# Invitation Texts: 28 Short, Clear Templates
> 28 ready-to-send invitation text templates: dinner, birthday, housewarming, wedding, farewell drinks, follow-ups and cancellations.
- Source: https://www.envoyer-sms-gratuit.com/en/blog/2026-11-03/modeles-sms-invitation-voeux-annonce
- Published: 2026-11-03 (3 November 2026)
- Author: L'équipe Envoyer SMS Gratuit
- Language: en
- Categories: Cas d'usage
- Tags: Rédaction, Format SMS, Cas d'usage, SMS groupé, Envoyer un SMS
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**Short answer:** an invitation text should contain five pieces of information and nothing more: what (the occasion), when (day, date, time), where (exact address or named venue), who is invited (just you, you and your partner, children too) and how to reply ("let me know by Thursday"). Five lines fit inside 160 characters. Anything missing generates three texts full of questions.
The invitation is the message most often botched in anyone's contact list, not through clumsy tone but through missing information. "Party at ours on Saturday, coming?" immediately triggers: what time, where exactly, who can I bring, should I bring something, is it dinner or just drinks. Five back-and-forths for one sentence. A complete invitation, by contrast, reads in six seconds and goes straight into the calendar. It is exactly the kind of text that benefits from being written on a computer keyboard and then sent to fifteen people at once: you reread it, you check the address, and you don't get the date wrong.
## What should an invitation text include?
Five elements, always the same ones, in this order: the occasion, the date with the day of the week, the time, the place, the reply you expect.
The day of the week is the detail everyone forgets and the one that prevents the most mistakes: "the 14th" gets mixed up, "Saturday the 14th" doesn't. The time should be an arrival time, not a window: "from 7 p.m." is more honest than "late afternoon". The location should be a full address whenever it isn't your own home — the name of a bar or a hall without a street forces your guest to go searching. Finally, the reply you expect needs a deadline, otherwise nobody answers: "let me know by Wednesday, I'm booking".
What sinks an invitation by text is fairly easy to spot:
| Avoid | Why |
|---|---|
| "We're doing something on Saturday, are you free?" | No time, no place, no idea what the event is |
| "Come whenever you like" | The guest doesn't know whether dinner is included |
| "Bring whoever you want" | Unmanageable for the host, stressful for the guest |
| "Reply quickly" | No deadline = no reply |
| Three texts in a row drip-feeding the details | Unreadable, and the information gets lost in the thread |
A useful test: if you're torn between two wordings, pick the one that lets the other person answer yes or no in a single word.
## 28 invitation text templates to copy
All the templates below fit into a single standard text message. Square brackets mark what you need to replace. Remember to check the final length with a [character counter](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=livre+r%C3%A9daction+web+%C3%A9criture+concise&tag=ds0608-21): beyond 160 characters, the message is split into two parts, billed separately by some gateways.
### Dinner and evenings with friends (1 to 6)
1. "Dinner at ours Saturday the 15th at 8 p.m., [address]. There'll be 6 of us. Are you in? Let me know by Thursday."
2. "Drinks and nibbles Friday the 20th from 7 p.m., [address]. Nothing to bring, just yourself. Can you confirm?"
3. "We're improvising [a raclette](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=appareil+%C3%A0+raclette+convivial&tag=ds0608-21) on Sunday lunchtime, 12.30, at mine. Let me know tonight if you're coming, I'm counting the slices."
4. "Games night Saturday 9 p.m. at [first name]'s, [address]. Bring a game if you have one. Are you free?"
5. "Brunch Sunday 11 a.m. at ours. Come as you are, with [first name] if she's free. A quick word before Saturday?"
6. "We're meeting at [bar name], [address], Thursday 7 p.m. Joining us?"
### Birthday (7 to 12)
7. "I'm having my birthday do on Saturday the 22nd at 8 p.m., [address]. No presents, just a seat at the table for you. Coming?"
8. "[First name]'s 40th: Saturday the 29th at 7.30 p.m., [address]. It's a surprise, not a word. Confirm by the 20th."
9. "[First name]'s birthday on Sunday at 4 p.m., [address]. Cake, coffee, nothing complicated. Will you drop by?"
10. "We're celebrating [first name]'s 30th on [date] at [venue]. Group kitty for the present, I'll send you the link if you're up for it."
11. "Small birthday do at mine, Friday 8 p.m. There'll be 8 of us, I need to know by Wednesday for the caterer."
12. "I'm celebrating my birthday at [venue name] on Saturday at 9 p.m. Free entry, no dress code, good mood compulsory 🙂"
### Housewarming and new home (13 to 16)
13. "Housewarming Saturday the 12th from 6 p.m., [new address]. Door code [xxxx], 2nd floor. Coming?"
14. "Finally moved in! Housewarming drinks Sunday 5 p.m., [address]. Easy parking on [street name]. Let me know by Friday."
15. "Housewarming Saturday 7 p.m., [address]. No presents, we already have too many boxes. Are you in?"
16. "Tour of the new place + drinks Saturday 6 p.m., [address]. Underground [line/station]. Can you confirm?"
### Wedding, civil partnership, naming ceremony (17 to 20)
17. "We're getting married on [date] in [town]. Town hall 3 p.m., party 7 p.m. at [venue]. The invitation is on its way, save the date 🙂"
18. "Civil partnership on [date] at 11 a.m., [town] town hall, then lunch at [restaurant]. Will you be with us? Reply by [date]."
19. "[First name] and [first name]'s wedding: Saturday [date], ceremony 4 p.m. at [venue]. Accommodation available on site, just say the word."
20. "Day-after brunch Sunday 11 a.m. at [venue], for anyone who wants it. Let me know by Friday for the numbers."
### Work: farewell drinks, meeting, after-work (21 to 24)
21. "Farewell drinks for [first name] Thursday 6 p.m., [name] room. Contribute what you like towards the present with [first name]."
22. "Team after-work Friday 6.30 p.m. at [bar name], [address]. Reply by Thursday lunchtime so I can book."
23. "Team lunch Tuesday 12.30 at [restaurant], [address]. Please confirm by Monday 5 p.m."
24. "Back-to-work breakfast Monday 9 a.m. in the [name] room. Coffee and pastries provided, no need to confirm."
### Follow-ups, cancellations, postponements (25 to 28)
25. "Chasing you about Saturday: I have to give the caterer numbers tonight. A yes or a no is all I need 🙂"
26. "Reminder: we'll see you Saturday 8 p.m. at [address]. Let me know if something has come up, absolutely no problem."
27. "We're cancelling Saturday's party, [first name] is ill. We'll reschedule in November, I'll come back to you with a date. Sorry about that."
28. "Date change: dinner moves from the 14th to the 21st, same time, same address. Let me know if that still works for you."
## When should you send an invitation by text?
The practical rule: the more time and money the event costs your guest, the earlier the invitation has to go out.
| Type of event | Recommended notice | Follow-up |
|---|---|---|
| Drinks, after-work | 2 to 4 days before | The day before |
| Dinner at home | 1 to 2 weeks before | 3 days before |
| Birthday, housewarming | 2 to 3 weeks before | 1 week before |
| Weekend, trip away | 1 to 2 months before | 2 weeks before |
| Wedding, civil partnership | "save the date" 6 to 12 months before | With the formal invitation |
For an event far in the future, a text doesn't replace the formal invitation: it works as a "save the date", with the printed invitation or a detailed email following on. The reverse is true too — for Thursday drinks, a printed card would be absurd; a text is the right scale.
And for events you plan a long way ahead, the simplest approach is often to jot down replies as they arrive: a [spiral notebook](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=carnet+notes+spirale+A5&tag=ds0608-21) next to the computer is enough, and it saves you hunting through three different conversations to work out who said yes.
## How do you send the same invitation to twenty people?
As a bulk send, but as individual copies: never in a group conversation, unless everyone knows each other and needs to be able to chat.
This is the step most often got wrong. A group thread with twenty people turns an invitation into an avalanche of notifications: every "ok great" wakes up nineteen phones. Everyone's addresses and numbers become visible to everyone else, which is a genuine problem when guests come from different circles (colleagues and family, for example). Best practice is individual sending: the same text, sent separately to each recipient, with their first name at the start. From a computer it takes a few minutes; the full procedure is set out in our guide to [sending a group text from a PC](/blog/2026-10-17/sms-groupe-envoyer-plusieurs-destinataires-pc).
Three useful precautions:
- **Check the address and the date before sending in bulk.** A correction sent in a second text often goes unread.
- **Personalise the first line.** "Hi Claire" transforms the reply rate compared with a neutral text.
- **Draft the text outside the messaging app.** A simple text file, proofread, prevents half-finished sends. A [comfortable wireless keyboard](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=clavier+sans+fil+azerty+confortable&tag=ds0608-21) makes the job far less painful than thumb-typing on a screen.
If the invitation comes from a business, a club or an association, the rules change: it then counts as marketing or customer information, subject to prior consent and to including a way to opt out, in line with the rules set out by the CNIL (French data protection authority) [on marketing by text message](https://www.cnil.fr/fr/la-prospection-commerciale-par-telephone-et-sms). A "STOP" option must be offered, and sending should be avoided on Sundays and public holidays.
## Should you add a link to your invitation?
Yes, as soon as the address is hard to find or replies need to be collected in one place. No, if the link simply duplicates information you have already given.
A map link, a link to a group kitty or an RSVP form all save time, as long as you don't include three of them. Watch the length: a long URL eats a third of the message and can tip the text into two segments. Bear in mind too that some recipients are wary — rightly — of links in text messages, a reflex that has become widespread since fake delivery notifications multiplied. In a private invitation, sign off with your first name: that's what makes the link credible.
Conversely, if you're organising an event with a poster or a printed card, you can let guests reply in a single tap using a [pre-filled "sms:" link](/outils/generateur-lien-sms): the recipient's messaging app opens with the number and the text already filled in, and all they have to do is hit send.
## How many characters for an invitation?
A standard text message holds 160 characters in the GSM-7 alphabet. As soon as you slip in an emoji or certain special characters, the message switches to UCS-2 and drops to 70 characters per segment.
This is the limit most often exceeded without anyone noticing in invitations, because a full address is heavy: "12 rue des Lilas, 3rd floor, door code 4512B, 69003 Lyon" already eats about fifty characters. Two simple tips: abbreviate whatever can be abbreviated ("8 p.m." rather than "eight o'clock in the evening"), and limit yourself to one emoji per message, at the end of a sentence. Beyond 160 characters, the text is split into concatenated segments: the recipient sees a single message, but a gateway bills it twice. The details of encoding and rounding are explained in our article on [the 160-character limit](/blog/2025-11-15/sms-160-character-limit).
For an event planned well in advance — an invitation to go out on a specific morning, a reminder the day before — scheduled sending is more comfortable than a sticky note. The method from a computer is described in our guide to [scheduling a text from your PC or Mac](/blog/2026-10-16/sms-programme-envoi-differe-pc-mac).
## How do you follow up without nagging?
One single follow-up, short, with a concrete reason. Never two.
The wording that works has two parts: the practical constraint ("I have to book", "I'm giving numbers tonight") and the escape route ("a no is completely fine"). It takes all the guilt away from your guest and gets a reply almost every time. What doesn't work: "so?", "did you see my message?", "never mind then". The first follow-up goes by text; the second — if there really has to be one — by phone call.
One organisational detail that changes everything on the day: have a [pocket power bank](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=batterie+externe+compacte+10000+mAh&tag=ds0608-21) ready when you're hosting, because your phone doubles as map, clock and hotline for latecomers, and it always dies at the worst possible moment.
## What if you're the one receiving an invitation?
Reply within 24 hours, even to say no. A quick "no" is a favour to the host; ten days of silence forces them to chase you.
Three wordings are enough:
- **Yes:** "Love to, I'll be there Saturday at 8. Can I bring a dessert?"
- **No:** "I can't make it, I'm already busy this weekend. Thanks for thinking of me, see you soon."
- **Not sure:** "I'd say yes, but I won't know for certain until Wednesday. I'll confirm Wednesday evening at the latest, promise."
The third wording is only acceptable with a date attached: "I'll let you know later" is not an answer. And if the event is a birthday you can't attend, your message of regret is best followed, on the day itself, by a proper [personalised birthday text](/blog/2026-11-02/modeles-sms-anniversaire) — an absence is forgiven far more easily when it comes with a few words.
> A well-written invitation isn't judged on its turns of phrase, but on the number of questions it doesn't provoke.
## Key takeaways
- Five pieces of information are compulsory: occasion, day + date, time, full address, reply deadline.
- Naming the day of the week prevents half of all date mix-ups.
- Send individually rather than in a group thread, unless everyone knows each other.
- One emoji, one link, and the first name on the opening line.
- One single follow-up, with a concrete reason and an escape route.
- For business or association sends: consent, a STOP option, and no sending on Sundays or public holidays.
To write and send all of this from a keyboard, the free methods are compared on our [send texts online](/) page and in the [text message examples](/exemples-sms) section, which groups the templates by occasion.
*Updated 3 November 2026. The text-marketing rules cited are those published by the CNIL (French data protection authority); check the official page before any commercial send.*
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