To send Hanukkah party invitations online with Greenvelope, pick the night, choose a Hanukkah design, add the candle lighting and meal times, build your guest list by household, and send by email or by text message in supported countries, with each family's RSVP collected on the invitation. Guests can RSVP without creating an account, and you can track their replies in one guest list.
Hanukkah 2026 begins at sundown on Friday, December 4, and continues through Saturday, December 12. Invitations for holiday-season parties are best sent 4 to 6 weeks ahead, so for most Hanukkah parties this year the time to send is early to mid November. This guide is published by Greenvelope and covers the sending steps; our Hanukkah party invitation wording guide has complete examples to copy, and our Hanukkah party invitation templates guide shows the designs.
At a Glance
- As a planning guideline, send Hanukkah party invitations 4 to 6 weeks ahead and ask for replies 1 to 2 weeks before the party; a Hanukkah party does not need a save the date
- If your party is less than four weeks away, send the invitation as soon as the details are settled
- Name the night and the full date with its weekday, and give the arrival time, your planned candle lighting time, and the meal as separate details
- Add each family as a household with every person named, children included, so one reply covers everyone and you get a count by name
- If your guests observe U.S. Thanksgiving on November 26, consider their holiday plans when choosing reminder dates. If a caterer or venue needs numbers, set your RSVP deadline a few days before the earliest final-count deadline
- Single mailings start at $19 for a guest list of up to 20 people, with pricing based on list size and no subscription required. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages, with more available to purchase
Start With the Night: Hanukkah 2026 Dates
Start by choosing your party date, then add the schedule to your Greenvelope invitation. The first night begins on Friday, December 4, 2026, and the eighth begins on Friday, December 11.
| Night | Evening of | Worth knowing |
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| First night | Friday, December 4 | Friday evening; overlaps with the start of Shabbat |
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| Second night | Saturday, December 5 | Saturday evening; follows the end of Shabbat |
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| Third night | Sunday, December 6 | The only Sunday of the holiday this year |
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| Fourth night | Monday, December 7 | Weeknight |
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| Fifth night | Tuesday, December 8 | Weeknight |
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| Sixth night | Wednesday, December 9 | Weeknight |
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| Seventh night | Thursday, December 10 | Weeknight |
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| Eighth night | Friday, December 11 | Friday evening; overlaps with the start of Shabbat |
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A weeknight party works well with an early start and a clear end time, so families with school the next morning can say yes. If you or your guests observe Shabbat, look closely at the start time for a Friday or Saturday party, or choose another night; the wording guide linked above covers how to phrase the candle lighting.
How to Send Hanukkah Party Invitations Online in Six Steps
On Greenvelope, a Hanukkah party invitation is one invitation mailing that holds the card, the event details, the RSVP page, and the guest list. These six steps take you from choosing a design to sending your invitation.
1. Pick the night and set the schedule
Choose the night from the table above, then write down three times: when guests should arrive, when you plan to light the candles, and when the food comes out. Add an end time if the party falls on a school night. Decide whether you are hosting the whole meal or asking guests to bring something, because that changes both the wording and the questions on the reply form.
2. Choose a Hanukkah design
Start from Greenvelope's Hanukkah invitation collection. Gilded Menorah by Claudia Owen suits a candle lighting or a seated dinner, and Latkes, Lights And Dreidels by Laura Bolter Design suits a latke party or a gathering with children. You can change the wording, fonts, text placement, and preset colorways, and choose the envelope and liner, as described in Design: Edit Your Card. Customization options vary by design, and lettering drawn into the artwork stays as the artist made it. In your own lines, spell the holiday the way your family does, Hanukkah or Chanukah.
3. Write the invitation and the event details
Replace the sample wording with the host, the night, the full date with the weekday, the schedule, the address, who is invited, what you are serving, and a reply date. Here is a complete example for a latke party:
Latkes at our place
Join the Katz family for the seventh night of Hanukkah
Thursday, December 10, 2026
Come at 5:30 p.m. We plan to light candles at 6:00, and the latkes come out right after.
[Street address], [City, State]
Kids are welcome. We have the latkes and applesauce covered.
Please RSVP on this invitation by Monday, November 30
Confirm the local candle lighting time your family follows before adding it to the invitation, especially for a Friday or Saturday gathering, and word it as your plan. Put parking, the buzzer code, and a fuller menu on the invitation's details page instead of the card. Under Details, open Information and add the Date/Time and location, and the Add to Calendar link appears for guests.
4. Build the guest list by household
In the Send step, click Add Contacts and import your list from an Excel or CSV file, a webmail account, a pasted list of emails, or your Greenvelope address book. For each family, group the members into one household with every person named, children included. The person completing the RSVP then records a separate attendance response for each named guest, so you can see exactly which family members plan to attend. Then choose one channel per household, email or text message in supported countries, based on the contact details you trust. Grandparents, cousins, and friends open the card and reply without creating an account.
5. Set the reply date and add your questions
On the Details step, open the RSVP Page section and set the requested RSVP date to match your wording. Entering the date does not schedule reminders or close replies; you do both yourself. Under Survey Questions, add a question in a dropdown, multiple choice, checkbox, or write-in format. Questions appear after a guest selects an RSVP response. The next section matches the questions to the kind of party you are hosting.
6. Run a pre-send check, then send or schedule
Preview the card, send yourself a test, and read it on a phone. Confirm the guest list and a reply-to address you check, then test the links and the calendar entry. In the Send step, Send Invitations sends immediately to the contacts you select. Schedule Send sends on the date and time you set to all unsent contacts, including contacts added after scheduling.
Family Dinner, Latke Party, or Open House: Set Up the RSVP to Match
Greenvelope's RSVP page can be set up differently for each kind of Hanukkah gathering, and the right setup depends on what you need to know before the night.
| Party | Guest list setup | Questions worth asking |
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| Seated family dinner | Named households; a Maximum capacity limit if the table seats a fixed number | A write-in question for dietary needs |
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| Latke party or potluck | Named households, children included | A dropdown or write-in question for what each family would like to bring |
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| Children's dreidel and craft afternoon | Name each invited child and any parent who may stay in the household, using a parent's contact details | A write-in question for allergies, asking which named guest each allergy applies to |
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| Dessert open house | Named households, with a time window in the wording | RSVPs for a rough count, or RSVP collection turned off if you do not need one |
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If a parent will stay, record their attendance through their own RSVP response; answering a survey question does not add them to the expected headcount.
Two boundaries are worth knowing. A survey answer is planning information and never adds people to the count; attendance comes from the reply for each named guest. And the Maximum capacity setting limits attendance by capping yes replies, which is separate from the size of the mailing you buy. For a potluck, our potluck invitation wording guide has lines for asking guests to bring a dish, and our guide to adding custom questions to an online RSVP covers each question format.
Sending a Hanukkah Party Invitation: An Illustrative Example
Naomi Katz uses Greenvelope to invite 14 households, 41 people in all, to a latke party on Thursday, December 10, 2026, the seventh night. She picks Latkes, Lights And Dreidels by Laura Bolter Design, a blue card with a large hand-lettered dreidel. The host, the guests, and the numbers below are fictional; the design is a real Greenvelope invitation.
Latkes, Lights And Dreidels by Laura Bolter Design, shown before the host's wording is added. The gold band is a digital effect.
- Monday, November 9: Naomi adds her wording, sets the requested RSVP date to Monday, November 30, and adds one write-in question: "Would you like to bring a topping or dessert? Let us know what you have in mind." She imports 13 households with every adult and child named, sends herself a test, and schedules the send for Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. After scheduling, she adds her new neighbors, a family of three, bringing the list to 14 households and 41 people.
- Wednesday, November 11: the invitation goes out to all 14 households, including the neighbors added after scheduling. Each household receives it once, by email or by text message in supported countries.
- Saturday, November 14: Delivery Optimizer, which she turned on before sending, resends the invitation to households that have not opened it or responded, three days after the initial send.
- Monday, November 23: one week before the deadline and ahead of Thanksgiving travel, she sends an RSVP reminder email to the households that have not replied.
- Monday, November 30: a brief final note goes to the households still missing, one message each.
- Wednesday, December 2: Naomi calls the two households that have not replied and asks for an answer by Thursday, December 3. One confirms that all four people are coming, and she records their individual replies on Track. The other does not respond by the cutoff and remains marked as having no reply.
- Sunday, December 6: she exports the guest list and RSVPs to Excel, reads through the write-in answers to see which toppings and desserts are covered, and shops for the rest.
Illustrative summary of fictional replies; not a reproduction of the Greenvelope interface.
| On December 6 | Count |
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| Households on the list | 14 |
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| People on the list | 41 |
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| People marked attending | 30 |
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| People marked not attending | 9 |
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| People with no reply | 2 |
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| Expected headcount based on RSVPs | 30 |
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The 30 people attending, 9 not attending, and 2 with no reply account for all 41 people on the list. Naomi plans latkes for 30 guests plus her own family. The dates and numbers are illustrative.
After You Send: Track RSVPs and Follow Up
On Greenvelope, replies collect on the mailing's Track step, where you can see who has accepted, who has declined, and who has not answered, and for email and text sends, whether Greenvelope recorded the card as opened. If your guests will be celebrating or traveling over U.S. Thanksgiving, consider their plans when choosing reminder dates.
- The first reminder. You can send or schedule RSVP reminder emails to guests who have not replied. On Track, open Set or Edit Auto-Reminders, choose RSVP Reminders, then choose Send Now or Schedule Reminder. This guide's recommendation is one reminder about a week before the deadline. For the November 30 deadline in the example, that means November 23.
- The final note. On the RSVP deadline, send a brief final note only to guests who have not replied. Send one message per guest per round through the channel you have chosen for them.
- Guests with only a phone number. On a paid account, send a text message in supported countries through the Message Center, or send a personal text asking the guest to reply on the invitation, for example: "Hi Aunt Ruth, we'd love to see you for latkes on December 10. Could you let us know on the invitation by November 30 whether you can make it?"
- A family that replied but skipped your question. Send that household a short message asking for the answer. An RSVP reminder goes only to guests who have not replied.
- Replies by phone or at pickup. Record the reply manually so the count stays in one place.
- Changes to the plan. You can edit the card after sending, for up to five months, and the links guests already have show the updated card. If the night, the time, or the address changes, also tell guests directly.
RSVPs do not close automatically at the deadline, so a late yes can still come in. One or two days after the deadline, follow up personally once with guests who have not replied and state your cutoff. Record confirmed answers on Track, then export the guest list and RSVPs to Excel or CSV before shopping.
When to Send Hanukkah Party Invitations
On Greenvelope, you can send a Hanukkah party invitation the day the details are settled or schedule it for a date and time you choose. As a planning guideline, send 4 to 6 weeks ahead and ask for replies 1 to 2 weeks before the party; if a caterer or venue needs a final count, set the reply date a few days before that deadline. For a party on the seventh night, Thursday, December 10, 2026, that means sending between October 29 and November 12 and asking for replies between November 26 and December 3. A Hanukkah party does not need a save the date. Our timing guide covers the rest of the season.
What It Costs to Send Hanukkah Party Invitations Online
Greenvelope prices each mailing by the size of the guest list, and everyone on the list counts toward the tier, including named partners and children. 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 guide to what Greenvelope costs covers every plan. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages; additional text messages and optional custom design services cost extra. A trial send to up to 10 people needs no credit card, though Trial Mode cannot create a shareable link or use messaging.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to send Hanukkah party invitations online?
On Greenvelope, pick the night, choose a Hanukkah design, add your wording and the candle lighting and meal times, build your guest list by household, and send by email or by text message in supported countries. Guests reply on the invitation without creating an account, and replies collect on the Track step. You can send right away or schedule the send for a date and time you choose.
When should you send Hanukkah party invitations?
As a planning guideline, send them 4 to 6 weeks before the party and ask for replies 1 to 2 weeks ahead. If the party is less than four weeks away, send as soon as the details are settled. A Hanukkah party does not need a save the date.
How do I track Hanukkah party RSVPs?
On Greenvelope, use the Track page to see who has accepted, declined, or not replied. Record confirmed replies received by phone or in person manually so your guest list stays current.
Can you send Hanukkah party invitations by text message?
Yes. Greenvelope sends invitations by text message in supported countries, with the same card and RSVP page as an email send. Choose one channel for each household based on the contact details you trust. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages, with more available to purchase.
Should a Hanukkah party invitation include the candle lighting time?
On your Greenvelope invitation, include a candle lighting time if you plan to light together. List arrival, candle lighting, and meal times separately. Confirm the appropriate local timing for your family's observance, especially for a Friday or Saturday gathering.
How do you invite a whole family to a Hanukkah party online?
On Greenvelope, add the family as one household with each person named, children included. The person completing the RSVP records a separate attendance response for each named guest, so you get a count by name. Everyone named counts toward the mailing's pricing tier.
How much does it cost to send Hanukkah party invitations online?
Greenvelope single mailings start at $19 for a guest list of up to 20 people, with pricing based on list size and no subscription required. Everyone on the guest list counts toward the tier, including named partners and children. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages, with more available to purchase; optional custom design services cost extra. A trial send to up to 10 people needs no credit card.
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