacts.
This guide's recommendation for cadence is a friendly reminder about one week before the deadline and a brief final note on the deadline, both only to non-responders, then one personal follow-up a day or two after the deadline that states the cutoff, one message per guest per round, by email or text, never both. Our guide to RSVP reminder texts has wording for each round. When the count is final, export the guest list and RSVPs to Excel or CSV and check the file against whatever the caterer or venue needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to send invitations to guests without email?
On Greenvelope, add the guest with a mobile number instead of an email and the invitation goes out by text message in supported countries, or leave the email blank and send the guest a personalized link through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or your own text, which needs a paid account to copy the link. For a group with no list, or a printed card, create a public Share URL in the Send step and use the QR code generated from it. Guests submit an RSVP on the invitation without creating an account, and you record phone replies by hand on Track.
Can you send an invitation by text message to someone who has no email address?
On Greenvelope, yes, for mobile numbers in supported countries. Enter the guest's mobile number in the phone field when you create the contact; when the contact has no email, the card is sent by text message when you complete the send. If the Send button does not appear for that contact, the number likely does not support text messaging through Greenvelope. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages, with more available to purchase.
Which countries can receive Greenvelope text message invitations?
Greenvelope sends text messages to numbers in supported countries, and its help center lists text message packages for the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. For a guest elsewhere, copy the guest's personalized link on a paid account and send it yourself through WhatsApp or another app. Check the help center for the current list before you promise a guest a text.
Can I send a Greenvelope invitation through WhatsApp?
On Greenvelope, you share the invitation through WhatsApp yourself: click the WhatsApp logo on a contact row that has no email, or, on a paid account, copy the guest's personalized link and paste it into your own WhatsApp message, and the guest RSVPs on the invitation. Greenvelope does not send WhatsApp messages from the platform and does not track WhatsApp delivery or read receipts. A chat reply does not automatically update the RSVP record; guests respond through the invitation, or you record the confirmed answer manually.
How does a QR code on a printed invitation work with online RSVPs?
On Greenvelope, the QR code is generated from the public Share URL in the Send step; you choose whether it opens the RSVP page or the invitation, pick a caption such as RSVP Here, and download it as a PNG for the printed piece. The public link does not, by itself, identify everyone who received it or show who has not responded. Guests who register and submit an RSVP have their responses recorded on your guest list.
Does a guest without email need an app or an account to open the invitation or RSVP?
No. On Greenvelope, the text, the shared link, and the QR code all open the invitation in the phone's browser, and the guest submits an RSVP there without creating an account or installing anything. The animated envelope, the details, and the RSVP page are the same ones an emailed guest sees.
How do I track RSVPs from guests who reply by phone or in a chat?
On Greenvelope, record the reply by hand with the manual RSVP update on the Track page, so the guest list holds every answer in one place. A text or chat reply does not update the record on its own. For a guest you expect to reply verbally, ask for a yes or no in your message and enter it the same day.
Can I send RSVP reminders to guests I invited by text?
On Greenvelope, the documented RSVP reminders you send or schedule from Track are emails to guests who have not replied, so a phone-only guest gets a message through the Message Center on a paid account or a personal text asking them to reply on the invitation. Keep it to one message per guest per round, about a week before the deadline and again on the deadline.
Can I invite guests without email in Trial Mode?
On Greenvelope, a trial send to up to 10 people needs no credit card, but Trial Mode cannot copy a guest's personalized link, create a shareable link or QR code, download the card for printing, or use Messaging. Those are the routes this guide relies on for WhatsApp guests, group chats, and paper guests, so plan on a paid account for a mixed list.
Is it okay to send paper invitations to some guests and digital invitations to others?
Yes. Choose a format each guest can use, and keep the event details and RSVP deadline consistent. Include a phone reply option for anyone who does not use the internet.
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